Where oh where has my little dog gone?

It has been a whirlwind holiday season for the Perreaux household. Christmas Day began with the usual excitement and groggy-ness that comes with meat pie and whiskey hang-overs. Gifts were exchanged, appreciated and briefly discovered. A big breakfast was made with everyone's favorites. Then began the planning for the trip home to beautiful Saskatchewan to see my family.

at 3:00 PM the trip began from Sarnia. We made our way Southwest to sling around the cul de sac known as lower Lake Michigan. By 8 PM there was little traffic in Chicago (the first major hurdle in the US), then the course of travel changed North Westward, a few coffee stops, urinal visits and refuels and we were in the snowy beauty of Saskatchewan. Despite a lack of sleep me and my co-pilot arrived unscathed. I took the first few minutes to locate the usual snack bowls and spirit bottles then went off to bed to enjoy the warm, quiet comfort of the "North Room" where I get my best sleep no matter when I come to visit.

A few hours later I emerged from my slumber to the statement: "the dog is gone". It seems Jackal decided he wanted to see more of the country side than the 5 minutes outside of the car allowed him upon our arrival. I tried my usual whistle and calling routine to no avail. The familiarity of the situation brought me to the conclusion that Jackal had been scared by something and made a run for it.

The search began by visiting the usual suspects houses (the ones who own dogs) followed by a visit to secondary escape routes. No Jackal. Some jids were playing on the street with hockey gear when he ran for it, they pointed me in the direction of neighboring pastures as the direction of escape. I strapped up my boots and headed for the snow covered plains. I could see by the tracks left by my spring loaded Lab (and seemingly) Greyhound mix that he was at full speed. I trudged through the pasture on foot following his tracks calling for him. 2 hours later, no sunlight and a trail that ended near a cattle pen enclosed by electrical wire. My best guess was that he had a meeting with the wire and was even more scared at that point. There was no inconclusive evidence of his path of travel so I made my way to the farms nearby where he was not to be found.

I returned to the homestead to regroup and get a flashlight (and some homemade lasagne) before returning to the dark cold prairie winter with the help of my rescue team (Pa) calling and searching from the surrouning roads never to hear a peep. I slowly started to think my dog was cowering in a ditch somewhere frozen and scared. I felt helpless for him.

I decided to widen the search area on a hunch that he might have braved the barb-wire and highway to get further away from humanity rather than closer to it. I drove about two miles away from where I had lost the trail. As I drove along I spotted two white rabbits cross the road in front of me. I figured that there was a chance the dog scared them out of hiding. I stopped the car and turned it off and stepped out.

"J-A-C-K-A-L!"

T which Iheardda faint whimper.

I picked up my flashlight and shone it in the direction of the most beatiful sound in the world at that point. There, two reflective dots approachedbefore the ass dragging string bean that I had almost given up on.

He was tired, wet and hungry and looked petrified. He climbed onto the road and nearly toppled over from exhaustion. I picked him up and put him in the car unable to scold or discipline him. I had my puppy back.

I called Dad to let him know I had found Jack and he sounded almost as relieved as I did (from one dog lover to another, my Dad would likely still be looking out for him). Jack didn't move much the rest of the night and despite a few gashes from fences (I presume), he was in fine form. The rest of the holiday, Jack stayed close by and there were no more MIA situations. Thankfully my instincts match those of a half witted dog with big ears and little between them... gee maybe I'm not so thankful.

Happy new-year everyone, hope 2007 is your best too!