Lost Pup and Found

I woke up around 2am to find the house quiet as usual. I got up and went to the bathroom and tried to snuggle back down in my blankets before the warmth had left them. I turned my heating pad back on and stared at the ceiling.

Kitty, my lab, roused herself. Whenever I stir in the early morning, she feels that it is time for breakfast. It doesn’t matter if it one, two, three in the morning. If I’m up, she’s up and she means business. If I’m still up at four in the morning, I’ll feed them.

I turned the TV back on to re-watch another episode of Downton Abbey. Laying there, the time ticked away. Nothing seemed amiss.

Kitty stared at me for another few hours. Finally, I had to pee again and this time it was 4am. She leapt off the bed and turned in circles at the thought of being fed. She pounced arounds and dreuled. My sock soaked up a spot of her slobber as I walked to the kitchen to dish out the breakfast.

Kitty sat proudly in front of her bowl as I carefully scooped her allotted amount. She waited until I said she could eat and started to chow down.

This is when I noticed something wasn’t right.

Eddie was missing.

Bella was by her food bowl that she shared with Eddie but Eddie was nowhere to be seen. I fed Bella and began searching for Eddie.

My first thought was, “If he didn’t come for food, he had to have died in the night.” I searched my bed for a dead white lump. I didn’t find it.

I went to the back yard to check the back gate. It was secured. I turned on my phone light and flashed it in the pool to see if he had drowned.

He was nowhere.

I put on my shoes and a hoodie and started out the door. I walked the neighborhood shouting his name.

At this point, it occurred to me that he Houdinied himself when my roommate came home the night before through the garage. The wind was blowing and the door into the house had not closed. He made his great escape while she was unpacking.

I was upset that neither of us noticed that he was not in the house.

Unless there is someone coming in or food is being made, Eddie is a quiet dog. He is always at rest and licking something. I couldn’t believe I didn’t notice.

After about thirty minutes of walking around in the dark, I came back to the house. I got into the truck and drove around for another thirty minutes. Finally, I decided to make flyers. I figured it was a better use of my time. My roommate woke up and found out what had happened. She took off in the truck and searched for him.

Once the sun came up, it was a mad search of calling out and putting up of flyers. I printed twenty flyers and we drove around for a few hours. My moms and son came over to help out. I tried to print more flyers and ran out of ink. My mom went to the store and had flyers printed.

I went to facebook and joined a lost dogs group. Once I was accepted and posted Eddie’s story, I got some leads.

Somebody reported a small white dog had been picked up from a North Las Vegas police station that morning and was enroute to the animal shelter.

I called the shelter. They were taken aback by how I thought the nondescript dog could be mine but I just knew. She said she required photos and documentation since he was not chipped or had no collar.

I emailed her several photos, shot records and a detailed description which included, “He had no teeth except one in the front and two in the back.”

Immediately I got a response. “We have your dog.” Two seconds later I got a phone call. “Let’s make an appointment so you can pick up your dog.”

Relief coursed through me. That dog. Dogs are amazing. You love them. You care for them. They make you mad. They are your children. They get excited to see you when you are gone. Or is it just because you feed them? Who knows?

When I picked Eddie up from the shelter, it cost me $70 to bail him out. It was well worth it. They chipped him and gave him a new tag along with some other fees.

That little stinker didn’t even wag his tail when he saw me. He didn’t seem the least excited that I had sprung him from jail. It was just like a normal day.

He was however excited about the car ride home.