Friday 9 March 2012

I'll have to ring you back...

Retrievers are wonderful dogs. In fact, I have three: two Labradors and a Flat coated Retriever. To say that I both love them as companions and rely on them as workers is a fair statement. They live up to their name, and will retrieve anything.

Spud, the Flat coat, in particular feels compelled to share all her treasures with me. Spud can be counted on to find anything and bring it back. A friend once dropped her favourite faux-fur hat without realising it, but Spud knew. Spud must have gone back for the hat. She came galloping up behind us, hat in her mouth, and presented it to my friend.

While Spud is fantastic at retrieving almost anything from shot game to ladies' accessories, mobile phones are not her best retrieve.  My phone fell out of my pocket when we were out walking. Spud sniffed it out in the long grass and even brought it back -


Well, what was left of it after a short time in her mouth. Why she's so gentle with game and so hard on phones is a mystery.

My "dead phone count" now stands at three: run over with mower, drowned in trough, eaten by overenthusiastic Flat coat. Who's got a great story to share about how their own phone died?

7 comments:

Jennifer Montero said...

From Paula @ Weeding For Godot:

I have a dead phone story for you. I got home from work one day and picked up my poodle and she peed all over me (it was connected to the heart trouble she that finally killed her but we didn't know it at the time) so after taking her outside, I stripped down in the laundry room and threw all my clothes into the washer, set them to wash, and then ran upstairs for a shower.

When I got back downstairs, Steve was pulling my overalls out of the washer and then started pulling bits and pieces of a very torqued Motorola Razr phone out as well. My pants weren't the only thing that was pissed that night.

I've heard of dogs eating phones, so I'm glad she brought you the pieces!

Janice Bendixen said...

Near where I live to the northeast and southwest is an area called Jim Creek. There are several sloughs and creeks that adjoin the Knik River, which joins the Matanuska the flows into Cook Inlet. The area has been notorious since the 60s for all manner of bad behavior. As in dumping bodies and burning vehicles.

During late July and early August, we offroad it up there to fish for salmon. So, similar to Paula, I kept my ancient Nokia in my breast jacket pocket. What does one do when landing a good-sized salmon? Land the fish! You guessed it: bent over the rod and, whoops there it goes.

So I put it on the counter and didn't think about for a day. Put it back together and it powers up and works like a champ. I changed my greeting msg after that to "hi! I'm the Jim Creek phone!

Janice Bendixen said...

Jenn, adn.com has great coverage of the Iditarod as well.

me said...

Mine fell out of my pocket and into the toilet.

megan said...

me - mine too.

Terry Scoville said...

Well she is a thoughtful retriever at least. So far I am on my 2nd cell phone with zero attrition to date. Now just watch, I've probably just jinxed myself. . .

Tamar@StarvingofftheLand said...

I actually have a pretty good record with phones, but one of the reasons is that both Kevin and I have the waterproof kind. We spend so much time on and around water -- and our phones are a safety essential -- that we spring for them. But smart phones don't come in a waterproof version, so we have old-school flip phones that basically just make phone calls.

Last week I had lunch with a friend in Boston, and we were looking for a restaurant. She whipped out her smart phone and did a quick search. My phone rang while she was doing it, and I pulled it out of my pocket. My friend looked at it and laughed out loud. She pointed at it and said, "That looks like my Mom's phone!"

Mom jeans, Mom car, Mom phone. Welcome to middle age, I guess.