On Thursday morning my dog was startled by a noise and took off into the woods. 3 days 11 hrs later, during a sleet storm, he came home. I'd not known how stressed I was until he slept by my bed. I lay down on the floor and hugged him, and fell immediately and exhaustedly asleep beside him.
Glad he found his way back. Many years ago, we had an Corgi disappear overnight. The next day, my wife found him halfway up a tree that had partially blown down. I don't know who was more relieved, him or us.
We (thankfully) have migrated all of our cats inside. I used to worry for days when one didn't show back up at the regular time for food... I'm glad your friend found his way home.
I'm so glad he made it back. Doggos are so precious. I'm autistic, and my dog pretty much taught me how to love and connect with others. Their love for us is limitless and unconditional, and I find I can't help but reflect that love back. ♥️
Worrying about the ones you love IS stressful. You're helpless & you can't help imagining what might be happening to them.
And, well...you have a notable imagination.
Glad he's home safe and you can both rest safely with each other.
My dog just got out of the fence on Friday, and I'm frazzled trying to find her. She's 19 years old, very small, half blind and mostly deaf. When I find her, I'm definitely investing in one of these tracking devices. I'm so glad you found him!
Oh my goodness how stressful and upsetting, glad he is okay! My greyhound Tony slipped his collar and sprinted down the high street, gone so fast, a very kind stranger opened her car door and he jumped right in and kept him safe until we found them, a miracle he was okay. He now has a harness!
Much love to you and your pup, Neil. ❤️
It's devastating to lose a pet and friend like that, I'm glad he made it home safe and sound. If he could talk, I'm sure he'd have quite the adventure to tell you.
That's horrible.
A few months ago, for an excruciating twenty minutes or so, I was certain my dog had been stolen from my car.
Turns out someone thought he'd been abandoned and called the police, who took him and forgot to leave a receipt (as they're supposed to).
Agonizing.
I lived in the Rocky Mountains, my dog Omar was half wild & would disappear for days.
Once he came back with 200 porcupine quills in his face.
Another time he showed up with a whole deer’s leg. (Just prancing around with it like the treasure it was.)
I always worried, but he always came back.
I remember that feeling. My dog once bolted on the 4th of July in an unfamiliar (to him) place and was lost overnight. I was physically and emotionally exhausted. Glad your buddy is home safe!
Dogs absorb our needs and moods, and give back acceptance and affection. They’re really just for comfort (to me) and a house isn’t quite a home, without one. Glad your buddy came home
Stress usually catches up with people right after the cause of it is gone. Glad to hear that by then you already had an armful of fluff to keep you warm and safe!
I hear that. My beloved cat got out years ago and was found three days later stuck between two walls a block away. I was blown-egg empty from hunting for him. Firemen cut him free with a giant saw. We slept together like the dead that night. Hope you both sleep well tonight.
I looked after my sister’s bearded collie once. Doggo ran off & decided to become woman of the woods for a week in darkest North Yorkshire. A sight to behold when I finally caught up with her again. Glad your story ended well. The incumbent (who as you can see is not allowed on the sofa) sends hugs.
I can relate! 2 of my 3 cats ran away in 2020. We found one, wounded by a fox, after 10 days. We used a trap to catch the other one - he was gone for a month. (Now they have to wear collars with AirTags.)
sweet baby. We know how much we love them, but when there's a stretch of time where we think they're gone and we get them back? You never take another minute of that love for granted; it's always an active awareness of how deep that love is. Dogs are the best. We struggle to deserve them, I think.
So glad he came back!
My dog sitter lost my dog for a whole month in the Australian outback because she decided to take an impromptu trip without telling me. I think I was in a fugue state for most of that time.
Miraculously we found her alive after 32 days in the desert conditions.
Many years ago, my German Shepherd went missing after my mother left the gate open. He was only gone for about an hour but I felt like the worry aged me about 10 years.
(when I found him, he was happily rolling around in my neighbour's marigold garden about 2 houses down from ours)
I am so glad he is home and well! As dog owner myself I could feel a knot in my heart when I read the first few lines! That must have been some terrifying 3 days!
awww he looks like a very tired fluffy wolf.
my cat once ran away somewhere for 3 days due to fireworks and it was around -20C here at the time, scary days. thankfully he had a lot of fur keeping him warm enough (and was never allowed to go outside again on new years eve after that incident)
I've never experienced 3 days. I would have been out of my mind. But I have had it twice where I didn't know where they were and they ended up sitting at the front door.
Yes, I helicopter parent my animals these days.
Beautiful baby you have there.
Happy he came home. ❤️We use GPS Trackers with our dogs, main reason is my partner's Dachshund. That goofball is an escape artist. But we had to check on several systems to find the one that works in the woods where his hunting grounds are. Not that eypensive here in Germany and works fine.
Oh wow. I'm glad to see he came home. That's really scary when a pet goes missing for a good long while, but I'm sure he's happy get back home to you and to help ease the stress and sleeplessness you had going on
Animals are really sometimes amazing little guys they all can be.
(Sorry late to this)
My beautiful boy loves a little wild time in the woods behind our house. I know he’s extremely large and strong but it’s still nervewracking until he gets back.
I've been there man. It was 5 days, and we were *exhausted* when we found her. Slept like the dead that night, with her burrito'd next to us. So glad he's home ♡
One of the best ways (that worked for me) is to work the perimeter of the property over and over and over (if you are able) have never had a dog stray from it.
