The day Super Dog ran away
Lately, it's been hard to keep up. I've been juggling the kids, my job, the house, the Hubby and blogging... and I haven't been doing a very good job at any of it.
Who ends up suffering when too much is going on? The dog. And I guess he'd had enough. Lately, I haven't been paying much attention to him... and lately, he's been spending more and more time outside. So, on Saturday night, I didn't get around to feeding him until after 10pm. I opened the door to let him in but he didn't come. That's not really unusual. So, I called him. I called again. Nothing.
I left the door open - since sometimes he'll come if we're not hovering by the door. Nothing. I realized that it was raining. I felt like a callused jerk for leaving the dog outside in the rain. I put on a raincoat, I grabbed a flash light and I went out to look for him. He has dug himself a fine little hiding spot under the deck stairs. But he wasn't there. There is also a rather shady bush that our previous dogs enjoyed laying under. Not there either. He's also dug a nice trench under BG's play fort for himself. Not there either. And our yard is not that big.
The panic started setting in. I quickly walked around the perimeter of the fence. There weren't any obvious holes and no missing pickets.
I have seen this dog jump and there are parts of the fence that I believe he could clear if he set his mind to it. So, I went out front to make sure he wasn't there. One of our previous dogs liked to run away and then sit out front waiting to be let in. And when we came out she'd have this look of "What took you so long?!"
Super Dog was nowhere to be found. So I walked around the outside of the fence. But it was pitch black and raining. Not only could I not see anything but I was also now in full freak-out mode. Our house backs up to a four lane road with a posted speed limit of 40 but an actual limit of about 60 miles an hour. My stomach sank. I felt nauseous at the thought.
I went back in the house. I checked the backyard again. Maybe I had missed him. Hmn. I went down to the basement to see if maybe he was there. You can't fathom what an absurd notion this is since the only entrance to the basement is a locked door. He wasn't there.
By now it was well past midnight. I was wide awake.
I started making phone calls. First I called the emergency vets in the area. I asked them if anyone had brought in an injured bloodhound. No one had. Well, that was possibly good news... Then I got the phone numbers for animal control to call in the morning. I looked up the addresses for the local shelters. I made a "lost dog" poster.
I went online to see if there was a lost pet service to post your lost/found animal. There is, but there were no bloodhounds listed. I even checked the Freecycle postings. It's forbidden, but sometimes people get desperate and they post missing/found animals. The closest I got was an offer for a dog sweater. Finally, I called Hubby, but I got no answer (Hubby was out of town).
I went over how I would tell him what happened. I was ready to claim full responsibility. Hubby would be devastated. How would I explain to BG that Super Dog was gone?!
I got ready for bed. Because no matter what, the kids were still going to be up and at 'em at 7am! I went to bed. But of course, I couldn't sleep. I got back up. I checked the front door again hoping he had come back. I prayed. I asked God for mercy for the dog (in case he'd been hit by a car). I apologized for having failed. Then I went back to bed and I cried. I felt so helpless. I couldn't be like the movie heroines and hop in the car to go find him; I had two sleeping kids in the house. I kept imagining how I would explain to social services that my dog was more important than my kids.
As I lay there crying, I kept thinking that "it didn't feel" like the dog was missing. I can't explain this feeling to you, but nothing felt wrong. I prayed some more. I considered horrible scenarios. I tried to imagine how he had gotten out. I wondered where he was... if he had found shelter. If he had managed to cross the street unharmed. I wondered where he would go. I figured that if he hadn't found shelter in someone else's home that he was still out there wondering around, in the rain.
So what would be the point of running away when he could get wet in our own backyard? He wasn't starving - I had fed him that morning. So he couldn't be looking for food. The more I thought about it, the more each scenario seemed really unlikely.
Then I remembered the last time I had seen him. I had been giving BG dinner when he came in. Of course he wanted what we were eating. I wasn't mean to him, but I was firm. Realizing he wasn't getting anything, he went back out. I gladly obliged. It's not easy feeding BG when he's hovering over her. As I remembered this I thought to myself that he had come in to say goodbye. I considered that he had been planning to leave. That was the reason he had not been coming IN the past couple of days.
Are you nutz??!!
