Travels with Tank Lost In The Woods
Hello Summer! Hard to believe it was just last summer when I got adopted from a local rescue and my life changed drastically. I know, I’ve said it before, but if you have a little room in your heart and in your home, I’ve got an awful lot of buddies still out there waiting for that ‘forever’ home.
One thing about us rescue dogs, we tend to get really attached to our owners, which leads me to my story. Things were going well; life was feeling pretty stable, just playing with my girlfriend Roxie and going for rides in the truck every day. Oh I keep a pretty good eye on my “dad”. If he starts up the truck, I am there.
Then one day out of the blue they take me for a truck ride to go see some of the many kids in our family. Everyone’s petting me and I even got taken out for a treat! Then all of a sudden, I notice I have been left here. Okay, everybody here loves me; I can handle it, they let me sleep on the bed. It was fun until it was time to wake up; then everything changed. Everybody was in a hurry and before you know it, they all left me.
“Hmmm… NOW, what’s going on”, I ask myself. I paced around the house, checked all the rooms, then I see an open exit and I take it. I’m outside now and feeling pretty good about it. So good, I am sure I can find my dad. I head out a small crack in the back gate. Oh yeah, I’ve been here before lots of times. I know he’s out here. He LOVES it out here. I start on the dirt road but then before you know it, a mother squirrel crosses my path. I chased her for a while, but dang, they’re fast! Hmmm, where did that road go that we ride on to see the lake?’, I thought. Then for a while there (quite a while), I forgot all about it. Do you know how many squirrels I found?
Now I suddenly find myself feeling pangs of hunger, reminding me that I WAS looking for someone. I sniff this way and that way, still not sure where to go. The sun is fading behind the hills and the sound of some kind of foreign howling dogs was really making me miss my family. Everywhere I went I heard the dogs. They did not sound friendly. I ran this way, then that way, then finally I could hear a far-off sound of a motorcycle; it stopped. Someone called my name; I quickly ran in that direction but could hear nothing. I stopped and listened and once again heard the far-off calling of my name. Whew! I ran as fast as I could.
As I found out later the whole family had been looking for me most of the day. Mikey out on motorcycles, messages and my photo were posted on Facebook and lots of people were searching. Teresa, Genna and Rhonda were on the Ranger; other family members searched the highway until finally someone had to call my dad. He raced home to find me. (I knew he would.) Meanwhile Joe came home from work with a plan. He rode deep into the woods on a motorcycle, stopping every now and then to call my name. (Thank you, Joe, them dogs were scary!) I got back to the house before everyone. When they finally got back to the house everyone was on Facbeook and RogersPets.com posting, “Did you find him?” “Yes”, Mikey posted, “We found him on the couch.”