I know exactly what that feels like. My dachshund was gone three days, too. And many hours on two occasions. She always found her way back to me, but boy was is exhausting! The fear, the searching, the waiting. Glad it went well 💚
💜💜💜💜
I often think of your story about porch cat fighting off demons in the night
& often dream of my girl dog, Ophelia,
Waggly and happy to see us
But raggly and beaten from fighting off bad things
& keeping them in the spirit world
Same energy
🙏
So glad your dog returned safely! Long ago our beagle hound went missing for days. A boy found him injured in a ditch & took him to a vet. Beatle survived, lived to 17 years old and even played with my daughter 15 years after the accident.
I’m so glad he’s safe! My dog bolted once, she’s never been allowed off a leash since. It’s so scary, even the best trained dog can react on animal instincts. So glad for your happy ending.
He's sorry it took so long for him to get back, but he had to travel though time to save you and the Future—and dogs always have problems with Temporal Mechanics.
Now cats? They GET Time, Space, and Alternate Dimensions! Where do you think they go when you're about to take them to the V-e-t...?
It's great to hear that you both made it through well enough. I was a mess when our dog disappeared near the woods one night, and she wasn't missing for nearly that long.
Our dog ran off, spooked by fireworks. We also live in the mountains. It took 15 days and a cast of hundreds until we found her. We now have a Fetch tag. It will not locate your dog for you (because cell is useless). But it's good when the dog is found by someone. fetchsmart.com
Glad you got him back, man.
This just struck me, but have you considered attaching some kind of trackable luggage tag to his collar? Like an Airtag or a Tile? That way if he disappears again surfaces anywhere near a wifi signal, you might be able to track him down more easily.
What a relief for you both. If you’re interested, I highly recommend The Hidden Life of Dogs by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. If left to their own devices, many huskies would travel for miles before returning home. In the book, she follows a husky as he travels 130 miles to another town & back.
I'm glad your dog returned. That must have been awful for you.
But now that he's safe, ask yourself where he might've gone, what would've happened, and what will happen next if this were a Neil Gaiman story.
I'm so glad he came home safe.. I've got two bloodhounds and I terrified they'll escape and either get sniffing so much they walk right into the middle of the street or not realize they're lost until they are 50 miles away.
My stomach churns with what you had to go through.
SO relieved for you! My Shepherd ran off (before he was snipped) for a week and I was devastated!! He finally showed up and I learned there was a pack of dogs running around whooping it up. My Levi was one of them 🙄
We have used these for our cats for some time. They take a bit of getting used to and have a rather large scanner, but no gps, longish range and battery lasts a month. I tracked one of our cats to a farmhouse about 1.5km from home late one night, for example. www.com-spec.com/thecatlocato...
My late buddy, Zach, once got lost for 10 days in the DC suburbs, during a year with a huge March ice storm. A wrenching time. A neighbor kid saw him and one of our posters and we brought him home, where he lived for seven more wonderful years.
I'm so happy he's back. My dog got out of the front gate one night when it was -45c/-49f. My car wouldn't start. I tried to look for him for a while, but couldn't find him. A cpl hrs later I hear a bark at the front door. He had come home, walked into the house like nothing has happened.
I said stick you face close to that cage. He said hell no that dog will rip my damn face off!!! I said yeah you’re probably right now get the hell out of my way and before he could stop me I had my face pressed up against the fence getting my face licked off. Umm 🤔 I guess that is your dog he said.
Only problem was I’d been there two days earlier so I flipped their book open and shoved it in their face and said 5 days I don’t f’in think so home boy where’s my dog? They took me in back and I said that’s him. Then the guy said oh wait? All Rottweilers look the same how do I know that’s yours?
I have a story you may enjoy. My dog somehow got out and was missing for a week in Chicago and whenever you went to the pound they made you sign in before they’d let you in back to look. I got a call from them saying I owed them $200.00 for boarding and food for 5 days.
Oh what a good pup Neil, I’m so glad they came back. Always been afraid ours would do that but thankfully over the years she’s started to run towards the house when she’s spooked and not the other direction. But still, I worry.
Nothing quite like your furry family going missing like that. Glad your pups safe. We always had escape artist dogs and one in particular got out for a solid week. (She never ran away again after that time though only broke out of the yard and headed back up to the front door of the house lol)
I am so happy your pup came back. I lost my sweet,hilarious, sassy pup on June 25,2016,I will never forget that day, hours, days,I walked looking for him in the bush.I think a fisher got him,🥹 I turned my back for a few secs& he disappeared,it was 10pm@night.I think of him daily,hug your pup for me.
Awww so glad he's home ❤️ 4 years ago, this fuzzy buttcheek took off on me on our 1st day together - coldest part of the year! He spent 5 days running back and forth across the freshly frozen river before finally consenting to hop into the rescue lady's car and come home. I think we had to earn him.
I'm so glad you got him back! We lost our dog in the deep in the backcountry of BWCAW during a camping a few years back and it was days before we found her. I'll never forget our relief and joy when we got her back.
I’ve thankfully never had a pet go missing, but I’m sitting here listening to a deluge outside while keeping a sweet but slowly-dying cat company. I will miss her terribly when her time comes, and I’m happy and relieved to hear that your boy made it home.