Having just endured the most hellish 24 hours of my life there were a couple of things I wanted to say. First of all, THANK YOU to you all for your kind words of encouragement, best wishes, and prayers for Devyn's safe return. They obviously worked! And thank you to for past discussions of lost dogs -- for even in my despair I had a plan in place -- flyers, posters, who to call, recent picture etc. (hell, I even flagged down snowmobilers and asked them to look out for him). And thirdly -- when I went back last evening to thank the brilliant people who took Devyn in and called me, it was because he had a personalized name tag on his collar with phone number, that they called. Whether they would have gone to the extra trouble of tracking him through his rabies tag or microchip info tag, I don't know, I think so for they are very kind people, but he certainly came home faster to me as they could call me direct. So PLEASE everybody, if your dog is not wearing a personalized tag, go right out there and get them one!!! It could save you hours of additional anguish!
More on the kind rescuers. I made up a huge gift basket as a thank you along with a toy & treats for the cat (for if the cat hadn't needed out just when she did, who knows where Devyn might have wandered to next). Happily I drove back to their house, confident in knowing they would now see a calm, collected me who was no longer crying hysterically (they must have thought me nuts!). I pull into their driveway and the front wheel of my truck slid off the side and into the deep snow of the ditch. Oh no! I pop my truck into low 4-wheel drive, but no luck. How's this for embarrassing? I come to say thank you, and now it's me that needs rescuing!! I ended up having to call the auto club for a tow truck to winch me out. And I had to beg the use of their phone as ours is a cell dead zone area. So while waiting for the tow truck, I got to know my neighbours better (we'd never met before this), and find out more of what happened with Devyn. They had not actually seen Devyn the night before, just some tracks that may or may not have been his. He evidently didn't spend the night in their garage, for which I'm very grateful, as there is an ornery skunk in residence there at the moment! When Mr. opened the door in the a.m. to let the cat out, Devyn darted in the house, made straight for the bedroom, and scared the Mrs. half to death by snuggling up on top of her head and showering her with kisses (no shrinking violet this child of mine!). After he warmed up they tried putting him outside again, but he about scratched a hole in their door so that they had to let him back in (I can believe that as he's scratched our backdoor down to bare metal). It was then that they figured he must be lost and read the tags on his collar. It was nearly an hour after we got home before Devy settled and quit whining (he's always been quite the whiny talker). He must have been nearly exhausted for he slept almost all day -- he'd occasionally rouse himself and go get a toy, but then he'd fall asleep again within minutes, often mid chew with the toy still in his mouth. I think I've gotten most of the burrs, sticks, and other debris out of his coat. He still needs a more thorough combing out and a bath, but I was too exhausted myself last night to do it. Apart from not wanting to stay outside for very long (he goes out and does what he has to do then he's back at the door demanding in), he doesn't seem to be at all traumatized by his big adventure. He's very much his usual cheerful and funny self. What a blessing! Last night I celebrated his safe return by stitching up the holes in his favourite stuffie toy so Devyn could have it to suck. The big yella dog is now minus an ear and its tail, but it gave Devyn great joy to be able to lie there on my bed and suck himself to sleep on his favourite toy. This a.m. I installed self-latching catches on the offending door so that it can never again be forgotten to be latched! thanks again for all the support!!! sue(Aeryn with Devyn & Rowyn)
