I lost Jester last night. Just for a little while, but long enough to make me panic and all those horrible “what will I ever do without him” thoughts to roll through my mind in lovely technicolor.
I took the gang up to the school to play ball, and every time I turned around he was right there snuffling in the grass. He wandered off, the way he does, to do pug stuff, whatever that is, and checked in every once in a while. When I rounded up the gang to go Jester was absent. He usually takes a few minutes to meander over, but nothing. I called, and called, and nothing. Little rat wears bells on his collar because he has a tendency to take his time returning. I turned the car on, used the headlights to light up the adjacent field - because of course it’s dark now, and drove around the school with the windows open, calling his name. By now, I’m pretty sure he’s coyote food or wandering home on his own. I finally started to panic fully, tears running down my face, and I got Dyson out, desperately hoping my “track, track” command might work. D did track Jester, in circles, Dyson tried but we’d all been in the same area running around for a while and I guess finding Jester isn’t nearly as exciting as finding a kitty. Just as I was about to get the phone to start calling reinforcements to come help look for him, I heard his little jingle. Somehow he got into the school grounds, and I’m sure he got lost in his efforts to properly scrounge for crumbs left behind. He raced back, obviously worried that I was upset, and maybe he had realized he was lost and panicked a bit.
Nothing like having one of your kids out of sight for a few moments to send you right over the edge. It’s taken me until just now to settle down from the ordeal. I spent this afternoon practicing recalls with all my dogs, not that this will stop Jester from wandering off, but perhaps he’ll move a little quicker next time I call him. That and I’ll be much more attentive to his wanderings. Dumb little dog, it’s not like I love him or anything.
Posted on October 9th, 2007 by michelle
Filed under: My dogs
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