Snowy disappeared yesterday. Juliet and I went for a bike ride with the twins at lunch time and came back to a silent welcome.
We searched for a couple of hours and asked several people to lookout for him. We left the gate open, but by bedtime he still hadn’t returned.
It rained heavily last night, adding to our concern.
Although we knew it was remotely possible he could escape through a hole in the fence, we thought it more likely he’d been dognapped, which challenged our faith in human nature. We just didn’t think he would wander far on his own.
The big kids were fairly upset, of course. Dude was up at 6am this morning and I saw him searching while I was out for a run.
I printed “lost dog” flyers and placed one on the notice board at the post office. Kathleen and Dude took the others to school.
I called the shire at 9am and reported Snowy missing. The receptionist raised hope that a dog had been discovered late yesterday and kept overnight by the finder, although she thought that report was from Myrtleford.
At 9.30am I came home from the post office to see Snowy in Juliet’s arms at the front door with a stranger.
This caring lady had found Snowy near the golf course between Bright and Porepunkah. The little scamp must have followed us, or decamped through a hole in the fence and travelled his usual walking route.
I think we would have passed him on the way back, unless the lady found him while we were at lunch.
The finder knew there’s an elderly lady in Porepunkah who walks regularly along the golf course with a small dog, and she thought it might have been hers. That’s Gwynneth, our neighbor from across the road, and she was one of the people we told about Snowy’s disappearance.
So the kind lady from Bright took Snowy to Gwynneth this morning, who suggested it was probably our dog and there he was!
We’re all relieved he’s home. He doesn’t have any idea of the consternation he caused, and like with a naughty child, we didn’t know whether to cuddle him or smack him (it was cuddles).
The small holes in the fence are now securely plugged!