Did I seriously think the dog was "planning" to leave us? I decided I had been hanging out with BG too much; my imagination was getting the best of me! I berated myself for going off the deep end; it was, after all, past two in the morning now. Then I remembered something else.
After he had come in, it had been about to rain and his other dog bed, that is usually on the deck, was in danger of getting wet. So, I had put it into the garage (which has a door to the backyard) to keep it dry. I hadn't checked the garage. It seems just as ludicrous as checking the basement, but, nevertheless, it was an option. I ran downstairs and opened the garage door.
At first I thought I was only imagining him there. But when I opened the door, he stood up as if to say, "Finally, you came to let me out." He had been huddled into a tiny ball on his dog bed in the garage!!
How the hell did he get in there???!
The only explanation is that I didn't close the door all the way... either that or he can turn door handles??
I was sooo happy to see him that I hugged him. He must've thought I was nutz! You see, I'm allergic to dogs so I don't normally handle him much. I hugged and kissed him... I gave him treats. He was happy too! We had a great reunion.
In my mind, I had lost him. In his mind, I was merely crazy.
I had not made God any promises I couldn't keep, but I had committed to paying more attention to him. He'll never know what happened that Saturday in the middle of the night, but he's definitely noticed a more attentive me. And he's certainly not complaining!
Who ends up suffering when too much is going on? The dog. And I guess he'd had enough. Lately, I haven't been paying much attention to him... and lately, he's been spending more and more time outside. So, on Saturday night, I didn't get around to feeding him until after 10pm. I opened the door to let him in but he didn't come. That's not really unusual. So, I called him. I called again. Nothing.
I left the door open - since sometimes he'll come if we're not hovering by the door. Nothing. I realized that it was raining. I felt like a callused jerk for leaving the dog outside in the rain. I put on a raincoat, I grabbed a flash light and I went out to look for him. He has dug himself a fine little hiding spot under the deck stairs. But he wasn't there. There is also a rather shady bush that our previous dogs enjoyed laying under. Not there either. He's also dug a nice trench under BG's play fort for himself. Not there either. And our yard is not that big.
The panic started setting in. I quickly walked around the perimeter of the fence. There weren't any obvious holes and no missing pickets.
I have seen this dog jump and there are parts of the fence that I believe he could clear if he set his mind to it. So, I went out front to make sure he wasn't there. One of our previous dogs liked to run away and then sit out front waiting to be let in. And when we came out she'd have this look of "What took you so long?!"
Super Dog was nowhere to be found. So I walked around the outside of the fence. But it was pitch black and raining. Not only could I not see anything but I was also now in full freak-out mode. Our house backs up to a four lane road with a posted speed limit of 40 but an actual limit of about 60 miles an hour. My stomach sank. I felt nauseous at the thought.
I went back in the house. I checked the backyard again. Maybe I had missed him. Hmn. I went down to the basement to see if maybe he was there. You can't fathom what an absurd notion this is since the only entrance to the basement is a locked door. He wasn't there.
By now it was well past midnight. I was wide awake.
I started making phone calls. First I called the emergency vets in the area. I asked them if anyone had brought in an injured bloodhound. No one had. Well, that was possibly good news... Then I got the phone numbers for animal control to call in the morning. I looked up the addresses for the local shelters. I made a "lost dog" poster.
I went online to see if there was a lost pet service to post your lost/found animal. There is, but there were no bloodhounds listed. I even checked the Freecycle postings. It's forbidden, but sometimes people get desperate and they post missing/found animals. The closest I got was an offer for a dog sweater. Finally, I called Hubby, but I got no answer (Hubby was out of town).
I went over how I would tell him what happened. I was ready to claim full responsibility. Hubby would be devastated. How would I explain to BG that Super Dog was gone?!
I got ready for bed. Because no matter what, the kids were still going to be up and at 'em at 7am! I went to bed. But of course, I couldn't sleep. I got back up. I checked the front door again hoping he had come back. I prayed. I asked God for mercy for the dog (in case he'd been hit by a car). I apologized for having failed. Then I went back to bed and I cried. I felt so helpless. I couldn't be like the movie heroines and hop in the car to go find him; I had two sleeping kids in the house. I kept imagining how I would explain to social services that my dog was more important than my kids.
