Lost Dogs
I lost Rueben for 8 days. I had left him in the house. He ripped a dog door off the wall and went exploring. He started to follow a pick-up truck, I'm sure thinking it was me. He followed it too far, and was out of his home range. When I got home, I had a message on my answering machine that a Border Collie had been seen running toward town. I headed toward town, calling him and thought I could find him easily, but as it grew dark and no dog, I started to panic.
I was distraught. I bounced from wildly hopeful and determined to find him, to the depths of despair, sobbing for hours, sure I would never see him again.
One thing I learned is that you never know from where help will come. In my floundering, I sent an email to a group that I'm a member of. Not everyone even lived in my area, but a few did. A woman I had never met, emailed me back and offered to send me some material from a woman in another state who had dedicated herself to helping people find lost dogs. With the help and support of the two of them, and our wonderful local Animal Control Officer, I managed to stay more focused and kept going even when I was in a low point and felt it was hopeless.
On the eighth day, a call came that someone had just spotted him. I asked them to put out food and I rushed over. There was a dazed, starving, scruffy Border Collie wolfing down what the woman had put out for him. I called him and he slowly came to me. I collapsed in the street, hugging him to me and sobbing. The woman came out with more food in her hand that he grabbed from her.
I never would have found him if it hadn't been for the help I received, from strangers, and the support of our local ACO. And, of course, I have to thank the people who called the minute they spotted him.
I have asked the author of these pages if I could add them to my web site. She graciously granted me permission to post them here. I hope that anyone who ever has to go through this nightmare, might find these pages and find some direction on their search. I am always available to help by email and so is the author. Her email is below.
Best of all, I hope you never have to search for a lost dog. May they all be safe.
L