Lost and Found

I lost the dogs. That was what Alex kept telling me last week. The lost dog situation began about 2 weeks ago; I was taking the kids to the bus stop, and as usual we were in a hurry. In my mind NOTHING could be more tragic than missing the bus. Anyway, in my rush I forgot to close the garage door. At night we put the dogs in the garage in a little 'kennel' thing Troy made. I usually put them in the backyard when I get back from the bus stop. Well, on this particular day when I got back from the bus stop I immediatly noticed the dogs were not in their enclosement. I was really ticked off because I did not have time for this. It was enrichment that night and I was in charge of decorations, the food and a few ladies were meeting me at the church that morning to start setting up. I drove around town a little and didn't see them. I knew that Sasquatch's nose just takes over and who knows how far he would run. So I went back home and got ready, and spent a little more time driving around before I went to the church. I think in the back of my mind I thought they'd come back or someone would find them. That's what's happened in the past anyway. I was frustrated that the one day that I wasn't going to be home all day, was when I felt like I needed to be home. Troy and the kids were very sad when I told them. We went along with life...everyone hoping but not expecting them to come back. After a couple days Troy and I just knew they were gone. Devon was especially sad, he said he didn't want to look at any pictures of them, and when we were cleaning up the backyard for FHE he was sad cleaning up their chew toys. It was sad. I have been and always will be more of a cat person, but I do like those dogs a lot. Sasquatch's only fault is when his smelling/running instincts take over. Nessie is the sweetest dog. She is very obedient and always comes when we call her. She just follows Sasquatch when he starts running. She used to be a chewer, but seems to have outgrown that. Other than the occasional hole being dug in the yard, they are very good dogs. Anyway, a week goes by and I kept wondering where they could be. We put up fliers, we called all the local animal shelters, and vets...we felt like we had done all we could. Last Friday I got a call from the animal shelter in The Dalles. The lady said they recieved a call from a guy who found some dogs that matched our dogs descriptions and she was wanting my permission to give the guy my phone number. So of course I said yes, and a few minutes later the guy called me. He said the dogs wandered onto his ranch the day before and looked pretty worn out. He put them in his barn and fed them. I drove out there, - 'out there' being about 12 miles north of Lyle in the hills on an obscure dirt road, -and sure enough it was them! Hooray! I took them home and they were so happy. They were so exhausted though. Their paw pads wore worn raw and a little bloody, so they could barely walk. They looked dirty, hungry and smelled of skunk. They were covered in ticks. We probably pulled 50 ticks out of them. I hate those things. But they were home. They've pretty much been sleeping and sleeping and eating since they got back. It's like we can literally see the relief in the eyes. Who know how many miles they actually trekked and what things they encountered. The rancher who found them said he was surprised they weren't shot by other ranchers, or killed by coyotes. So that's the dog saga. The kids and Troy were so happy to have them back. Everyone keeps reminding me not to forget to close the garage door in the morning. We are glad they are home, although I have to admit, I was thinking about all the good things to not having dogs....saving $ on dog food, no poop in the yard, no holes to fill in, no wondering what to do with them when we're out of town....but I have to say I'd rather have them back than all those things. It just took losing them for a week to realize that.