October 24, 2008
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Front Page Pooch & A Tangled Web
When I saw this story on CNN today,
…it brought back memories of what happened to my dog Oreo, over 20 years ago, when he walked 45 miles and ended up on the front page of the Chicago Tribune!
In August of 1987, Oreo and I moved to Chicago, which was 200 miles north of where I went to college. The very first Friday night we lived in our new house, Oreo somehow
pawed the door open in the middle of the night and ran out to play with
another dog. I vaguely remember hearing him leave, but was too tired to get up.
After all, Oreo ALWAYS came back home. He was the dog who went to every class in college with me and waited outside every building. He had never been on a leash. What I forgot however, was that
there had been a major flood in Chicago that week. Oreo was in new
surroundings and couldn’t find his scent back to our new house. He knew
that home was “south” so he started walking. By noon that day (roughly
8 hours), Oreo had walked 45 miles to Oakbrook, Illinois. He stopped
off at the Western Open Golf Tournament, where a Chicago Tribune
photographer snapped this photo, which appeared on the front page of
the paper’s Sports section that Sunday. Seeing this unfold, a woman named Lola Proulx (who I am friends with to this day), bought 8 hot dogs and earned Oreo’s
trust by feeding him. She was able to get him to the Humane Society,
and they traced his tags back to our former home, where I had already
called with my new contact information. I went to pick Oreo up the
following Monday, 60 miles south of where he first started his journey.
From that day forward he was scared to death of trains, which led me to
believe he had a very close call with a train on his journey south. He
went on to live 9 more wonderful years, and even survived an
assassination attempt by a local campus keystone cop, and a close call
with a herd of massive elk. He appeared on the second season of
Friends, and made other front page headlines throughout his 12 year
storied life. He traveled with me through 30 of the 50 states, and was a friend to everyone who met him! All of these are stories for another entry though. I’ll write one soon. My cousin Lisa even named her dog after Oreo!
Speaking of Lisa, take a look at this outfit she bought Tommy & Andy for Halloween! Sadly, they didn’t like it, so she returned it. I still don’t have a costume for next week. Any ideas??
I went to their house for dinner tonight. They had the yard all decorated for Halloween!
Boo!
Andy, walking like an Egyptian
Comments (22)
First to comment! :D
Ahhh wowwww Oreo is such a good dog!! WITHOUT A LEAD AS WELL!! My dog will runaway if he doesn’t have his lead on. Sigh naughty boyy..
And hahaa what a way of immortalising your dog! :D In papers , TV shows. He’s just awesome! And he had a wonder life by the sounds of it from a very caring ownder :)
haha which episodes of friends was he in? I really wanna see him!
*reaches out to pet oreo* He’ll be waiting for you on Rainbows Bridge :) I hope you know what rainbows bridge is :D
that’s a touching story – isn’t a shame that our pets – especially those favorite ones – don’t live longer? perhaps they’ll meet up with us again on the other side.
as for a costume, you could dress up in carhart artics and go as a michigander! great pix, i love them – those kids are great! peace, Al
Oreo couldn’t have had a better companion than you, Carey. He certainly had a life so fullfilled, most people seek for. Rest in peace, Oreo!
Aw… I love that story of Oreo.
I LOVE dogs! I wish I had one! That was a wonderful story about the Airdale and aslo about Oreo. I had never heard the story about Oreo probably because it was in a post before I started keeping up with your xanga. Thanks for sharing – stories like that are just so heartwarming.
Totally in tears…what a beautiful story!! :) I think you should take Andy’s costume…..LOVE IT!!!
@Loltothepower - Your dog may be naughty Jin, but he sure is cute!! Oreo’s pic was on the refrigerator in the girl’s apartment, on the 2nd season of friends, after the lesbian wedding episode.
And yes, I am familiar with the rainbow bridge. That’s a comforting thought! Thanks.
@pukemeister - That’s true…or I could grow a goatee and get a snowmobile suit and go as Todd Palin.
@da5id_de - Thanks David. The feeling was mutual.
@ElusiveWords - Thanks, he was a special dog.
@bowzere - Thanks. I appreciate that!
@lv2skrp - I don’t think I could afford the adult version of that costume!
omg frechfries and hamburger. CUTE! haha thats so hilarious
u should be…a soft drink to be a complete fastfood meal lol
I love how they have decorated the yard!
hey why not?
Hey Carey, it’s such a nice story about Oreo. He’s so lucky to have you as his pal. I’ve just started to have a puppy, he’s a pug, namely…. BOND, haha :) I just hope I can be a good companion of him jus like you and Oreo
ryc: my god, CAREY, you don’t know how much I appreciated the comment you left…
@Sc12EeN17aM3 - I hope I can find you in the crowd on Friday. Let me know if you need a place to park.
@Dezinerdreams - Scary, huh!
@coolblueszone - OMG, Bond is ADORABLE!!! That face. What a doll. I’m sure he’ll make a wonderful friend.
what are you gonna go as during holloween? :D I’m thinking of going as the nerds from the BigBangTheory. :D
@Loltothepower - LOL, thanks! I still need a costumer idea though. Help!
What an AMAZING story about your dog! Thank you for sharing!
awww oreo. cute name for a dog. his story would make a great movie. you should look into that. he certainly is a dog worthy of a movie written about him.
the halloween costumes of a hamburger and fries were very funny .
those pumpkins were picture perfect.
that was quite a spider’s web. i’d hate to see the spider that made it. it was a funny photo with you caught in it. don’t you hate it when you get caught in those giant spider webs? if i had a dime for every time that happened to me.
So u travel 30 states wit Oreo.. i can feel how much u love Oreo.
And i think Oreo know how happiness dat he is, with such a good friend(Carey) & little bit famous on media, amazing life.
Carey, do u ever think to make friend wit a new dog? :)
Halloween is coming.. my college mates wan to have a costume party in class.. hahai wonder wat wil happen in my class dis friday wit so creative mates..lol..wil b crazy i think, mayb.
nowadays kids are so good… having so interesting costume..i like Tommy & Andy’s costumes! hahaand the “Boo!” photo is nice, natural smile & nice colour tone. :)i oso have no idea about the costume for dis friday.. and i m a poor student~! =,=
@razzlebash - Ya Oreo life is amazing & would make a great movie, telling the touching story between 2 friends.. The story reali touching me..
@pang890528 - i think a lot of people would be interested especially with it being a true story. with it having actually happened would add to the interest.
@razzlebash - Yeah it’s a true story… Carey, mayb u can reali do something 4 dis.. :)
@DamienT98 - Thanks. All of these nice comments inspired me to write more about him
@razzlebash - Hmm, good idea. I’ll get my Hollywood friends to start shopping a screenplay!
@pang890528 - Nope, I never got another dog, but I take care of other people’s dogs all the time! Thanks for all the kind words!!