74 Saber Tails Fall 2017

Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America

“Tails” from the

CLOWN HOUND FILES 

We want to hear from you!  With hundreds of members, I’m sure we have thousands of stories just waiting to be told!  

Send your story to Tiffany Cannon at alwayspbgv@aol.com and we’ll publish it in Saber Tails.  If you don’t think you have 

the gift of storytelling...just a note that you have a great tale to tell and I’ll get in touch with you to put it down on paper.

The Great Escape

Featuring  

“Austin”

As Told By Debra Tyler

Austin has always been a challenging girl.  Full of energy and a zest for life, she needed a lot of supervision and a way 

to expend a lot of energy during the day.  Without an appropriate outlet, she could get a bit crazy.  Her owner, Debra 

Tyler, had enlisted the services of a professional, private pet sitter to take care of the dogs while she was away.  Debra’s 

job as a Doctor of Anesthesiology kept her away from the house for long and odd hours.  Kristin Quigley provided the 

perfect concierge pet sitting services ensuring the dogs were picked up each day, taken home with her, fed, exercised 

and entertained.  Delivered back to their home in the evenings, the dogs were happily exhausted when Debra made it 

home in need of a good snuggle.  

Sounds great, right?  Poor Kristin!  Austin and PJ (Debra’s first PBGV) proved to be quite mischievous.  

One morning, Kristin was making her rounds picking up dogs to take home with her for day care.  Debra had recom-

mended Kristin to the head of Cardiology at her Dallas-based hospital.  Kristin arrived bright and early to pick up the 

pup.  Dogs don’t travel in Kristin’s car in crates, but they all wear special harnesses that fasten into the seat belt.  Safety 

first!  PJ and Austin were in the back seat safely belted into their harnesses.  It was warm outside, so Kristin left the car 

running when she parked in the driveway and put the vehicle in PARK.  With the car idling away, the air conditioning 

would continue to keep the dogs comfortable.  Kristin assumed she might be a few minutes inside since this was her 

first time picking up this particular dog with her new clients.

After getting all the instructions regarding her new charge’s dietary needs, quirky be-

haviors, likes and dislikes, Kristin and the dog’s owner opened the door and headed 

out to the driveway.  ‘Uh oh...Where is the Car?!?!?!?!?’

Kristin’s automatic assumption was that the car had been stolen along with PJ and 

Austin!  Panic, fear, confusion, guilt...everything floods in at once.  And then they hear 

a neighbor loudly exclaiming “What on Earth is Going On Here!!!”

The car was now located a ways down the street.  It had run backwards into the neigh-

bors bushes after picking up some speed heading down the driveway incline and 

slightly inclined street.  Quite confused as to what could possible have happened...

the story quickly became evident in Kristin’s view.  Standing on the driver’s seat with 

her ‘hands’ (paws) on the wheel in perfect 10:00 and 2:00 positioning was Austin.  Her 

whole body was shaking as she saw Kristin and started wagging her tail excitedly.