Dog on the Loose

Today the unthinkable happened. Our puppy escaped. While we thought he was peacefully resting outside, enjoying the day, he had discovered that his chain was never attached to the post and took the opportunity to further explore our surroundings, mark his territory, roll in all kinds of gross stinkiness and sniff out the local wildlife.

I wonder how long it had taken him to realize that his chain was unsecured. I’d like to think that he had waited outside and tried to get our attention before bolting. That he tried to scratch on the door, perhaps even whined when he missed us and we didn’t answer, but with Beagle blood surging through his veins, it’s possible that he’d realized our error in split seconds and escaped.

Maybe in his own canine way he’d planned for this moment…peacefully biding his time while secretly plotting a way out. But I doubt it. Our dog is a family dog. He loves us way too much to want to be free. And since we rescued him from the pound when he was deathly sick and nursed him back to health, he’s certainly grown to think of us as part of his pack and we all love him. Life just wouldn’t be the same without him.

As rotten as he was today, it’s hard for me to believe that I didn’t miss him sooner but to be honest, I was enjoying a few minutes of peace. I did ask where he was and my son replied that he was outside, but I never thought to check on him. My husband was the first to notice his absence. When he arrived home from work he wasn’t greeted with the customary jumping-licking-mad-dog-running-circles-around-him-routine that takes place daily. If my husband missed it, this tells me that maybe he just pretends to be aggravated by the attention that our hound bestows upon him.

Still, when this ritual didn’t take place, he knew something was amiss. His question of Where’s Vincent? sent us all clamoring out of the camper in search of our beloved pet. After ten minutes of searching and calling his name with no sight of our puppy I began to think the worst. Where could he have gone? There was a Marriot next door; I could see him in my mind jumping on all the guests in the parking lot. Maybe he’d made it onto the nearby army base just in time for firing drills. Or found the interstate. Or someone found him, thought he was cute and claimed him. Or….

No need to go on, thankfully my son had found him. He was as happy to see us as we were to see him.