LOST DOG!!!
It was a normal day like any other day. I woke up and got ready for work. Woke my daughter who was on summer vacation from high school then headed off to work. My daughter would make sure the dogs were let out and taken care of. Business as usual. About 3:30 that day my daughter calls my cell repeatedly but I'm doing a presentation in a training class so I can't answer right away. Once I'm done I see she has sent a huge text...VERONICA IS MISSING!! I immediately call her while I'm grabbing my purse and heading for the door. She says she doesn't know what happened but the dogs somehow escaped our fenced yard and Veronica didn't come back! I'm in panic mode, trying to get home as fast as possible. When I get there she's no where to be seen. We scour the neighborhood, talking to neighbors, calling her name, walking everywhere and still nothing. It's like she just disappeared. We search until eleven o'clock that night and no sightings.
The next morning we immediately go to the local print shop and have fliers made. We go to the newspaper and place an ad for a lost dog. We walk the entire neighborhood posting fliers on every light pole, street sign and any business that will let us post one. We go to the animal shelter, every vet office and every groomer in the county to hand out fliers and see if anyone may have turned her in. I called the local police department to report her missing just in case they see her or have a complaint about a stray dog. We go door to door talking to anyone we can but no one has seen her. Some of my neighbors even joined the hunt looking for her but still nothing.
Day 2 and my daughter and I are up early, out on the road looking for Veronica. We searched all day, talked to everyone we saw and nothing. We came home around 3:30 for a break and my neighbor comes running to my door, she spotted Veronica!! She saw her running and bounding like a deer across the road and through her side yard down into the woods that separate our homes. We immediately go searching but she's already gone! We spoke to some children who were outside playing, they said they did see her and they tried to catch her but she just ran terrified of them. They say they couldn't even get near her. We continue looking and walking through the woods, hoping to spot her, every dark mass of leaves, fallen limb, dark stone starts to look like her with no luck of us actually seeing her.
Day 3 of her missing and I'm getting desperate to find her. By this time I've had a couple of neighbors say they have seen her but she's so terrified when she sees them she takes off. It's like hunting a ghost, neighbors are spotting her but I personally haven't seen a trace of her. I start looking for a search and rescue team who might be willing to come search for her. A local grooming shop had mentioned they heard of someone who does search for pets and was a local team. I was able to locate Smoky the Search Dog and her owner Keith Payne. She had a Facebook page so I contacted her through there and called her number she had listed. She called me back and we made plans to start searching that day. She and Smoky came over and Smoky found locked onto her sent.
We follow Team Smoky for hours searching for Veronica. Smoky follows her trail everywhere we have had sightings by neighbors. One spot in particular she keeps visiting. Keith (Smoky's owner) suggests we put a live trap in that spot baited with food to see if we can catch her. We also buy a trail camera and set it up by the trap to see if she comes by the area. Two days later and nothing, she's not caught and no images on the camera. I'm beginning to fear the worst, that we will never see her again and she will die of starvation or coyotes will kill her before we can find her. I try to stay positive but it's an emotional roller coaster, we have neighbors who have seen her but yet we have not put our eyes on her once. We've searched from 6am to midnight, sometimes later, walked miles on the roads, through the woods, thick underbrush, contacted every neighbor, every vet, every groomer, news channels, the local radio station, handed out/posted 300 hundred fliers, networked on Facebook, my co-workers and even my leadership team from work came out to help search for her all to no avail. She's gone.
It's almost a week of Veronica missing, it's Saturday, my son and I just came in from the heat, trying to cool off and re-hydrate before heading back out to search some more. My cell phone rings with a number I don't know so I answer. It's an older man who says he saw Veronica! He found her! He told me where he lived, about 2 miles from me, so we immediately jumped in my Jeep and took off. We pull up and he's outside but Veronica is no where to be seen. He says he saw her at 9am that morning, she was under his house barking, caught in a roll of barbwire he had under there. He said he cut her loose with wire cutters and let her go. She laid under his picnic table for a while but then took off. He said he didn't realize she was a lost dog until his wife came home and he told her about the dog stuck under their house. We look around his home for and under a couple of storage sheds he has just in case she's hiding but again, nothing.
