Hi. I've been reading the L for almost a year now and just had to send along my good wishes to Kristin and Yukon. I cried tears of joy when I read about Yukon being lost and found as it reminded me of when we lost our Riley last Easter.
We rehomed Riley in January 2002 when he was 18 months old. My husband's daughter, Sue, treated us to a week-end in Carmel over Easter. On Saturday night, about midnight, John took Riley out before bed. Something spooked him and he bolted yanking the leash from John's hand and at the same time bashing his hand into a metal railing. John came back to the B&B to stop the bleeding. He expected Riley to be there as he had run in that direction. No luck. I got up, dressed and all night we walked the streets around the area calling for Riley. No sign of him. I called the Police Department and they put out an APB but hour after hour they did not find him. About 4:30 AM we lay down, but no sleep--up every 15 minutes looking out the door--no Riley. At 7:00 AM I called the SPCA they suggested a Lost Dog Flyer. The B&B very graciously lent me their computer and any office supplies, copying, etc. that I needed to post flyers all over town. Merchants were also willing to have flyers posted in their windows and doors. Meanwhile Sue and friends were driving around town calling for Riley. I stayed by the phone getting more and more anxious by the minute. Sue came to get me around 11:00 AM and took we to a place she thought a dog might find interesting if not comforting if he were lost and confused--a wooded area behind a school (where discarded lunches might be found) with a creek. We stopped at every phone pole to post a sign and every time I called "Riley". Then there he was coming down the road! At first I couldn't believe my eyes. I knelt down in the middle of the street to hug him close bawling my eyes out. He looked at me as if to say, "Where have you been? I've been looking for you." Traffic was stopped in both directions and when the drivers were told of the reunion, there was applause (no kidding). Everyone in town knew that Riley was missing and these people witnessed his being found. These were the worst 12 hours of my life--the uncertainty was terrible. However, Riley now does not let us out of his sight. Hug your berners. Rita & Riley Oakland, CA ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2002 2:18 PM Subject: Lost Berner - Happy Ending! > Hug them tight!!! Last night 8 month old Yukon got lost. My husband had him on leash three doors down from our house. Our neighbor inadvertantly swung a plastic garbage barrel out of his alley and hit Yukon right in the face. This spooked him and he took off like there was no tomorrow. Hubby standing on ice lost his footing and also the leash! As Yukon neared the corner he met with a very tough German Shepard (free roaming) and ran further and faster. I live in Boston - big city blocks and lots of traffic. Long story short 4 & 1/2 hours of 6 people out searching I found him. The flexilead was so heavy it got wrapped around a pole and he was stuck. I was in my car and said I would take one more ride up and down each street calling his name. The 2nd to last street I'm coming up a hill and yelling Yukon then stopping to listen and all of a sudden I saw that cute black head stick up from the snow! You would have thought I'd hit the 300 million Powerball. I'm crying and he was like a crazy man!!!! I have neve felt so happy - better than my wedding day - but don't tell my hubby! As bad luck would have it - on Thursday he broke his collar and lost his ID tag. More bad luck - He was microchipped earlier that morning but it wasn't registered yet! Talk about ironic. Anyway - all paws were bloodied but just one nail still a bit sensitive today. Quite skittish around strangers! What happened to him? Where was he? One question - does driving around in six different cars yelling his name confuse him and possibly get him more lost? I started thinking I was doing more harm than good as I'm on one block yelling "Yukon" then three minutes later another block. What if he was trying to get to me and I kept moving? Well I had a happy ending thank God as I couldn't imagine getting up today without him! Hug all your Berners extra today for me! > > Kristin O'Neill > South Boston, MA > Yukon >
