I Should Have Made That Call...
Joel A., Certified KeepStellaSafe Client, January 2020
Hi my name is Joel. I live in the great State of Texas. I live in a small town just outside of Austin. Just a little bit about me. I just turned 61 years old. I’m a survivor of sorts. I’ve survived a couple of heart attacks and many heart procedures. I have battled with obesity issues and Diabetes. I needed to make some changes in my life. I am proud to say I’m taking steps for a better healthy lifestyle.
My fur baby adopted me. I call her Coco. She is my walking partner. My journey toward better health started on June 30, 2019. I began walking toward my goal of “just walking for pleasure.” It was a slow start at first. The more I walked, the better I felt. With Coco at my side the steps began to add up. With the new Pacer App installed on my phone, it was much easier and more convenient to track my progress.
I’ll skip all the boring parts. In just a few months I managed to walk a ONE Million Steps! OMG I was on to something. Walking is my Jam! Everywhere I went, Coco was by my side. I never thought of myself as a “dog person,” but Coco felt very comfortable allowing me to be her walking human. Skipping more boring parts, so I can get to the nitty gritty of this story.
I was on Christmas break vacation. In just 6 months my Pacer App indicated that I was nearing the 3 million step mark. I was positive I would meet this goal without any difficulty, or so I thought.
As I mentioned I was learning this walking gig. I never imagined I would be scooping up poop, then finding some place to dispose of it. My God what is this dog eating? I never imagined the many different colors of poop that this dog could eliminate. I would almost gag dealing with poop issues, oh yuck enough about that!
It was a December day. In Texas the weather can be very unpredictable. Coco and I had our walk path pretty much etched in stone. Coco was now directing the speed of our walks. Since I was not sure if it was just going to be cold, wet and or windy, I tried to dress for any and all types of weather that we could encounter in an hour’s time. I was wearing a shirt and shorts, long shirt and pants, a windbreaker and a winter coat.
One of our favorite places that Coco and I would end up is just 15 minutes away from my home. For the most part I keep Coco on her leash. I’m sure you can guess where this story is headed. We were on the campus of our local community college. Coco and I had traveled the same route for almost 6 months. Coco knew of every tree, every bush and garbage can on campus. It was Christmas I was feeling all jolly myself.
I made an executive decision to let Coco explore the campus on her own as I continued to walk and add additional steps in the goal of reaching 3 million steps. I was amazed on how fast she could run. Coco looked as if she was smiling as she ran back and forth. “I’m free” was the look on her face. “Run Coco Run” I was thinking. She ran over there and over here. I would lose sight of her at times and then “poof” there she was. I truly believed she was checking up on her human. Besides I always carried treats and water along with a poop bag.
Bang! Then it happened. Coco and I collided. She knocked me off my feet. I believe I had some air time hang. I saw the sky, then I saw cement, then I felt cement. I believed I did almost a 360 degree turn in midair. Well I wasn’t expecting that at all.
What happened next is blurry in my mind and confusing to me. I was lying on my back and the air was knocked out of me. What the frack! I was gasping for air and Coco was by my side trying to give me love. As I came to realize what had happened, I caught my breath and managed after a few minutes to sit up.
Coco kept saying I’m sorry human! Now the pain starts to raise its ugly head throughout my body. “Ouch fricking Ouch” I said to myself. Well I’m trying to keep this story PG. The back of my head hurt, my left elbow hurt, then it was most of my left side of my body hurt, hips, shoulder, knees and probably toes!
After a few minutes I managed to stand up. I was not exactly sure of where I was and or how I managed to be where I was standing. Then I figured out I needed to find my way home. I started to take a couple steps and then the pain of it all seemed to be located mostly on the left side of my body. My head hurt. I was lucky I was wearing 2 winter hats or my head ache could have been a head injury. I looked down at my feet and saw blood on the cement. I checked Coco and she did not look as if she had been injured in anyway, but I swear that I heard her cry as we crashed together.
So now what do I do? My family had dispersed throughout the city. There was no one that I knew who was close that could pick me up and or provide assistance to me. The community college campus has several emergency phone posts that I walk by every day. These phone posts are on campus for a reason. Do I hit the button and see if anyone answers? Is my “tumble” worth a visit from Police or EMS?
Would I be wasting their time making that call? I managed to get Coco back on her leash. I slowly began to make that trek back to my home. Holding my bleeding elbow, that 15 minute walked turned out to be 30-45 minutes long. There was small blood trail of sorts from my elbow bleeding out and soaking through the many layers of covering I had put on. I kept saying to myself, “I should have made that call.” I’m thinking to myself, I’m a grown man it’s nothing just some bumps and bruises. Why didn’t I make that call?
Coco was the reason. What would happen to Coco? Would they take her to a shelter? Coco is my companion and I am her human. Would Coco go with Animal Control? Would they have to force her into a cage? Would she be emotional scarred for being whisked away? Would the shelter people treat her with dignity and respect?
This is our story. I should have made that call. But I didn’t. Coco was my reason for not making that call! Now that I have Keep Stella Safe, I’ll make that call so that if there is a next time both of us can be safe.
