A Girl and Her Dog

I lost Rudy for a while tonight.

I was terrified.  This has never, ever, happened with him.

Rudy is what I call a "velcro dog", meaning he never leaves my side. He follows me everywhere, sleeps in our bed (much to Craig's chagrin), and he thinks he's human/kangaroo (you should see his leap).  And if I'm not home?  He's right next to Craig and Murray.  He was my Mom's dog for many years, but when she died, I wouldn't let anyone else take him.   He is still my Mom's dog, but he's mine by proxy.

I digress.  He scared the life out of me today.  Here is what happened:

Rudy and his foster sister, Emma, were in our fenced-in back yard while I was making a late dinner for Craig and myself. The hounds tend to be a bit of a tripping hazard in the kitchen, so I put them outside until I was ready to serve supper to all humans and canines.   When I went to bring both dogs back into the house, Emma pranced in, but Rudy wasn't there. 

Again, this has never, ever happened with our Rudy.  If any of the two dogs were going to bolt, it would have been ten month old Emma (our foster).

I was frantic. I checked both gates, and they were secure.  There were no signs of digging under the the fence, so I could only derive that Rudy had finally gotten brave enough to leap the four foot fence.

Craig wasn't home yet, so I couldn't go looking for Rudy, because Murray was already in bed.  I was sick to my stomach at the thought of losing our gentle giant. 

My neighbors were on vacation, so no help there, either.  I called our local radio station -  who are famous for "pet patrol" -  and listed my information. I was ready to call the local vets and pounds, when I heard the sweet sound of a familar, sharp bark.  My heart soared.

Yep, it was my Rudy, standing outside of the gate, looking at me with a silly grin that told me that he had a had a pretty great romp into unknown territory. I wondered how many squirrels and rabbits he  had "played too hard" with on his adventure.  He may have made me crazy scared, but I just couldn't be mad at him, because after all, he came back.

  He was pretty tired after his adventure:

From now on, I think we need a higher fence.  Old dogs CAN learn new tricks.