Lost Dog Story...

 There's a lot of knocks on social media, and most are deserved, but there's also good...

And when it's good, it's really good.

Our little community has several lost pets sites on Facebook. I'm sure other communities do the same thing. It's good for people to connect to help lost animals. Last night I was doing a little surfing when I noticed the first picture.

Poor little guy.

From the post, it's not the first time this fella has busted out. That must be terrifying. We have a dog, but he's never allowed off a leash, unless he's in the fenced backyard. Of course, it's possible he could escape--dogs are smart, after all. So far, we've never had to utilize the "Lost Pets" site.

Maybe it was just the algorithm, but immediately under the first picture, someone posted the second picture...you guessed it, the same dog. In the comments under both pictures were links to the other post. Like me, others saw what I saw...a lost puppy post, and a found puppy post and thankfully, it was the same dog.

The people posting did not have to do what they did. They could have ignored the dog and just let it roam thinking someone else will take care of the problem, but they didn't.

Sometimes, when you see all the bad on social media, you might think that's all there is. Seeing some good renews my faith in humanity...

And canines.

Poor Dusty...Where Are You Little Guy?

 They're in every small town shop, a community notification board. On it you'll find notifications of upcoming concerts, postings for cement work, landscaping, even running errands. Also, you'll find posting after posting having to do with animals. There's notices of new puppies and kittens (lots of puppies and kittens...) and sometimes you'll find a "Found" animal posting. Those aren't so bad, but many times you'll find the obligatory...

Lost Animal posts.

Those are the worst.

Last week I came across one I hadn't seen before, or if I had seen it, I hadn't noticed it. On the flyer we meet Dusty, a Goldust Yorkie (with what I'm guessing is a look on his fact that does not reflect the dog's true demeanor...) that went missing from what I can tell is the end of September. That's a long time to be missing. Things don't look well for Dusty or for his extremely worried owners.

I wish I could help. I wish I knew where Dusty is or where he went. I wish I could tell them that their beloved pet has been found and a reunion would take place soon.

But, unfortunately, sometimes the dog doesn't come back, the flyer with the photo of the lost animal fails to find the lost friend. That's life...for every happy ending, there are many that don't turn out so well. And, considering the poster was still hanging on the community notification board at the end of November...well, I'm guessing this story is one of the latter.

We visit the store at least once a week. Next time we'll go shopping, I'll look to see if the Dusty notice is still hanging in the top right corner. If it is, there's still hope, but if it's gone, then either Dusty has been found or the heartbroken owners have stopped looking. If it's gone, soon another notice will take its place, another lost animal's picture will appear with similar words underneath. 

I hope when that notice is pinned up on the board, there'll be a happy ending.

When Buff The Dog Came To Visit...

I saw the little dog wander into our yard. I didn't recognize him--there's a lot of dogs in our neighborhood. I called to him to see if he'd come to me and he seemed disinterested. It was about 5pm and the sun was setting.

It was going to get cold soon.

I finally got the little guy to come over to me and I noticed a dog tag with his name and phone number on one side and an address on the other. I didn't recognize the dog, his name--Buff--or the address. I went inside the house and told them about our little visitor. I had my son look up where the dog came from and if they'd seen the dog before. They'd never seen Buff before, either.

We decided I should try and contact the owner.

When I went outside, our cat sat at the bottom of the stairs and the dog was gone.

I looked around--no dog. I started down the street and didn't see him. My neighbor was outside so I asked her. She said she saw the dog pass by her a few minutes before. I got to the end of the road and turned right. He wasn't there. I started to go left and that's when I spotted him--a cute little dog named Buff.

I called the owner. She was surprised--as were we--how far he had gone. It was more than a mile away. My son and I loaded him up in my car and we took him home. On the phone the owner said the dog would probably find his way home on his own, but we didn't think that was the best idea. It was getting dark and it would have gotten cold. The last thing I wanted was a little dog lost and cold and unable to get home.

It felt good to do that simple deed. I hope if one of our pets were in the same situation, someone would bring them home.