Stop Everything...One Of My Doxies Is Missing!!!

Somehow they do it to you.  Animals come into our families, and in doing so, become an integral part of our lives.  So much a part, that when something happens to one of them, we react quickly and intensely...they are after all, one of us.  Wednesday was one of those days.  My 2 year old doxie, Annie, got out of the back yard and is currently MIA.

There are 3 dachshunds in our extended family.  My son, Justin, was the first to acquire a doxie; her name is Charlie and she is 7 years old.  I liked Charlie and her quirky little personality so much that I decided to purchase one of my own; Sissy, who is 5 years old.  Annie, the missing 2 years old doxie, was not originally mine.  As many parents do when their child goes off to college, I too bought Caitlin a dog.  Make a note to yourself, if you are considering doing this...get a dog that you like, because it will be yours very shortly after the purchase.  I have many friends who have done the same, only to end up with their child's pet as well.  So, when Caitlin did not have enough time to take care of Annie, I brought her to live with me.  In doing so, I then became very emotionally attached to not only one dog, but two.  Anybody who knows me, can attest to the fact that these doxies are my "babies".  I have spoiled and pampered them beyond one's imagination; purchasing things for them such as treats, chew bones, sweaters and of course blankets (doxies LOVE to tunnel under their blankets).  At any given time, one can find these two fighting over a spot in my lap.  Now that it is clear of my love and devotion to these little four-legged members of my family, you will perhaps be able to understand my distress over Annie's disappearance.

Wednesday was a very busy day, I started out behind again due to the fact that I overslept by an hour.  However, by the time I was ready to head home for the day, I was asked if I could keep Parker for a little while, so Sarah could run a few errands of her own; I was, of course happy to do this.  After getting Parker packed up and arriving home, I ran inside to take Sissy and Annie outside to potty.  I NEVER leave them outside alone to do this.  So, after bringing them back inside, they were a little too excited about Parker visiting and I decided to let them out in the back yard for a few minutes.  Checking to see that the gate was shut, I then went back inside to rock the baby.  I went back, knocked on the glass panes in the door and both dogs came running; they were OK.  A few minutes later, I did the same thing, however, Annie did not come to the door this time.  I walked outside to find that Sissy had cornered our cat, Clementine, on a window seal, but there was no sign of Annie.  Glancing toward the gate, I noticed that it was slightly ajar; panic hit.  Quickly walking the perimeter of the house, I realized that she had most likely gone up the hill and through the woods behind our house, to the neighborhood.  Robby had just arrived home and agreed to go look for her.  When he returned, he had not found her.

The search did not end there.  Justin and I went back on foot through the entire neighborhood again, stopping to inform everyone we saw outside to be on the lookout for Annie.  One man actually thought he might have seen her, but didn't know which way she went.  It was dark by then and we headed home.  I was worried that Annie was most likely cold, hungry and thirsty...not to mention lonely for my lap and her family in general.  I was getting sadder by the minute.  After Justin, Sarah and Parker left, although it was dark, I decided to get in my vehicle and drive through the neighborhood one more time.  The whole time we searched, Caitlin had been sending me text messages to check on the progress of my search, offer suggestions for assisting in the search and inform me that she was about to cry...so was I at this point.  We did not find her on this last drive through of the night; we returned home around 9:30 pm.  Robby could see that I was becoming very distressed and assured me that she had probably made it to someones porch to sleep for the night and they would find her in the morning, see our phone number on her collar and call me.  I doubted this was true, but I knew that he was attempting to make me feel better...it didn't.

Robby, Justin and a friend of ours were all going fishing Thursday morning very early.  Generally when the alarm clock goes off before daylight, I reset it and sleep a while longer.  I could not do that today, because all I could think about was finding Annie.  The evening before, I had continued to go behind my house and call her name, to no avail.  I did the same thing this morning before I set out in my vehicle to see if I could spot her.  Still in my flannel pajama pants and t-shirt, drinking my coffee, I stopped  every person I ran into to inform them of my missing doxie.  I went back home, threw on some jeans, put a leash on Sissy and set out for the neighborhood again...perhaps Sissy could ferret her out.  Again we had no luck.  This went on all morning long until Sarah called and I remembered that I was supposed to go to lunch with her and Parker.  I left in hopes that when I returned, I would have a message waiting on my answering machine from someone who had found Annie; that was not to be either.

Caitlin was coming home after class and we had a plan.  We would up the ante.  We would put up signs at the neighborhood entrance with information concerning Annie, along with an offer of a $100 reward upon her return.  In addition to that, I would make fliers, including the same information and we would go door to door handing them out to EVERY house in the neighborhood.  Surely some kids out there would want that $100 reward and join us in our search.  This little task took most of the afternoon, but we had everything done about the time people were coming in from work.  Now was the hard part...we had to sit and wait.

Later, around dusk, Robby, Caitlin and I rode through the neighborhood one last time.  We saw kids on their bikes and a few on a four wheeler looking for our Annie.  It was time to go home.  We had worked all day at attempting to locate her and had put forth our best effort.  Waiting for the phone to ring would be difficult, because now it was really setting in...we may never find Annie.  Where was she?  Was she out in the woods somewhere or had someone picked her up and taken her?  I knew that she was missing my lap now, for sure and also her fuzzy blanket.  As I puttered glumly around the kitchen, I missed having her follow me around, trying to catch every morsel I dropped or lick the plates in the dishwasher.  I looked at Robby and said, "I want my Annie back.  I want her back right now."  He said, "I know...I do too."

Sitting here now, with Sissy alone in my lap, I feel very sad and lonely.  I miss Annie terribly and still hold out hope that tomorrow someone will call saying that they have found her or maybe she will just show back up here at home.  These little pets we acquire, slowly but most certainly wiggle their ways into our hearts and lives.  When we lose them, it's like losing a part of our very being.