Saving the day

I've made someone's day twice in a week and, not to sound prideful, I feel good about it. I sometimes feel unappreciated however it's not necessary for me to be appreciated. It just feels really good when someone tells you.

So the first time: Basically I filled up the gas tank of one of the nurses at work whose car had run out of gas. Not exciting but she calls me her hero every time I see her.

Today: Ironically I was going to get a gas can from my partner Joel (yep we rock) and I couldn't find him. I finally found his cart and soon found him nearby. He was on the other side of the fence and the now empty canal that runs behind Living Care. He asked me if I'd like to help him catch a dog that was stuck in the canal. Sure. Why not? We both started walking towards 40th in the direction the dog had run last. I was in the canal, he was alongside.
We got close to 40th and we saw a cat staring down into the canal so we figured the dog was there. It was. He started barking at the cat and running towards me. It was a little dog. Like a dachshund mixed with something taller. Well he ran past the cat and kept coming at me as I was kneeling, trying to get it's attention. I got scared because I could imagine the dog lunging at my neck and ripping my jugular out. Well he just sprinted past me and kept on going. I grabbed two sticks to block him from running past again.
The next time we met near Summitview he just jumped over the sticks. Joel and I decided to get blankets to use as nets, so we left for a while. We came back closer to 40th thinking he'd be over there again. He wasn't there so we started walking back towards Summitview again. He wasn't there either. We headed back towards 40th, ready to quit. We assumed he just kept running this time and was on the other side of 40th now. I went to where the canal went under the street. I could hear something in the tunnel and I soon saw a pair of eyes looking back. We called it and it wouldn't come but we could tell it wasn't running anymore. We thought maybe it was a cat again.
I decided to venture into the dark tunnel to see what it was. I got close enough to where I could see that it was the dog but I couldn't get close enough to grab it because it was in a lot of water. I went back out, took my shoes and socks off, and went back in. The poor little dog had run into a giant puddle of water and was too scared to turn around and come back out.
I was scared. Think about it. If this dog was trapped in here, think of how many other animals get trapped in there and die. I thought I was going to step on a carcas. Also, there are snakes in the canals. I'm not a fan(Joel is deathly afraid of them though :)) Also, broken beer bottles(Goodbye toe). Well, I powered through it, saved the puppy and became the hero of half the women at work.
The dog didn't have a collar and was pretty skinny, leading us to believe he's been lost for a while. If you know someone looking for a dachshund looking dog, black with brown spots, or if you wish to adopt such a dog talk to me. One of my co-workers is taking care of it for the time being.

His name is Ditch.