- by Joi M. Lasnick.

On the morning of December 28th, Stephanie, a good friend and neighbor, had let her chow-shepherd mix dog "Bear" out in her backyard. She wasn't aware that someone had left one of her gates open. It wasn't long before the 13-year-old dog had found the way out. Bear, being an old girl, hobbles along on her back legs, and cannot see well. But that didn't stop her from getting a glimpse of the neighborhood.

Stephanie had plans to bring her son to the airport to join his father for the week. The last thing she had on her mind was searching for one of their cherished dogs (they also have a miniature dachshund.) It wasn't until about 10 a.m. that her son Ryan noticed that Bear was missing - they were both very upset to learn that the gate had been left open and Bear was nowhere to be seen.

Stephanie immediately alerted all her neighbors. Knowing how slow Bear moves, we didn't think she could have gotten too far. Then we found out that someone had seen her all the way down our street three hours earlier. We were amazed that she had gotten that far. We couldn't imagine where she could be.

A few of us got into our cars and drove around the neighborhood. After driving for an hour, I went home and created a "Lost Dog" flyer on my computer. I printed one for Stephanie, and one for myself. Stephanie had to finally leave to bring her heartbroken son to the airport. Ryan never got a chance to say goodbye to Bear before he left.

We stopped by a copy place and I made 50 copies of Bear's flyer to put up around the neighborhood. My daughter and I took off on foot and began putting flyers up around our neighborhood. After walking for about 25 minutes, Stephanie passed by in her car. She pulled over and told us that she had also made copies of the flyer, and had started putting them up on the other side of the neighborhood. My daughter and I got into her car and drove around putting as many flyers up as we could. It was almost dark when we ran into a neighborhood boy that Stephanie knew. He said he saw Bear about 4:00 p.m. sitting on Riverside Drive (close to our home), and that it looked as though a car hit her because she was shaking and limping. How could she tell her son? She was too upset to speak and got into her car and broke down and cried. I asked the boy exactly what happened. He told us where he had last seen Bear. I drove since Stephanie was too upset. I kept telling Stephanie that she shouldn't worry unless she knows she has to. We finally had a lead! I told her that a car didn't hit Bear - that people that don't know her would think that because she limps. We had to believe she was all right.

We stopped near a few houses on a major road. We pulled into a driveway that was dark, and walked around calling Bear's name. Stephanie saw a construction worker working on a new house next door, and asked him if he had seen Bear. They hadn't, but would keep an eye out. After leaving flyers on a few houses, we drove around. It was dark by now, and for a minute we just sat in her car and thought about what to do next. It's then that we decided to go back to the house that Bear had been seen in front of. We parked in their driveway. Then, headlights of another car came up the drive. Stephanie noticed it was the construction worker and his wife - they had just seen a dog matching Bear's description, and she was just down the road! We immediately drove down the street. Stephanie got out of the car to call Bear's name, and I kept driving. Going slowly, traffic began piling up behind me. All of a sudden I saw a dog in my headlights. I called Bear's name. She turned her head around - it was her! I was so excited that I yelled to Stephanie from the car. I stopped the car in the middle of the busy street and went to Bear. I yelled to Stephanie who was running toward us. Other people also yelled to her out of their car windows. Crying, Stephanie kneeled down and hugged Bear. It was a miracle that this limping, near-blind 13 year-old dog had survived 12 hours out in the streets.

In the end, we learned that there are many nice, kind people in our neighborhood. Everything worked out so perfectly. We were all at the right place at the right time. A little tuckered out and dirty, Bear is now safe at home after her day out on the town - and the gates have brand new locks on them.

Happy Times - Copyright © 2002