**LOST DOG** Unfortunately, not an April Fool's prank.

My dog somehow pulled a Houdini, and disappeared from my back yard on Doreen Way in Hikes Point and I am FRANTIC. I didn't even realize she had been missing until my husband called me at work to ask me where she was. This means she's been missing since approx. 7:45 am. Her name is Pucker. She is an 11 year old spayed brown/red chow mix, with a pink collar. She is partially blind, and extremely skittish, and most likely, terrified. My mind is going all kinds of dark places right now, and I can barely type this through the tears. By the time my husband and I got to the Humane Society (they closed at 4:30 pm today), and Animal Control they had closed (what luck!), leaving me to spend all night, and all day tomorrow worrying about her.
If anyone in the area sees her, PLEASE, PLEASE call me. My cell phone # is (502)526-2660. Her tags give our old phone number, which we literally just had shut off 2 days ago.

Michelle,

I'm so sorry you've lost your dog. We lost our beloved cat, Waylon Jennings a couple of months ago and I was frantic!!! I must have looked like a mad woman wandering the neighborhood streets crying & screaming for the cat.

The good news is that we found him alive & well after combing the Highlands for about 24 hours. If she's tagged, I think the odds are very good that you'll find her. Make sure you post on CraigsList and include your old phone number info in the post. Flyer the neighborhood also. I think we put up something like 500. I stuck one on every single door within a 5 or 6 block radius. At the end of the day, we found Waylon when he finally got tired of being cold & hungry and meowed back to my husband's call.

I'm so sorry to hear that your dog is missing, Michelle. They often have a tendency to turn up on their own though, and your old number might still be listed online if people think to check there.

Whenever we lost a dog when I was a kid (it happened several times), we'd always go driving through the neighborhood calling his or her name. It may look a little silly to bystanders, but we usually ended up finding him or her wandering around a few miles away from our house.

Good luck, and I'm sure she'll turn up.

She's back! My uncle and cousin joined in on the search this morning, and she is home, safe and sound!

Awesome!

[Robin Garr]

She's back! My uncle and cousin joined in on the search this morning, and she is home, safe and sound!

YAY!!!!!

Oh, Michelle. I am so happy for your family. I know how frightening it is. Good, happy endings are so welcome. Enjoy her.

Congratulations! I'm glad she made it home safely in the end.

Great! Now that the dog is safe, I know I'm allowed to say "what did you expect when naming him Houdini! Of course he's going to disappear!"

But truly, it's a frustrating and nerve-wracking event, and having lived in the country my entire young life with outside pets, I can definitely empathize.

Aaand now I feel stupid because I reread the post and the dog PULLED a Houdini... poor thing wasn't named Houdini. So I'll slowly back away and recede into the shadows, and we can all pretend this never happened. I guess I was just too excited by the irony. Bad Joe!

It's all good, Joe!

I'm am SO happy she is home. I can safely say I have never been so terrified in my entire life. I honestly thought I would never see her again. Just when I didn't think I could possibly cry any more, I'd start up again. It was agonizing. The worst part was not knowing if she was hurt, dead, hungry, scared, etc...I was heartbroken. My uncle found her hiding out behind Seneca High School, asleep in somebody's back yard! She was so dehydrated and tired, and she'd only been gone for a day! Needless to say, we got Her Majesty home, bathed her (she was a matted, muddy wreck), and fed her, and Lord, did she eat, and she drank 2 huge bowls of water (I snuck unflavored Pedialyte in). She appears to be just fine (if not a little achy and tired). We're going to take her to see Dr. John later on this evening to get her shots updated, and hopefully, all will be well!

Don't forget to get her tags updated with your new phone number.

If you haven't done so, I would recommend that you get your dog micro chipped. Increases your chances of getting it returned if lost. A few bucks, but painless.

Getting updated tags and microchips are definitely on the to-do list! I don't think I could go through that again....once almost killed me!