OLMSTED FALLS, Ohio -- The community’s Bulldog spirit brought a frightened dog home within 30 minutes after bolting out of the house due to July 4 fireworks.
Olmsted Township’s Brian and Karen Schindler were watching their son’s dog, Moose, July 4 while Mark spent some time with Rachel Ullrich, his girlfriend, at her family’s Strongsville home.
Karen said earlier in the afternoon of July 4 the fireworks around their Woodgate Farms development were soft, but they eventually grew a little louder as the day progressed.
“Moose didn’t seem upset with the fireworks,” Karen said. “As it got darker, around 9:30, there were more fireworks so we went out to watch them.”
The fireworks were, well, exploding now and they decided to check on Moose.
“He was terrified and running around in the house,” Karen said.
Brian decided to take him out with them.
“He put him on the leash, opened the side door and Moose just took off,” Karen said. “The leash burned Brian’s hand as Moose ran and left.”
Moose was definitely on the loose.
They weren’t sure which way he ran. Brian went one way on Watkin Road while Karen, the other. Their visiting mothers stayed home trying to help from that location. One of them talked to the Schindler’s neighbor who posted on facebook asking people to watch for a runaway dog in that area.
“So I’m running down streets – in flip flops - asking people if they saw him. They kept pointing in the direction he ran. We crossed a bunch of streets. Fortunately, there weren’t many cars out that night,” Karen said. “I saw two boys on bikes and I asked if they saw him. They said they did but couldn’t catch him. So they took off to see if they could find him.”
Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful. But Karen, a Strongsville art teacher, had a good idea of Moose’s running path. Karen ran east on Watkin, which ends at Sharp Road and just outside the development.
Moose, a lab and husky mix who sports one blue eye and the other, green, rests with bandaged front paws and a friendly toy. (Courtesy of Rachel Ullrich)
“I saw a lot of people at a house on Sharp just across from Watkin and asked about Moose. They said he was running hard and pointed that way.”
Moose, who was shy of turning 1 year old on July 13, was running toward Stearns Road. Karen turned to run in that direction when one of the men at the party suggested she should get her car because Moose was running fast.
“None of us took our phones because it happened so fast,” Karen said. “So I decided to run back home to get a car.”
Karen’s sister had arrived at their house. She was in her car, saw Karen and drove her around hoping to find Moose in that area.
“We drove out there. We didn’t find him,” Karen said. “So we came back.”
Around that time, about 10 p.m., the Marco and Kristin Ciccone family, with children Gabby, Sophie and Matteo, were in their Grand Oaks Trail backyard, about l l/2 miles west of the Schindlers home. One of their children thought they saw a dog running through some yards. Kristen and daughter Sophie went to their front yard to possibly spot it.
“We are a dog family. We have two and I know how this time of year can be difficult for dogs,” she said.
One of the neighbor boys asked if she was looking for a dog, which was in his family’s garage. The dog – Moose – was quite upset. He was clawing at the man door to enter the house.
“I told him to hold onto the dog. He had the leash. The dog was tugging. I took the leash, looked at the tag and tried calling the number. Sophie went to get my brother (Rob Duckworth) so he could hold the leash and I call.”
Kristin called the phone number three or four times, but no one answered. She then left a voicemail. She wondered why the owner wouldn’t answer a phone when his dog was lost. She called again. Mark answered. He was about to drive home and just saw the calls left on his phone.
“I asked if he was the dog’s owner and that we have him. He was confused because he didn’t know his dog got out of the house,” Kristin said.
Mark said he would be there in about 20 minutes, but Kristin realized someone needed to come sooner due to Moose’s physical and excited condition. Mark, a Toledo University senior studying communications, called his parents who then drove over immediately and brought Moose home. Kristin believes Moose ran through much brush and the yards between Sharp Road and their house due to the condition of his paws.
Moose was already home when Mark and Rachel arrived. Mark, with the help of Rachel, adopted Moose eight months ago where he found him on an online animal adoption site. Mark believes he originally came from a puppy mill.
“(When we got home) he was huddled in the corner of the garage and they (his parents) were holding him,” Mark said. “He was almost knocking me over, just forcing his head into me and curling himself up. We had to carry him inside to clean him off and he still just huddled up against us. It was heartbreaking. I’m not really a crier, but that definitely brought tears to my eyes.”
Moose saw his veterinarian that Monday (July 6) where his paws were cleaned and the dead skin, removed. He received lots of Benadryl and some pain medication, Mark said.
“He is pretty mellow now because of the Benadryl. He would be running around now,” Mark said. “I normally walk him four to five times a day, but not now. Maybe Wednesday we’ll try.”