We decide to head down to a walking trail by his home which we had visited many times before while searching for her. This trail cuts through the woods and comes out on the backside of my neighborhood where she had been seen a couple of times. We've searched the trail before with no luck. A gentleman pulls up in his truck with a very large black dog in the back, he slowly gets out, puts the leash on his dog and walks around the truck for a few minutes, his dog sniffing everywhere. My son and I just wait for him to head to the trail, we have fliers in hand ready to hand out. The pair make their way to us and we hand him a flier asking if he'd seen a black shaggy dog anywhere. He says, "No, but my dog was just up in the edge of the woods sniffing around a lot, he usually is in a hurry to get to the walking path for his walks but this time he wasn't, you might want to check over there." We thanked him for his time and walked over to the tree line, just staring into the trees, quietly listening for foot steps.
I decide to walk about 20 feet into the trees while my son stays back at the edge. We're just standing there, looking and listening. I have my back to my son when I hear him say "Well HELLO VERONICA!!!" I hear him say it but my brain isn't functioning, I'm turnaround thinking to myself "What is he talking about?" but then I see for myself. HE HAS VERONICA IN HIS ARMS!!! I'm dumbfounded, it's surreal, where did she come from?? How did he get her?? What is happening!?! I immediately asked, WHERE WAS SHE??? He said he heard something behind him, he thought it was the man we were just talking to a few minutes before so he turned around and there she was! Sitting at his feet! I couldn't believe it!! The only thing we can figure out is she heard us talking and walked out of the weeds to him. At this point none of it mattered because WE FOUND HER!!
We jumped in the Jeep and headed home, she stunk, BAD! She was emaciated and dehydrated, but the look on her face was of relief. I could see she was relieved and happy to see us. I'm not sure who was more relieved, me or her! Once we got her home and gave her water/food we started to see just how bad of condition she was in. She was matted, her gums were pale, she had a huge hole in her side and barbwire sticking out of her body, she had what looked like road rash on her hip where it appeared she had been been hit by a car. Her wounds were infected, her breath smelled like death and her body smelled like rotting meat, she was in bad shape. Off to the emergency vet where she was treated, wounds cleaned and antibiotics. Veronica is going to be okay.
She's healing and finally growing her coat back now. She was going to be my show dog but none of that matters. All that matters is that I have her back and she is okay. She's happy and I'm so happy to have her home. If it weren't for all the neighbors who kept an eye out for her, my co-workers who came out and searched or took the long way home to/from work just to drive through my neighborhood hoping to spot her, my kids who searched day and night and Smoky the search dog I truly believe I would not have found her. My teammates at work who all covered for me so I could search for her, words of encouragement from total strangers, text messages from people who had seen my fliers letting me know they were also out looking just to help out, everyone has been amazing. Words can not express how grateful I am to have had the help and support of everyone during this trying time. I appreciate you all! Thank you!
The next morning we immediately go to the local print shop and have fliers made. We go to the newspaper and place an ad for a lost dog. We walk the entire neighborhood posting fliers on every light pole, street sign and any business that will let us post one. We go to the animal shelter, every vet office and every groomer in the county to hand out fliers and see if anyone may have turned her in. I called the local police department to report her missing just in case they see her or have a complaint about a stray dog. We go door to door talking to anyone we can but no one has seen her. Some of my neighbors even joined the hunt looking for her but still nothing.
Day 2 and my daughter and I are up early, out on the road looking for Veronica. We searched all day, talked to everyone we saw and nothing. We came home around 3:30 for a break and my neighbor comes running to my door, she spotted Veronica!! She saw her running and bounding like a deer across the road and through her side yard down into the woods that separate our homes. We immediately go searching but she's already gone! We spoke to some children who were outside playing, they said they did see her and they tried to catch her but she just ran terrified of them. They say they couldn't even get near her. We continue looking and walking through the woods, hoping to spot her, every dark mass of leaves, fallen limb, dark stone starts to look like her with no luck of us actually seeing her.
Day 3 of her missing and I'm getting desperate to find her. By this time I've had a couple of neighbors say they have seen her but she's so terrified when she sees them she takes off. It's like hunting a ghost, neighbors are spotting her but I personally haven't seen a trace of her. I start looking for a search and rescue team who might be willing to come search for her. A local grooming shop had mentioned they heard of someone who does search for pets and was a local team. I was able to locate Smoky the Search Dog and her owner Keith Payne. She had a Facebook page so I contacted her through there and called her number she had listed. She called me back and we made plans to start searching that day. She and Smoky came over and Smoky found locked onto her sent.
