Let me start this 3-Part Series by introducing you to Charlie. (Yes, he has his own Facebook page because his antics are bordering legendary.) He is a 3-year old Blue-Tick Coonhound which I adopted from a local shelter in August 2014. Among his many 'talents', Charlie is an escape artist and, frankly, his skills rank rather close to Houdini.
Now, before I get into the 'Right' and 'Wrong' way to find your dog, I need to bore you with a short 'Charlie story'. I share it as an illustration, so stick with me.
Charlie has escaped our fenced yard 5 times since I brought him home. Each time, he has used a different exit. Most times, he just went to visit the next-door neighbor and I was able to get him right away. However, Charlie decided to celebrate his 1st anniversary as a member of our family by squeezing himself under the fence and taking a 10-day vacation by himself.
What made it worse - I saw him do it! It was 10:30 pm when I discovered him standing in the neighbor's yard. I bolted out the door and tried to coax him back. But, he must have thought I was playing and scampered down the street. Of course, I tried to catch him. I chased him down the pebbled street in my bare feet and watched as he ran into the woods. Then, "POOF!" my predominantly black dog disappeared among the trees, brush, over-growth and darkness of night.
Frantically, I walked the tree line calling his name. I went back to the house, got his favorite squeaky toy (a Red Fox) and went back to pace the treeline begging him to come to me. Desperate, I posted "HELP ME FIND CHARLIE" on my Facebook page and a couple of friends responded by joining me in my search.
At one point, Charlie popped out of the woods and stood in the middle of the street. My friend saw him and gave chase....he ran.
By 2:30 am, there had been no more sightings and my friends had to go home. I continued walking through the neighborhood until almost dawn. I continued calling his name and squeaking his toy. I wandered through people's backyards, front yards, across fields, around trees, poked through gardens while randomly criss-crossing streets as I went. (and, yes, one of my neighbor's did call the police to report a crazed woman in her yard. When the officer arrived, I tried to convince him to help me search and was personally shocked when his efforts were not as committed or extensive as my own).
As the sun began to peek through, I decided to return home to draft flyers to plaster around the community. You should have seen them (my flyers). I thought they were masterpieces, detailing every known fact I could think of including a brief life history (to convey how special Charlie was) and every identifying mark on him.
While I was waiting for my masterpieces to complete printing (a couple 100 copies), I began reading some of the responses to my Facebook post. I was desperately looking for any sightings, but there were none. Instead, several of my friend's had suggested I contact an organization located here in the Mid-Atlantic, called Dogs Finding Dogs, which uses K-9 tracking to locate missing pets (of all kinds).
Now, I know if you are still reading this it is probably because you love your animals as much as I love mine. Charlie is like my son....who just happens to wear a fur-coat 24-7-365 (minor details). Anyway, someone suggesting I hire a K-9 group to track down my son did not seem at all excessive for this frantic mother - so, I called....and, this is where my education began!
I spoke to a very compassionate, understanding woman, who happened to be the Director of the Organization. She listened to me re-play every single detail of the ordeal starting from moment one. She asked specific questions and spoke with authority which clearly came from extensive experience and multiple success stories. However, there was one thing she made perfectly clear -
JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING I DID WAS WRONG!
Yes, you read that correctly - just about everything I did was wrong!
And, this is why I had to bore you with my 'Charlie story' because everything I did is exactly what most people do when their pet goes missing: GO OUT AND FRANTICALLY LOOK FOR THEM!
No comments:
Post a Comment