Moose stands on alert in front of his Olmsted Township home. (Joanne Berger DuMound, special to cleveland.com)
The Schindlers have lived in the Olmsted community for more than 30 years. This is their second house here.
“We love Olmsted Falls. Our kids both graduated from the high school. We moved into this house when Mark was a senior,” Karen said. “We wanted to stay here and find something larger because we both have large families.”
She said she had to get on her “soap box.”
“I don’t know my neighbors well, but they helped. The people on the streets directed me to where he ran. The boys on the bikes didn’t have to go look for him. Kristin was so kind in how she handled Moose,” she said. “I love this community. The kids get instilled with the Bulldog spirit when they enter the schools and that continues all the way through. It is such a wonderful community.”
She was also overwhelmed with the 300 or so positive comments people posted on the facebook pages, both the neighbor’s and the one Kristin made with a quick photo she took before she read Moose’s collar tag.
Mark agreed with his mom’s remarks. He was grateful so many people helped along the way.
“It would have been easy to see a dog running and just turn away,” he said. “We appreciate how everyone was willing to help. And I’m lucky he had the collar that had the tag on it. Definitely put your phone number on a dog tag.”
Mark expects next Independence Day will be a bit calmer for Moose. He plans to have medication ready for him before the fireworks start.
Heartfelt stories like this one show how precious those living in the Olmsted community care for one another. Thanks to all and your Bulldog spirit who helped bring Moose safely home.
Document shredding: Olmsted Township will host a Community Shred Day from 9 a.m. to noon July 18 at the township’s public service department, 7924 Fitch Road. You may bring an unlimited amount of material to this event, which is open to residents of Olmsted Township and Olmsted Falls.
Olmsted Falls also will have a document shredding at the same time, 9 a.m. to noon July 18, at the city’s administration building on Bagley Road.
The services are free. This is a good time to remove some of your old records to make room for new ones.
Online school opening survey: The Olmsted Falls school district has an online survey that will help administrators determine the direction they will take for the 2020-2021 school year. The survey will stay online through July 19.
The Ohio Department of Education and Department of Health recently released school planning guidelines for the upcoming school year. The guidelines, according to the Olmsted Falls school district’s website, include protocols that are suggested, recommended and required. Actions that are part of all three of the categories include sanitizing, frequent hand washing and availability of cleaning supplies. The district has to balance these items, along with others that may be implemented, with classroom learning. The three categories, as taken from the district’s website, are the following.
· Suggested: School takes temperatures of student and staff; 6-feet distancing in classrooms.
· Recommended: Families and caregivers monitor student temperatures at home; 3-feet distancing in classrooms; visitors limited to schools; face coverings for students in grades 3-12.
· Required: Families and caregivers monitor student temperatures at home; school “does its best” with distancing requirements in classrooms; frequent hand washing opportunities; surfaces cleaned often; cleaning supplies readily available; face coverings for staff members; a face covering policy; students taking district transportation wear face coverings.
The district is asking parents to share their opinions regarding the possible scenarios along with other logistical considerations about the reopening of schools. It offers various scenarios for parents’ consideration, from distance learning at home, five-days of school in buildings, an alternating schedule and distance learning until there is a vaccine. There are other quite important questions as well. Why not take the survey today to help the district create a plan soon. The survey is available at https://bit.ly/2Odd4la.
Recycling webinars: As mentioned in a previous column item, the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District has online webinars to teach county residents how to properly recycle.
Residents will learn best practices for recycling in the county and what they can do to make a meaningful difference in their community, according to the district’s release. You will find answers about curbside recycling and what, where, how and when to recycle other items with which you would like to part.
The “Recycle Right” webinars are open to all county residents. Registration is required through Zoom meetings. The dates and times are 10 a.m. today (July 16), 6 p.m. July 23, noon Aug. 4, 2 p.m. Aug. 11 and 6 p.m. Aug. 18. To register or more information, go to cuyahogarecycles.org/recycling_presentations.
Help: This column is to inform and herald the community. This COVID-19 slowdown has placed many activities on hold, canceled others and stopped folks from, well, having fun. We Sun News columnists thrive on information we obtain from clubs, groups, families and churches. Well, the news sources have slowed and even evaporated. If you have news you would like to share, an event you would like others to know about or doing something to help the community, please, let us know. This column is for you and of you. Drop us an email and we’ll be thrilled to publicize it. Thanks so much.
Information, please: To include news, tidbits, honors or activities in Olmsted Falls and Olmsted Township, contact Joanne DuMound at jdumound@yahoo.com. She also is on Twitter, @JoanneDuMound. The column’s online version at cleveland.com/olmsted has direct links for many news items.
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