Oakley Is Home!

[Fierce Critter]

A police officer came to my door this morning at 11:00. He said he thought he found my dog.

The short version: Oakley is home!!! Huzzah!

The long version:

Christmas eve, we let Oakley out into the backyard at noon. We usually let him stay out there by himself for around 20 minutes to a half hour. At about 12:27, I noticed he hadn't barked to come back in, and I said so to Jon. Jon kiddingly said he'd probably run away. I responded that he would be sad if Oakley ran away.

So he went out to get him. And came back in to tell me he was gone. He had flushed a rabbit and squeezed through a gap in the fence we didn't know was there.

After 2 hours of searching, we gave up. During that search, however, we passed a cop car and flagged it down to tell the guy that we were looking for a lost German Shepherd and would he keep an eye out for us. He took our number and address and said sure.

I put out flyers all over. We kept the back gate open for all this time. We kept looking. I called the Wyandotte police that same day, and they said they'd put an alert out to all the police officers to keep an eye out. It turns out, the message never got passed the dispatchers desk.

I called the local shelter as soon as they opened after the Christmas holiday. They said they had no GS and to call back in a couple days.

I called every shelter in the surrounding cities. I put notices out on the internet. I was going to start calling veterinarians Monday.

Yesterday, I woke up from a dream that I had found him and brought him home. And that day I called the Wyandotte shelter at 2:45. They were closed, but were going to open between 4:00 and 7:00 for adoptions. I left a voice mail message with name, number, and a description of Oakley and for them to call if any shepherds were brought in.

Meanwhile, someone just up the street from us had seen Oakley pretty much just after he'd been let out. The guy living across the street from them trains dogs, so they took Oakley to him. He's had him all this time. He went to the shelter with Oakley yesterday and asked if anyone reported missing a GS. THE SHELTER OPERATOR HAD NEVER LISTENED TO THE VOICE MAIL FOR THE DAY. So he told the guy no.

Now, here's where I get a touch confused. I don't know how the officer I'd talked to hooked up with the guy who had Oakley. But somehow, it happened. If I hadn't told that officer, we wouldn't have him home yet.

We probably woudl have gotten him home eventually, 'cause the guy lives like, half a block east and 2 doors south. And he's been walking Oakley on my street! But I've been sick, in bed, and the windows are blocked with paintings so the landlord won't drive by and see 5 cats sitting in the window. SO I haven't been looking outside. But odd - Christmas Day, the church that sits halfway between us and the guy who had Oakley, was so busy that I thought about putting up a bunch of flyers just in that area. If I had, that guy would have seen one while walking Oakley, and he'd have been home days ago.

Well, Oakley is home now. Opened his Christmas gifts (the cats were disappointed - they had asked the first day if they could open his gifts). And my family all knows now, too. I'll post pictures of him with his gifts later.

HOORAY!!!

[Rayne]

I'm sure he is glad to be home.

[hunhee]

Good to hear that Oakley is back. sounds like he had quite the adventure.

[Steven]

xoxoxo to the both of you.

[know_buddy_kares]

wow I am happy for you! Unfortunately my family hasn't been so lucky. It's been well over 6 months now since one of our cats, Shadow, has vanished. We caught her from the wild (a stray had her while homeless, and we gave both a home) and eventually tamed her. After about 2 months though we sorta gave up, she does dissapear for 2 weeks to a month sometimes, but after 2 months... yeah.. We still miss her even after all this time.

[TygerLili]

That's great!

[Burrich1]

Glad to hear that FC. I was worried for you guys.

[Head Wreck]

great to hear FC.

[Destroit]

I'm SO happy for you, I really mean that. As a fellow avid animal person I would be so horribly distraught for years if I lost my little Gitzie, I'd be mourning horribly about it for so very long. Also it's worse when a cat/dog runs away instead of say dying in your own home from natural causes, it always leaves these "what ifs" and oh what if they're cold, hungry, miserable, sad, etc. I wouldn't have been able to bear it. I'm glad you got yer little man back!

[Hellion]

Always nice to hear some good news

[CandyQuackenbush]

Good for you FC!

I'm happy that your puppy is home!

I don't know what I'd do if my Molly wandered off from me... I'm so happy for you!

[SuZQZ]

That is so fantastic! It's so gut-wrenching and heartbreaking when a pet goes missing. So happy that this ended happily!

[creatureofthenyte]

thats great news, maybe now you might consider hookin the dog up to a tethered leash, with an extra long chain, so he can run freely in the yard, but Stay in the yard...

[Onyx]

So glad he is home!

[jadnifer]

I remember when my dogs ran away and we didnt know if they were ever going to make it back home. Someone actually saw them running on the street and took them into her car and took them to a shelter. She told them that they were such nice dogs that if no one claimed them that she would adopt them. Im so glad that we got them back though because I would have been terribly heartbroken. Its good to know though that if we wouldnt have otten them back that they would have had a good home. Thats not always the case though.

FC, I am so glad that your puppy dog came back and I pray that that never ever happens again. I dont want anything to happen to your dear Oakley.

Did you say that there was a hole in the fence? Have you gotten it fixed yet?

Im just very glad that he didnt hurt himself getting out. Thank God for the small things.

I will look forward to seeing the pictures of him opening up his Christmas presents.

If Oakley is a female, my sincere apologies.

[twilight]

I am a bit late but I am glad Oakley is home We had a similar situation when our car Isabelle was missing. Our neighbor had her the whole time. She even saw us searching our backyard with flashlights going "here kitty" My sister had taken off the whole day to look for her. We never yelled at the woman for hoarding her we were just glad she was back. It still annoys me that the woman next door had her the whole time.