We follow Team Smoky for hours searching for Veronica. Smoky follows her trail everywhere we have had sightings by neighbors. One spot in particular she keeps visiting. Keith (Smoky's owner) suggests we put a live trap in that spot baited with food to see if we can catch her. We also buy a trail camera and set it up by the trap to see if she comes by the area. Two days later and nothing, she's not caught and no images on the camera. I'm beginning to fear the worst, that we will never see her again and she will die of starvation or coyotes will kill her before we can find her. I try to stay positive but it's an emotional roller coaster, we have neighbors who have seen her but yet we have not put our eyes on her once. We've searched from 6am to midnight, sometimes later, walked miles on the roads, through the woods, thick underbrush, contacted every neighbor, every vet, every groomer, news channels, the local radio station, handed out/posted 300 hundred fliers, networked on Facebook, my co-workers and even my leadership team from work came out to help search for her all to no avail. She's gone.
It's almost a week of Veronica missing, it's Saturday, my son and I just came in from the heat, trying to cool off and re-hydrate before heading back out to search some more. My cell phone rings with a number I don't know so I answer. It's an older man who says he saw Veronica! He found her! He told me where he lived, about 2 miles from me, so we immediately jumped in my Jeep and took off. We pull up and he's outside but Veronica is no where to be seen. He says he saw her at 9am that morning, she was under his house barking, caught in a roll of barbwire he had under there. He said he cut her loose with wire cutters and let her go. She laid under his picnic table for a while but then took off. He said he didn't realize she was a lost dog until his wife came home and he told her about the dog stuck under their house. We look around his home for and under a couple of storage sheds he has just in case she's hiding but again, nothing.
We decide to head down to a walking trail by his home which we had visited many times before while searching for her. This trail cuts through the woods and comes out on the backside of my neighborhood where she had been seen a couple of times. We've searched the trail before with no luck. A gentleman pulls up in his truck with a very large black dog in the back, he slowly gets out, puts the leash on his dog and walks around the truck for a few minutes, his dog sniffing everywhere. My son and I just wait for him to head to the trail, we have fliers in hand ready to hand out. The pair make their way to us and we hand him a flier asking if he'd seen a black shaggy dog anywhere. He says, "No, but my dog was just up in the edge of the woods sniffing around a lot, he usually is in a hurry to get to the walking path for his walks but this time he wasn't, you might want to check over there." We thanked him for his time and walked over to the tree line, just staring into the trees, quietly listening for foot steps.
I decide to walk about 20 feet into the trees while my son stays back at the edge. We're just standing there, looking and listening. I have my back to my son when I hear him say "Well HELLO VERONICA!!!" I hear him say it but my brain isn't functioning, I'm turnaround thinking to myself "What is he talking about?" but then I see for myself. HE HAS VERONICA IN HIS ARMS!!! I'm dumbfounded, it's surreal, where did she come from?? How did he get her?? What is happening!?! I immediately asked, WHERE WAS SHE??? He said he heard something behind him, he thought it was the man we were just talking to a few minutes before so he turned around and there she was! Sitting at his feet! I couldn't believe it!! The only thing we can figure out is she heard us talking and walked out of the weeds to him. At this point none of it mattered because WE FOUND HER!!
We jumped in the Jeep and headed home, she stunk, BAD! She was emaciated and dehydrated, but the look on her face was of relief. I could see she was relieved and happy to see us. I'm not sure who was more relieved, me or her! Once we got her home and gave her water/food we started to see just how bad of condition she was in. She was matted, her gums were pale, she had a huge hole in her side and barbwire sticking out of her body, she had what looked like road rash on her hip where it appeared she had been been hit by a car. Her wounds were infected, her breath smelled like death and her body smelled like rotting meat, she was in bad shape. Off to the emergency vet where she was treated, wounds cleaned and antibiotics. Veronica is going to be okay.
She's healing and finally growing her coat back now. She was going to be my show dog but none of that matters. All that matters is that I have her back and she is okay. She's happy and I'm so happy to have her home. If it weren't for all the neighbors who kept an eye out for her, my co-workers who came out and searched or took the long way home to/from work just to drive through my neighborhood hoping to spot her, my kids who searched day and night and Smoky the search dog I truly believe I would not have found her. My teammates at work who all covered for me so I could search for her, words of encouragement from total strangers, text messages from people who had seen my fliers letting me know they were also out looking just to help out, everyone has been amazing. Words can not express how grateful I am to have had the help and support of everyone during this trying time. I appreciate you all! Thank you!
Veronica one week before she went missing.
Veronica's missing poster and Smoky the Search Dog with handler Keith Payne setting up the live trap.
Veronica within minutes of being found. That's the barbwire sticking out of her. Veronica sleeping on the couch after being treated.