Kiara's Story - Please read & keep this as a reminder...

[Blue_Frog]

I know all about dogs getting out ....

These little guys are my dads Beagles - Mike and his sister Blue.


One day last year, my dad had just got home from the cottage and was in the process of unpacking the truck. Unfortunately, he hadn't latched the gate 100%, and Mike managed to pull through a teeny gap and run down the drive. Mike managed to time it perfectly, and ran right out into the road in front of a lady that didn't have time to stop.

He suffered nerve damage in his front leg -- and after all kinds of differnet treatments over a month and a half (with no change), they had to amputate. Hes still a happy little tripod dog, but I know my dad still feels horribly guilty about the whole thing.

Heres 3-legged Mike

[Logan]

I'm so glad that you posted this, Kay. We all need to read it and heed the advice that you have provided. I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when we knew you had your precious girl back with you.

Every person I know. including myself, is delighted when they have a dog they can have off leash, but I worry about every single one of them. Even my own, precious Lilly, who is the only dog I have owned that could go off leash, without running away, worried me to death. I loved her companionship in the yard, outside of the fence, but I was constantly watching her, calling her back, and sometimes I would simply "forget" about her, and that was her opportunity to slip away. Dogs (and cats) are fearless, and a good sniff in the air that brings an interesting smell, will send them off on an expedition, every single time. Even Lilly, who didn't go far, didn't run, would get a wild hair, every now and then, and take off. We were very, very lucky that she was so lucky, and always came back home. And if you add any kind of noise fear, those "great" dogs, that do so well, off leash, become missing dogs, just like Kiara.

I know, for a fact, that our Zipper was a stray because he was frightened, probably because of a thunder storm. He showed up as a stray, picked up by animal control, during the summer. Obviously someone loved him in his early life, but probably left him outdoors, and he ran away out of fear. It was our luck that he landed in the shelter, was taken in by our Golden Retriever rescue, and the rest was history. But we learned, quickly, that "thunderphobia" was his issue, and we always worked to protect him from that fear.

We all live and learn. Unfortunately, some of us learn the hard way.

Logan