Tails From Provence

Well, no, thankfully it didn’t go that far, rescue was accomplished by means of a 15ft ladder and a 6ft LSH.

But I’ll start at the beginning… Granny had been press-ganged into helping us this weekend, and was just leaving when Cookie spotted the open door and darted out.  After a brief search of the back garden, she tracked down Skinny Cat and followed him straight up the tree.  Barking coming from about ten feet above my head made it easy to triangulate her position, and the yowling and hissing noises from about three feet above her made it obvious where Skinny was, too. Eventually, he made a leap for freedom, launched himself to the ground, and a few seconds later Cookie followed suit, with a crash and a thump and a few broken branches.  She raced off in the direction the cat had gone, I reassured Granny that she was fine and we said our goodbyes.

I decided to leave Cookie run off some steam before I tried to catch her, so about twenty minutes later I went outside again to find her.  Normally, you just stand still and she whizzes past you after a few minutes, or at least you hear her tags jingling as she runs around.

Nothing.

I called.

She whimpered.

From somewhere above me.  Sigh.

I peered into the tree top and called again.  Branches rustled, the top of the tree waved backwards and forwards, and a little face peered out at me for a moment.  From about as high up as she could possibly be, short of perching on the tree-top like a blackbird.

The white patch is her hind leg

I tried to entice her down, calling her, feeding Cinnamon treats and pretending to find a cat under the car.

No joy.  Apparently, a hyper-terrier will only launch itself from a tree if it’s aimed directly at the tail of a retreating cat.

The LSH was on a conference call.  I sent him a text  “YOUR dog is definitely stuck up a tree.  At least she’s not killing hedgehogs.”

Somehow, he excused himself from the call and appeared on the scene.  The ladder was leaned up against the tree and I held it while he climbed.  Well, I held it until I took this photo, anyway.

Reaching for Cookie

(I was still holding it steady with my foot, though.)

I think Cookie was very happy to be rescued.  He caught her easily and tucked her under his arm while he climbed back down.

Yes! I can see her bum under his arm

Safe on the ground

I’m not sure how I’d describe Cookie’s expression.  Relieved? Chastened? Embarrassed? It’s not her normal look, anyway.

For perspective :

She was just above the highest point of the ladder