Our Little Adventure

This was the photo I posted on Facebook when she went missing so everyone who lived near me could keep an eye out for her.

On Saturday night I found out at 11 pm that my 12 year old husky had slipped out of the yard and my parents couldn't find her. She had been gone since 5 pm that day and they spent 6 hours driving around our neighborhood and the neighborhoods near us looking for her. I was frantic! I got off work at midnight and met Nick at my house. I tried to print off fliers saying that Talie was missing, but the printer ran out of ink after only printing 3! So instead of wasting more time on that we set outside with Blitz, my other dog, in search of Talie. 

For those of you who don't know, on Saturday the highest temperature that day was about 15 degrees. Since we went out looking for her at around 12:30 am is was about 5 degrees. I wore fleece lined leggings underneath my jeans, a thermal shirt, a long wool sweater, my ski jacket, my warmest scarf, gloves, and mittens over my gloves! Needless to say it was still a little chilly! I even put Blitz's vest on him to keep him warm.


This is not a picture from this weekend but I just wanted to show everyone how cute his vest is!

Anyway, we set out in search of Talie. All I could think about was how scared and cold she must be. Especially considering she's afraid of many things, whether or not they are threatening to her, she's very silly. There are many different routes that I take Talie when I walk her, and since most dogs go to what is familiar to them, we started walking the routes I know she knows by heart. 

We had called the non emergency police number and gave a full description. We also gave them our address and a number where they could reach us 24 hours a day (my cell phone number). There was no way I was going to sleep knowing she outside all alone.

We started walking towards my sisters house, since she lives near by and its Talie's favorite place to go. Once we got there we checked the back yard and all around the house with a flashlight (praying we wouldn't get the cops called on us). We then continued around the neighborhood and onto the bike path which is about a mile. Once we didn't see her on the route we took a different route I used to take her all the time which is about 3 miles on the bike path. 

Even though I was panicking inside and very worried, we did have some good laughs along the way. I was really happy Nick was able to come with me because on my own I probably would have been scared (I hate walking alone at night). When I came home from work, Blitz was clearly upset that Talie was gone, he's such a sweetheart. But while walking he seemed to be having the time of his life! He was hilarious. He must have known we were looking for her because when he would pass over a drain cover her would stop and look down into the drain as if he expected her to be in there. Also, there were some drains that went under the roads like tunnels that Nick would go and look under and Blitz watched him with pure excitement on his face! For him it was a true adventure!

After the 3 mile route on the bike path with no luck, we started heading back to my neighborhood in hopes that we would find her in our last route, which is just around the blocks in my neighborhood. When we were about halfway back my phone started ringing. I pulled off my mitten and my glove and sure enough it was the police! I immediately was filled with hope. I answered it all excitedly and it was the same nice woman I had given the description to. She informed me that someone had come into the police station with a dog in her car that was the exact description I gave, "a blond husky with a purple collar." She asked if she could give the woman who found the dog our address, so of course I said yes! All I had to do was look at Blitz and say "Let's go get Talie!" and he dragged me the rest of the way home! We walked as fast as we could (since there was a lot of ice on the ground).

As we turned onto my street we saw a car with its head lights on in my drive way. They made it there before us, but luckily my parents were home. We didn't make it in time to see and take the people who brought her home but I hope they know how thankful we are! Once we got inside my house Talie was so excited to see everyone! She has a little mud on her but overall she seemed fine! They said they had found her not too far from our house. Actually the route we were heading back to walk is were they found her. So of course I really wish we had started there! But the important part is that it all worked out!

This is Talie a few minutes after we got home! As you can she she has some mud on her legs.

Once she was inside and feed and hugged and kissed, I think her adrenaline started to wear off because she started to limp. Being as old as she is, this was very worry-some. It appeared as though her hip was bothering her. But the more time she was home, the more she started to limp. It seemed as though was wasn't favoring anything in particular, just that she hurt everywhere. So i brought her up to bed with me so she could sleep where she always does, I didn't even care that she was muddy. I didn't have the heart to give her a bath when she was in so much pain. So now that it is Monday night and she is still limping, yet walking a little better, we think its the bottom of her paws. They seem to be rubbed raw from walking so much. And I'm sure her muscles are sore from shaking since it was so cold. We've been treating her like a princess though and she's acting more and more like herself everyday. I was even able to take her for a short walk today! I didn't think she would want to go but she was so excited. I put her vest on her, since I'm sure her immune system is down, and I put an antiseptic on her paws in hopes that it would keep any salt away from her already wore pads and we walked about 6 houses and back. She really enjoyed it, she just wasn't too happy that I made her turn around so soon. But baby steps is what its going to take! She started walking even better after our walk today and I have faith she'll make a full recovery.


This is Talie relaxing in her favorite chair the nest morning. You can still see some mud on her, and she just looks like she's in pain, poor girl!

I might never be able to thank the people in person for saving her but it is so greatly appreciated. Also, the police station was so kind and encouraging. Not to mention, I have the best boyfriend ever for walking with me for 2 hours in 5 degree weather. The whole time we were walking I just kept praying that she was safe and warm and that we would find her soon. And this is proof that prayer really does work. And it may seem small to anyone else, but to me its the world. Prayer and a great community of people who help strangers. Now that's something to believe in. 

-V