Rascal - camping 6-19-15 |
Sleeping at the beach~ 6-11-15 |
He was a gorgeous puppy! 6-28-09 |
Since then, the only time they've escaped - is if the fence looses it's connectivity. That always costs us in worry, time lost finding them & the expense of new wire. The original wire lasted at least a couple years - with an occasional break from downed branches etc. to repair. The last time we had it to replace - we were lucky if it had lasted a year... Now - it's out again!
I had to be gone all day on Tue., so we put Rascal on his cable by the kennel. He's smart enough not to get tangled & was fine, if unable to run with Nika. Tue. evening Butch came home with a different unit. We thought that it would work temporarily until the weekend when we'd have time to replace all the perimeter wire. Once it was set up, he'd have the run of most of the back-yard to the house. Butch turned it on, Rascal quickly realized where the boundary was & we figured we were good.
Wednesday morning I let them out of the kennel as usual. When I went back out less than an hour later - Rascal was Gone! I called for him, went looking for him, called the only neighbors who are our friends - where he's been known to go in the past & we still couldn't find him! Panic mode sets in - Donnie helped by giving me all the information as to where to post him as missing etc. She drove around our area talking to people & looking for him! Butch told me to stay home, because he'd come back as he'd done on Monday & would need to be let in.
Grandson Ben & Rascal~ |
I was awake all night, went out almost every hour to listen for him. I could see him cruising the neighborhood, making other dogs bark, but it was very quiet.
4-11-10 With Grandson Mason & Granddaughter Cassidy |
As he pulled away - I thought I heard Rascal bark! It's hard not to recognize a beagle bark! It sounded muffled, like he was locked up somewhere. I went running back up the hill - thinking that our "bad" neighbors might have locked him up! Lucky for me - they didn't seem to be home, nor were their dogs... I looked, but sure didn't see him. I was starting back again when I thought I heard a whimper??? The only place left to look yet again... was our woods. I called & called as I walked - no response. I stopped & again heard a whimper! The only place left - was to walk the now dry creek bed. It was heavily overgrown - but I plowed on.
Rascal, in front of the hole where I found him~ |
He's just over 30-lbs. but I carried him - busting back through the bushes to the trail. Once at the house I offered him water from his bowl - Nika came for a drink, he took a swallow, but no more...
I was worried that he's thirst mechanism had shut down, but once in the house, after more cuddling - he drank. At first he didn't want a cookie, but soon ate it & soon after that was sick... He did pee - but it was dark. Within an hour, he drank again & kept it down. I fixed a very small bowl of his food with beef broth - he consumed that & Nika thought it a great treat!
Rascal camping - 6-7-14 |
I think he'd tried to go out on his usual morning rounds, forgetting the new barrier & got shocked! He ended up on the far side of the perimeter & was terrified by the hard shock from nowhere! With the collar beeping - he was so scared that he just hid!
I have to say how much I appreciate all the help from Donnie, Kristi, Pat & so many others who shared his photo & got the word out that he was "missing". We are so thankful that he's OK! Our job this weekend will be replacing all that wire! Part of the fun of Beagle ownership!
I'm so glad you found him. Besides the wire, you might want to consider filling tht stump with something!! ;)
ReplyDeleteWe'd be filling a whole lot of old stumps :-)
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