A little over a week our pet Boxer, an AKC-Registered 2-year old spayed female, escaped through our yard gate and left for parts unknown leaving behind her companion, a 7-month Beagle. She had all of her tags attached.
For days we searched the area shuddering at the thought of the inclement weather moving in and the below freezing nights to come. We wondered if she had been hurt, struck by a motorist or injured in a fight with another dog. We imagined her being taken by someone as their newly adopted pet, a thought that I much preferred over the alternatives above. Our 5-year old daughter was perhaps the most concerned though oblivious to the possibility that "Flash" may never come home. She worried, peered out of windows, and spoke constantly of her.
During her absence I asked our local convenience store near the corner of Fountain Mesa Road and Comanche Village if they would put up a poster of her in their window. They did so without hesitation.
I reported her lost to the Humane Society and searched both their on-line database of found strays and visited twice, each time touring the "not-yet-listed" pets found, those waiting processing.
I called the local vets and the non-profit animal groups, each time hoping that she had been found and each time learning she had not been.
During one of my many "drive-arounds" searching for her I spoke with a Fountain Police Officer on patrol. He wrote down her information and said he too would call us if he saw her.
Everyone we encountered, neighbors, business owners, police officers, strangers to whom we passed out flyers, and even the local kids were all willing to keep an eye out for her.
For 7-days not an hour passed without thinking of her and wondering if I should once again drive the area, day or night. Every bark in the night sounded like hers making for more than a few sleepless nights.
This morning I was reaching for my tenth or so cup of coffee when our garage motion sensor sounded its dutiful "beep". I opened the door expecting to see the usual blowing leaf or errant piece of trash passing by but instead looked down to see "Flash". She sat their wagging her nub of a tail looking the same as the last time I saw her, a little thinner perhaps.
It made our daughters day. My fiancée, asleep upstairs, was soon awoken by the thumping of a 50-pound Boxer bouncing across the bed. Our Beagle was none the less thrilled jumping up and down as if he had just managed to slide a nice T-Bone off of our grill.
Normality had returned. "Flash" is playing in the yard while being followed with every step by the much smaller Beagle. Our daughter watches them play, saving her mom and I from being the sole source of her entertainment, and even our neighbor's dogs seem happier than they had in the past few days. Me, I'm back to cursing the task of cleaning the yard with the "pooper-scooper" and the occasional yell out the window to tell the dogs not to chew on the lawn furniture. Life is good; normality has once again blessed our household.
It's been a trying week but I learned a few things. I learned that most people are willing to help and that most love pets. I learned the strength of our little community here and met good people whom I may not otherwise have met. I learned that we've some fine organizations out there who work tirelessly to help our pets, and I learned how important those who we sometimes take for granted really are.
As for "Flash", she's back to her old routines, none the worse off. She must have learned a few things too for she found her way back to us after 7 long nights.
To all of those who shared our concern, the convenience store clerks, the police officers, the staff of the El Paso County Humane Society, our friends, and those we met for the first time, thank you so much.The caring and concern showed by all helped make a difficult time bearable and continually offered us hope. You also showed us that living in Fountain is wonderful in part exemplied by this story, a community of people willing to go out of their way to help a stranger look for his dog.
Thank you.