I Was Not Prepared for This

I Was Not Prepared for This

 

Sunday, April 15

Sunday night, April 15, I was preparing for bed, just like many other Sunday nights.  At about 10:00 p.m., Almondine and Whisper were in the hallway as I exited the bathroom.  They quickly headed downstairs so that they could run outside and play until the last possible moment that I came down to shut the patio door for the night.  Around five minutes later, I went to bring them in and close up for the night.  No Whisper.  No Almondine.

In the past I’ve had some heart-stopping moments where I thought a dog was missing, but found her a short time later snoozing behind a chair or exploring under the deck.  In other instances, a dog has actually gotten out of the yard though a broken fence, but he immediately comes back to the house when called.  In one case, I thought two of my dogs were lost or stolen, but that turned out to be a mistake with a happy ending [See the March 2017 post, “Lost Dogs (sort of)”].

I was certain they had to be in the house or yard somewhere.  Not finding them inside, I grabbed a flashlight and went out to the backyard.  All under-deck access was still blocked from the last time a dog had managed to get underneath.  Then I remembered that there was a section of fence that had been blocked and then covered by a piece of panel.  During some recent heavy rain, the panel had loosened and then fallen.  I knew I would need to replace it when we had a break in the weather, but I thought the previous block/repair was still intact.  When I couldn’t find the girls, I discovered that they could have been able to get through that spot.  A loose section of fence was able to be pushed out, and they could have – must have – escaped from that spot. 

From previous experience with different dogs, I figured they would be right outside the fence or around front, certainly no farther than a neighbor’s yard or two away.  Not so.  No Whisper.  No Almondine.

Currently, I live in a neighborhood with areas I don’t feel safe walking in broad daylight.  Sunday night that did not matter.  I grabbed one of my other dogs and headed out.  I was frightened, but I had to find my dogs.  We walked for hours to no avail.  No Whisper.  No Almondine.

Monday, April 16

On Monday morning, a Facebook friend who saw my lost-dog post suggested that I post on the Nextdoor app.  I’d never heard of it, but signed up immediately and posted about my lost dogs.

I am truly lucky to be Facebook friends with someone who is very experienced in lost-dog searches.  Not only did Sheilah send me a great deal of information, she also improved my full-page flyer, and she created a quarter-page flyer to hand out to people.

Since my printer was out of ink, I went to print flyers at the office where I work.  I am blessed to work with understanding bosses and co-workers!  I left my cell phone on my desk while I went to cut down the quarter-page hand-out cards.  When I returned to my desk, I saw that I had just missed a call at 8:57 a.m. At 8:59, I checked my voice mail and received a message from someone who had seen my post on Nextdoor.  One of the dogs had been sighted only a few minutes ago!  I raced out the door to the car and drove to the location.

There was Almondine!  Because lost dogs can become “feral” very quickly, I really did not expect her to come to me.  She watched me warily, and then moment by moment, she began to relax. First, there was an expression of disbelief, then one of excitement and happiness as she ran to me.  I put the slip lead around her neck, and she joyfully bounced to the van with me.

I called the office to let them know I had one of the dogs and asked one of my co-workers to tag me in a Facebook post with an update.  The time was 9:13 a.m.  I couldn’t believe the entire event took less than 15 minutes.

Several sightings were reported later in the day, but all were from earlier in the morning:

• ·   Both girls had been spotted on someone’s porch around 5:30/6:00 a.m., a few streets over from where I eventually picked up Almondine.
• ·   A dog had been seen at 9:30 a.m. at nearly the same intersection where Almondine had been located.  If the woman had the time correct, this would definitely have been Whisper since Almondine had been picked up about 15 minutes prior to the sighting.  (After learning that information, I felt horrible that Whisper had possibly seen me pick up her mother, but she was left behind.)
• ·   Received a voicemail from someone who said she saw my dog (singular) at 8:00 a.m. a couple miles further away from home than the other sightings.  That one doesn't jive with the other sightings, but I’m not ruling it out.

My dear friend, Kelley, and her husband, Rick, came over and drove around, handing out flyers and hoping for a sighting.  Kathilyn and Lynnette also came and drove around.  Sue (who stayed so long that she was late for a meeting) came and helped me hang up flyers, which turned into a two-person job because of the cold and strong wind.  Trying to pull a flyer out of the clipboard, hold it up, and staple it before it could blow away was definitely a challenge. 

