People have been “hounding” me to tell you all our dog story from several weeks ago. Now that we are past the trauma and all ended well, I figure I’m emotionally ready to tell you.

Pull up a chair. You know how I am.

My oldest daughter decided it was time for us to get a second dog. I can’t even tell you what type of dog our Parker is. He is a long-legged, little black dog with a sort of miniature greyhound look to him. His entire body wags when his tail does, and if he were larger he could possibly maul you to death with excitement when he sees you.
In any case, our daughter thought Parker needed a pal.

So, off to Helping Strays we went and soon we brought home sweet Rosa, a white dog with brown spots. We could tell from the get-go that she was a timid sort, and we’d heard a little about her past. She had been through a lot.
Immediately, she bonded with Corinne, which was a good thing since this was to be the arrangement. When Corinne left the room, Rosa paced and fretted until she came back. She howled at night when we put her in her crate.
You should know I don’t like to see animals caged up. I just don’t. It’s a thing with me.

However, even the dog lovers of America sing the praises of crates, so OK.

Rosa was with us for two days. After school one evening, as I went back out to our garage to unload the car, I had barely opened the back door when Rose shot between my legs and squeezed her way out to the garage.
It was as if a starter pistol had been fired.

I grew up seeing cheetahs on Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom.” This was what Rosa looked like. I had never seen a dog run so fast.

We tracked her around the neighborhood and had people immediately looking for her. Our kind neighbor jumped on his bicycle and followed her from a distance as Rosa seemed to run all over town – back and forth across the main highway.

We looked and looked until it was dark and we simply lost track of her.

A group of ladies in the Belleville area make it their mission to find lost dogs, and one of them in particular had actually been Rosa’s foster mother. This kind group of women are equipped with cameras, tracking devices and a network of people who keep their eyes peeled. Thankfully, they were on the case as soon as we reported Rosa missing.

What followed were two days of canvassing the area. We passed out posters, knocked on doors and met neighbors we hadn’t met yet. People all around our new community sent messages and called us, hoping to help.
Retired teachers who lived in the area offered to drive along country roads.

We were overwhelmed with the generosity of these people.

After two days, we began to lose hope. It was that unseasonably warm spell we had in January, but it was still not comfortable weather for a dog out on her own with nothing to eat. To say we were stressed was an understatement.
On the fourth day that Rosa had been on the run, and after a few sightings and wild goose chases, someone sent me a text as I was leaving school. It told of a deceased dog on the side of the road. White with brown spots.
This had to be her.

A few minutes later, I received a text that said the “dog” was really a baby deer.

After about 10 minutes, yet another text reported there was a baby deer and a dog on the side of the road, both deceased.

I wrapped my head around the news. Well, at least we had closure. But darn. Poor dog.

Just 15 minutes later, Michelle sent me a text with a billion exclamation points. “Rosa was just found alive!”

Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions.

Here’s the unbelievable part; this dog had traveled for four days, covered a distance of 13 miles, and found her way back to the home of her foster mother.

I kid you not. This is the stuff that movies are made of.

Our new friend, Rosa’s foster mother, said that both she and the dog cried as they ran to each other.

It was amazing.

Rosa is in a good home now and is happy. After talking with the folks at Helping Strays, we decided our family might not be a good fit for her, but we will always remember how sweet she was. Also, we won’t forget how so many people cared and reached out to us.

We are now looking for a puppy.

Are we nuts?