My fur baby adopted me. I call her Coco. She is my walking partner. My journey toward better health started on June 30, 2019. I began walking toward my goal of “just walking for pleasure.” It was a slow start at first. The more I walked, the better I felt. With Coco at my side the steps began to add up. With the new Pacer App installed on my phone, it was much easier and more convenient to track my progress.
I’ll skip all the boring parts. In just a few months I managed to walk a ONE Million Steps! OMG I was on to something. Walking is my Jam! Everywhere I went, Coco was by my side. I never thought of myself as a “dog person,” but Coco felt very comfortable allowing me to be her walking human. Skipping more boring parts, so I can get to the nitty gritty of this story.
I was on Christmas break vacation. In just 6 months my Pacer App indicated that I was nearing the 3 million step mark. I was positive I would meet this goal without any difficulty, or so I thought.
As I mentioned I was learning this walking gig. I never imagined I would be scooping up poop, then finding some place to dispose of it. My God what is this dog eating? I never imagined the many different colors of poop that this dog could eliminate. I would almost gag dealing with poop issues, oh yuck enough about that!
It was a December day. In Texas the weather can be very unpredictable. Coco and I had our walk path pretty much etched in stone. Coco was now directing the speed of our walks. Since I was not sure if it was just going to be cold, wet and or windy, I tried to dress for any and all types of weather that we could encounter in an hour’s time. I was wearing a shirt and shorts, long shirt and pants, a windbreaker and a winter coat.
One of our favorite places that Coco and I would end up is just 15 minutes away from my home. For the most part I keep Coco on her leash. I’m sure you can guess where this story is headed. We were on the campus of our local community college. Coco and I had traveled the same route for almost 6 months. Coco knew of every tree, every bush and garbage can on campus. It was Christmas I was feeling all jolly myself.
I made an executive decision to let Coco explore the campus on her own as I continued to walk and add additional steps in the goal of reaching 3 million steps. I was amazed on how fast she could run. Coco looked as if she was smiling as she ran back and forth. “I’m free” was the look on her face. “Run Coco Run” I was thinking. She ran over there and over here. I would lose sight of her at times and then “poof” there she was. I truly believed she was checking up on her human. Besides I always carried treats and water along with a poop bag.
Bang! Then it happened. Coco and I collided. She knocked me off my feet. I believe I had some air time hang. I saw the sky, then I saw cement, then I felt cement. I believed I did almost a 360 degree turn in midair. Well I wasn’t expecting that at all.
What happened next is blurry in my mind and confusing to me. I was lying on my back and the air was knocked out of me. What the frack! I was gasping for air and Coco was by my side trying to give me love. As I came to realize what had happened, I caught my breath and managed after a few minutes to sit up.
Coco kept saying I’m sorry human! Now the pain starts to raise its ugly head throughout my body. “Ouch fricking Ouch” I said to myself. Well I’m trying to keep this story PG. The back of my head hurt, my left elbow hurt, then it was most of my left side of my body hurt, hips, shoulder, knees and probably toes!
After a few minutes I managed to stand up. I was not exactly sure of where I was and or how I managed to be where I was standing. Then I figured out I needed to find my way home. I started to take a couple steps and then the pain of it all seemed to be located mostly on the left side of my body. My head hurt. I was lucky I was wearing 2 winter hats or my head ache could have been a head injury. I looked down at my feet and saw blood on the cement. I checked Coco and she did not look as if she had been injured in anyway, but I swear that I heard her cry as we crashed together.
So now what do I do? My family had dispersed throughout the city. There was no one that I knew who was close that could pick me up and or provide assistance to me. The community college campus has several emergency phone posts that I walk by every day. These phone posts are on campus for a reason. Do I hit the button and see if anyone answers? Is my “tumble” worth a visit from Police or EMS?
Would I be wasting their time making that call? I managed to get Coco back on her leash. I slowly began to make that trek back to my home. Holding my bleeding elbow, that 15 minute walked turned out to be 30-45 minutes long. There was small blood trail of sorts from my elbow bleeding out and soaking through the many layers of covering I had put on. I kept saying to myself, “I should have made that call.” I’m thinking to myself, I’m a grown man it’s nothing just some bumps and bruises. Why didn’t I make that call?
Coco was the reason. What would happen to Coco? Would they take her to a shelter? Coco is my companion and I am her human. Would Coco go with Animal Control? Would they have to force her into a cage? Would she be emotional scarred for being whisked away? Would the shelter people treat her with dignity and respect?
This is our story. I should have made that call. But I didn’t. Coco was my reason for not making that call! Now that I have Keep Stella Safe, I’ll make that call so that if there is a next time both of us can be safe.
Love to all our clients and their pets. We will keep them safe and together with you.
Jenny Simmons, Founder and Pet Guardian
Stella Ventures LLC
2770 Arapahoe Road,
Ste 132-529
Lafayette, CO 80026
Toll free: (855) KEEP PET (855-533-7738)
Jenny Simmons, Founder and Pet Guardian
Stella Ventures LLC
2770 Arapahoe Road,
Ste 132-529
Lafayette, CO 80026
Toll free: (855) KEEP PET (855-533-7738)