A friend—someone I trust—whose dog Nova has had some experience tracking lost pets came over after she was done with work for the day and brought a friend of hers along.  You have to be careful about lost-pet tracking scams, but Dawna is not the kind of person to say, “Oh, hey, my dog can find your lost pet.”  She is honest and upfront about what may or may not happen.

Nova identified a location that he was insistent was a “hot spot.”  I brought Almondine over, and she, too, was very interested in the area.  We put food out, and I went home and got one of the dogs’ stinky blankets to put out.  I drove back over several times, but there was no sign of Whisper, and nothing had eaten the food.

Tuesday, April 17

More visits back to the “hot spot” elicited no results.  Strangely, the food was still there.

Kelley & Rick and Kathilyn did more driving around.  Kelley & Rick actually came over twice on Tuesday and spent several hours searching on each trip.

I spent the day handing out more flyers and walking, walking, walking…  Almondine was an absolute trooper through this whole thing.  I took her with me in the hope that she would catch the scent of Whisper, or that Whisper would catch our scent.

I realize now that I should not have been walking aimlessly around those areas because it could have been confusing for Whisper if she were to catch my or Almondine’s scent and try to follow it.

Another reported sighting in the opposite direction from all previous sightings.  The woman was positive it was Whisper she saw at 7:10 a.m. on the corner of a busy intersection.  She was afraid that the dog was going to get hit.

Sheilah was mapping reported sightings, and she sent me four routes to walk in hopes that Whisper would pick up my scent and follow me home.  Late Tuesday evening, Almondine and I walked three of the routes, and I messaged Sheilah of a couple other routes I planned to walk on Wednesday based on other sightings.

All of the reported sightings were from Monday.  No sightings were reported for Tuesday. 

Wednesday, April 18

On Wednesday morning, I had to go back to work, but before I headed to the office, I drove around and handed out more flyers.  I checked out the “hot spot” again and was stunned that nothing – not Whisper, not a squirrel, nor raccoon, nor possum – had yet eaten the food we left out Monday evening.

I spoke to someone who reported yet another Monday sighting.  There were no reported sightings of her after 9:30 a.m. on Monday.  She had either hunkered down into hiding or moved out of the area.  I had no idea which direction to go next to start posting more flyers.

At this point, exhaustion was playing on my senses, and I began to doubt that I would ever see Whisper again.  Sheilah told me that the average lost-dog search lasts from 11 to 21 days, so I tried to hold onto hope.

Wednesday was our “Staff Appreciation Day” at the office, so it was a half-day of work, then a long lunch at a nice restaurant, followed by the rest of the day off.  After catching up on office e-mail and a couple other tasks, I went out to the main office, where I explained to my boss and co-workers my plan for the day.  I was going to stay at the office until I finished one project that needed done, and that I was going to skip the lunch to go home and lay more tracks trying to lead Whisper home, and then go to the laundromat (which I really needed to have done on Monday!)  I figured I could take advantage of the time waiting for clothes to wash and dry by e-mailing flyers to vets’ offices.

During our conversation, my cell phone rang.  I ran to answer it.  It was someone who lived on my street, saying that she just saw my dog!  She told me where she had seen her and which direction she was traveling.  I yelled out to my co-workers that there was a sighting and that I was leaving everything at my desk.  They yelled back, “Go!  Go!  Call us!”

I work not far from the location of the sighting, but as I was driving, I realized that I had forgotten to ask which side of the street she was on.  However, it wasn't long before I saw her on my side of the street, in the yard of a house on a corner.

I turned the corner onto the dead-end street, threw the car into park, and jumped out.  Thankfully, Whisper was curious enough to come over to me, but, unfortunately, she was extremely spooked. I crouched down low and let her sniff me all over. She recognized me, but was still very hesitant.  I managed to get a slip lead on her, but she was too frightened to walk with me, so I carried her to the van.

Whisper was still scared when we got home and would have run away from me if she could have. I carried her into the house, shut the door, and set her down. She was actively sniffing and looking around, and with each sniff, she realized a little more that she was home and got super excited, though she was still a little skittish of me.

I went and let Almondine out of her crate, and after those two had a party, Whisper warmed up to me a little more.  I let the other dogs out of my bedroom and there was another big party. After that, she was back to herself.

I let her chill for a little bit and then went back to work – just in time to go to our staff appreciation lunch after all :D

That afternoon, Sheilah sent me found-dog flyer/banners to replace my Facebook cover photo.

The sighting was called in to me at 9:14 a.m.  When I called the office to let them know I had her and was headed home, it was 9:26.  Twelve minutes.  Amazing!

