Lost Dogs
Ever have your dog(s) run away? That's what happened to us the other night. Wicket, being a bad dog, did something he shouldn't have done – almost ruining one of mommy's floor mats. We both scolded him, and took the two dogs to the backyard, where they had been going “outside” since we got here. Well, Mommy started to clean the rug, turning away long enough to let them slip out of our sight. Poof – they were gone. Gone. GONE!? I freaked – absolutely. When I was a kid, I had one of my dogs run away and never return – having nightmares about it to this very day. I've never actually made a “lost dog” poster, but after an hour of no traces, my stomach was starting to turn. Ponzi kept her cool, thankfully – despite my ranting and raving. She's never experienced a lost dog like I have. This, however, is a new neighborhood where we can easily get lost – I had little hope for our pups.
Not content to sit at home and wait for the phone to ring (yes, they're tagged and microchipped), I took the car out for a spin around the block – a few hundred times. It's bad enough to have one dog run away, but two?! They're no bigger than the average cat – with absolutely no street sense. I felt tears coming on – something that rarely happens with me. We were well into hour two, and any shred of hope was fading quickly. I kept scanning the streets, holding my flashlight into the bushes – hoping to see or hear our lost dogs… hoping to find both of them together. Do any of you know the HELL that is this feeling?!
I started to drive down an adjacent street again and… spotted Wicket. “My god… he's alive.”
A very kind woman had spotted them and took them under her wing. Yes, them – Pixie was with Wicket. They weren't lost dogs anymore, they were found. I threw the car in park (mid-street), jumped out, and embraced their rescuer. I was *THIS* close to breaking down. Our dogs were doing juuuuuust fine. I took 'em home, handed each of them over to their adopted mother, and started gushing (almost uncontrollably). We walked upstairs, and… I burst. Dunno why, really. I was relieved, but there was definitely a deeper pain escaping.
Lost dogs? Not this time.
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13 Comments
Anonymous
December 21st, 2004
at 3:29pm
I'm glad your found them. I can appreciate the “terror” you've experienced. Take care.
Sunflowr
December 21st, 2004
at 4:13pm
When I read the title, I though “oh no”. :( So glad there is a happy ending to this story! I bet that is the best Christmas present you could get!
How did they get out, if they were in their backyard? Was the gate open or something?
Well, happy all is well. :)
:: jozjozjoz.com ::
December 21st, 2004
at 4:16pm
Oh my goodness.
Thankfully they were ok.
Anonymous
December 21st, 2004
at 6:56pm
Oh wow, I totally get what you're saying.
Glad the pups are okay though =)
computerwheelie
December 21st, 2004
at 7:28pm
chris,
I am so happy that you found them. When I read the beginning into, my heart sank. I know the feeling of a lost dog. My dog Max disappeared in October. We looked, and looked. No Max. So I came in and hugged my DollyDog beagle. She was here.
May you and Ponzi have a Happy Holiday
Anonymous
December 21st, 2004
at 8:02pm
Understand completely. Believe me!! So happy they are home again. There's your Xmas present. ;)
Barb
ktpupp
December 21st, 2004
at 8:50pm
What started out as a geeky joke for us, putting our URL on our dog's tags, has the potential to be very helpful in this kind of situation…
We created “Lost Dog!” webpages for each of our dogs, with photos and complete descriptions and contact info, which reside on our webserver. The one time our dogs got loose, I quickly renamed the lost dog page to index.html and posted to our local pet discussion boards.
The cops ended up rounding up our canine Bonnie & Clyde, but knowing their tags had the URL provided a little piece of mind…
Glad to hear your dogs are safe and sound! It's so scary not knowing if they are OK or not!
-=kt=-
Anonymous
December 22nd, 2004
at 3:57am
The same thing happened to me once.
I went out for tea with my husband. We were sitting eatting a beautiful meal of steak and eggs, when he went of to the bathroom for a moment. But that moment last for two, three and then four minutes. Where was he? I mean he had gone to the bathroom before we left home and that was a long stretch with the newspaper and two rolls. Sorry I digress… He was GONE!!! Of course I searched in all the likely places, under the table, in the kitchen, ladies toliets, handbag.
There was nothing for it. I had to leave the bar stool and return home to wait for the call. As you can imagine it was a long hour drive home. (We lived a wee drive from Burger King) It was a long night and into the next day. The next day I put the usual posters up. Wanted short round guy, glasses answers to the name of Hobbit. And I got the usual responses, a few prank calls, but nobody I really fanced. Although there was one guy with a rather heavy breathing type voice, but I couldn't understand a word he was breathing.
Hobbit has been gone several years now and sometimes I sit outside a night, usually on the porch with my shot gun, I live in a very very bad neightbour hood, and wonder where he is. Hoping that he will return to me, so I can have a bit of target practise. Vickie:-)
bnaivar
December 22nd, 2004
at 4:03am
Hmmmm…lets see…”The Christmas that was almost dogless”, no…”Wicket and Pixie come home for Christmas”, nope…”Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken earch for Pirillo's dogs”, uh uh……
revs
December 22nd, 2004
at 9:41am
Chris,
I feel your pain. I lost this track of this little guy a few years ago. I went out searching for him around the neighborhood and as I made my rounds I would think I saw him but in essence mistaken him for one of the local black squirrels in the area! They were rampant in the neigborhood I was living in at that time. Fortunately some kids around the block had caught him and returned him to me. But during all of that, it was pretty agonizing. So I feel your pain. I'm glad you got them back safely.
Anonymous
December 22nd, 2004
at 9:45am
I cancertainly understand how you feel. The pups are your “children” and you love them dearly. I'm glad that they were found, and I guess (just as if they were human toddlers) you can't let them out of sight if you're outdoors.
TroyK
December 22nd, 2004
at 10:48am
Oh yeah.. i know that feeling. Butler and belle are my “kids” and chocolate labs. belle is a very proficient escape artist, busting through screens, opening sliding glass doors. after 8 escapes i was finally able to escape proof the house. The worst was when belle disappeared for 8 hours… i was terrified what might happen to her. Finally that night a small girl told me she had seen her, her neighbor had her tied up and had been trying to sell her all day. I was pissed. I didn't knock on the door, say hi, hello, anything. Straight to the backyard, untied her and called the police. She was arrested for having stolen property (i called it in to the police as stolen per my brother's advice, he's a police officer) now she's content being lazy inside, butler he's just stupid :)
Anonymous
December 22nd, 2004
at 2:16pm
In mid story I felt like posting lost dog signs for you. But I live in TEXAS. Glad you found them.