As I lay there crying, I kept thinking that "it didn't feel" like the dog was missing. I can't explain this feeling to you, but nothing felt wrong. I prayed some more. I considered horrible scenarios. I tried to imagine how he had gotten out. I wondered where he was... if he had found shelter. If he had managed to cross the street unharmed. I wondered where he would go. I figured that if he hadn't found shelter in someone else's home that he was still out there wondering around, in the rain.
So what would be the point of running away when he could get wet in our own backyard? He wasn't starving - I had fed him that morning. So he couldn't be looking for food. The more I thought about it, the more each scenario seemed really unlikely.
Then I remembered the last time I had seen him. I had been giving BG dinner when he came in. Of course he wanted what we were eating. I wasn't mean to him, but I was firm. Realizing he wasn't getting anything, he went back out. I gladly obliged. It's not easy feeding BG when he's hovering over her. As I remembered this I thought to myself that he had come in to say goodbye. I considered that he had been planning to leave. That was the reason he had not been coming IN the past couple of days.
Are you nutz??!!
Did I seriously think the dog was "planning" to leave us? I decided I had been hanging out with BG too much; my imagination was getting the best of me! I berated myself for going off the deep end; it was, after all, past two in the morning now. Then I remembered something else.
After he had come in, it had been about to rain and his other dog bed, that is usually on the deck, was in danger of getting wet. So, I had put it into the garage (which has a door to the backyard) to keep it dry. I hadn't checked the garage. It seems just as ludicrous as checking the basement, but, nevertheless, it was an option. I ran downstairs and opened the garage door.
At first I thought I was only imagining him there. But when I opened the door, he stood up as if to say, "Finally, you came to let me out." He had been huddled into a tiny ball on his dog bed in the garage!!
How the hell did he get in there???!
The only explanation is that I didn't close the door all the way... either that or he can turn door handles??
I was sooo happy to see him that I hugged him. He must've thought I was nutz! You see, I'm allergic to dogs so I don't normally handle him much. I hugged and kissed him... I gave him treats. He was happy too! We had a great reunion.
In my mind, I had lost him. In his mind, I was merely crazy.
I had not made God any promises I couldn't keep, but I had committed to paying more attention to him. He'll never know what happened that Saturday in the middle of the night, but he's definitely noticed a more attentive me. And he's certainly not complaining!
If you are ever in a lost/found pet situation there are a couple of things you can do:
That site I mentioned above is great but it's only good for people who know about it.
Posting easy to read fliers in common places such as the dog food aisle at the grocery store, gas stations, or pet stores.
Calling local emergency vets with full descriptions of your animal.
Working with the local animal control.
Checking local shelters, particularly within the first 72 hours.
Local road kill organizations should also be checked. They are not always good about reporting found animals to animal control.
Posting missing animal posters at local vets.
If you find a pet, you should consider taking it to a local vet. Often, pet owners "chip" their animals with their contact information. It's like pet-lojack and most vets have the ability to scan the animal and to read the chip.
If done quickly, you should also personally handout fliers in your neighborhood. Canvasing is the best way to get attention.
That site I mentioned above is great but it's only good for people who know about it.
Posting easy to read fliers in common places such as the dog food aisle at the grocery store, gas stations, or pet stores.
Calling local emergency vets with full descriptions of your animal.
Working with the local animal control.
Checking local shelters, particularly within the first 72 hours.
Local road kill organizations should also be checked. They are not always good about reporting found animals to animal control.
Posting missing animal posters at local vets.
If you find a pet, you should consider taking it to a local vet. Often, pet owners "chip" their animals with their contact information. It's like pet-lojack and most vets have the ability to scan the animal and to read the chip.
If done quickly, you should also personally handout fliers in your neighborhood. Canvasing is the best way to get attention.
I'm so glad you found him!!! How scary for you during the time when you thought he was gone! Thanks for sending this to me - great entry!
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Fortunately for us, our pug is quite vocal, so when he disappears behind closed doors (don't for a minute believe this whole lack of opposable thumbs garbage) we find him sooner rather than later. I can only imagine what you must have been feeling. So glad it all worked out!
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I don't care what people say- our pets are family too, and losing a member of the family (even temporarily!) can be heartbreaking. I am so glad that he is as smart as you say he is!!! What a wonderful story!
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