Summary

In my opinion, I have experienced a miracle.  To have BOTH dogs home safe and unharmed, and for each recovery to have happened in the manner it did and as quickly as it did is incredible.  I have friends whose lost-dog stories did not turn out so well, and my heart aches for them, as I am sure they relive their own tragedies each time they see and share a lost-dog post on Facebook.

My utmost gratitude to the people who called in sightings… I do not know all of your names, but you are my heroes.  Sheilah, Kelley & Rick, Dawna with Nova, Sue, Kathilyn, Lynnette – I extend my heartfelt gratitude to each of you.  I am also extremely grateful to Mary, who suggested the Nextdoor app, which directly led to the recovery of Almondine.  A huge thank you to my bosses and co-workers – especially Amanda, Craig, Miranda, and Brittany – who were generous in allowing me time off to search, letting me print flyers at the office, and covering for me while I was away.  Many, many thanks to those who offered to help (Kristina even offered to drive to Ohio from Kentucky!), and to everyone who shared the flyer on social media and who sent good thoughts and prayers.  I am truly overwhelmed.  I pray that I have not missed anyone.  I am still fighting exhaustion, and it is difficult to relive these frightening days, so please know that if I did forget to name someone, it was certainly not intentional!

I was really not prepared for this, so here’s my take away from the event:

•  PRE-prepare lost-dog flyers, and periodically update the photos.  I used to keep flyers ready but hadn’t done it for several years.  It feels really creepy to create them when you don’t need them, but, trust me, I wish I would have been able to save the time trying to find photos and creating the flyers.  I would make a simple flyer with the photo(s), your phone number, and space to type in the location from which they were lost.  I had too much information on my original flyer, and Sheila improved it for me.  There is one thing I wish I would have added, though, and that is the phrase, “Call ANY time – day or night!”
  
• Have your dog’s rabies certificate and microchip numbers handy.  I used to have all this information filed for easy locating; however, things have been disorganized lately, and I had a hard time locating some of what I needed.  If either of them had been picked up by Animal Control, I’m sure I would have needed proof of rabies vaccine in order to bring them home.
• Ask friends to hang up flyers.  Map out areas and assign to volunteers to hang up flyers.  Not only will this make it easier to find the flyers and take them down once your dog is home, it will also prevent you from leaving a confusing scent trail for your dog should s/he try to follow it.
• If you are going to create a Facebook page for the lost dog, ask a friend to maintain it.  I was too inundated and exhausted to post anything there after the initial page creation.
• Check your fence regularly!  Especially ensure that previous repairs are still holding up.
• Collars and tags…  This is a tough one for me.  I do not keep collars on my dogs when they are at home.  They play really rough and grab each other by their ruffs all the time.  After reading a multitude of horror stories of dogs getting tangled up in collars – jaws broken and/or strangled to death – and my own experience of having a dog get a collar caught on a crate, I no longer keep collars on my dogs unless we are going out. 
  
  A side note:  One person who was assisting in the search acted like I was the worst dog owner on the planet because I did not keep collars on my dogs 24/7/365.  When I explained the above, she wanted to know what kind of statistics there were on that because she’s never had a problem.  [Here is a link with an example of why i don't keep collars on my dogs at home:  https://www.facebook.com/PreventPetSuffocation/photos/a.390836330988635/929090400496556/?type=3&theater] And when she learned that they are not spayed, her previous low estimation of me dropped even lower.  Despite her previous interest in statistics, she didn’t seem interested in new research that, while spaying can prevent pyo and some forms of cancer, it may result in other types of cancer.  “Well, all of my dogs have been spayed, and I’ve never had a problem.”  This woman was a stranger to me, a friend of someone who saw my post on the Nextdoor app. Despite our difference of opinion, I am sincerely grateful for her taking the time to search for a stranger’s lost dog.   
  
  This was in addition to the person who told me on Monday afternoon that if my other dog hadn't yet been found, someone must have her, and they've probably left the country with her by now.  <sigh>

These are only a handful of suggestions.  Please feel free to post you favorite ideas in the comments.  (BTW, negative, accusatory comments will be removed.)

Future follow up

And here’s the part that made my blood absolutely boil... 

I attempted to sign up for found-dog notifications through Pet Harbor, but I discovered they apparently believe that breeders do not deserve to have their lost pets returned.  From their lost-dog registration page:  “We do not accept information from pet stores or breeders. By the transfer of information to us you are certifying that you do not represent a pet store or breeder.” 

Yes, they are going to get a message from me – and, I believe, from several of my friends…

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Cherish your dogs... you never know when it might be your last opportunity.

MDW