This morning was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. Within a short 30-minute timeframe, I was shaking, crying and freaking out.
Thank God, everything turned out okay.
This little lady gave me and Ryan quite a fright.
At 5 a.m., right after our alarm went off, Ryan let Sadie outside to go to the bathroom.
As you may remember, our new house is located on three acres. The land is unfenced, but we didn’t think this would be a problem because Sadie is very much a true vizsla in that she is a “velcro dog.” She never lets me or Ryan out of her sight and typically stays within 200 yards of us.
Well, this morning, in the pitch black, Sadie went out to pee and when Ryan called her in, she didn’t come.
I heard him call her a few times as I was changing in our bedroom, and when I came out, he said he couldn’t see Sadie and she wasn’t coming when he called her.
I looked around and called her as well. It was pitch black and the lights of our house only lit up the land close by. Ryan ran inside to get his phone for some light since all of our powerful flashlights are still in storage.
My heart started to race.
I ran around our backyard, close to the nearby woods and headed out to the front of our house to check the streets.
Nothing.
I called and called for Sadie.
I then pulled Ryan’s car out of the garage to use his headlights to light up more of our backyard.
Panic took over when I saw nothing.
I drove the car out of our neighborhood with the worst feeling in the world in my stomach. I prayed and prayed.
I drove along the street behind the trees that back up to our backyard praying I wouldn’t see anything.
I didn’t.
I made a u-turn and headed back home, keeping my high beams on for any sign of our little girl.
Again, nothing.
It was then that I started to worry that an animal got her. There are bears and coyotes in Ocala (seriously!) and my mind was going a mile a minute.
I turned down our street to head back home to continue to search with Ryan. I saw him walking around towards our driveway. When he saw me he started waving the light on his phone dramatically.
I rolled down the window.
“DID YOU FIND HER!?”
“YES!”
Relief rushed through my body and I broke down. I started crying and crying. Ryan hugged me and we and hurried inside where I tackled Sadie with all the love in the world.
The 25 minutes Sadie was missing felt like an eternity. I felt frantic and helpless. My heart was filled with the most intense longing to see Sadie’s smiling puppy face and feel her warm kisses on my face.
Seeing her wiggly little body inside our house – safe – was the best feeling in the entire world.
I don’t think I’ll be leaving her side for the rest of the day. And she will now be on a leash whenever we let her out to do her business at night.
Regular blogging will resume momentarily, but right now this is all I can think about.
I know this post may seem extremely dramatic to some, but to those of you who have an animal (or person!!!) in your life that you love more than anything, hug them a little tighter this morning. I got a very tiny taste of what it would feel like to lose Sadie and I am so grateful everything turned out okay.
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I completely get it. Our dog (100lb lab mix) decided to eat some twine a few weeks ago. Had to have emergency surgery, got a hernia from the sutures breaking and is STILL recovering. For a dog who never eats things he isn’t supposed to, it sure has turned our world upside down trying to keep him calm and from jumping. It’s a mess and really heartbreaking 🙁 I’m glad your girl is safe and sound!!!!
oh my gosh!! i hope he continues to heal quickly!
I usually read your posts on my google reader at work (makes the day go by SO much faster), but I saw this on twitter this morning on my way to the gym and had to read it. I’m so glad that you found her and everything was okay. When I was 5, my rotty mix got out of the house (she was about a year old) and we searched and searched for her to no avail. She ended up coming through the alley into the backyard, but I couldn’t hold on to her and she ended up getting free again and got hit by a car (she lived! and made it another 12 years which is huge for a rottweiler). I definitely know how scary it is to almost lose your pet and how much they mean to you.
Julie, it’s not dramatic at all. That is one of the most terrifying experiences in the world. The same thing has happened to me with my dog, and I know what you mean about the longing just to see their face—it’s such a panicky, terrible feeling. I’m SO glad you found her!
I totally know that feeling and it truly is the worst! My dog kept jumping over our 4 foot fence so we got her a stake to put in the ground with a long leash attached to it. Its about 30 feet long. This way she can roam with some freedom but we know she can’t take off, as well.
So glad Sadie’s okay!
Sorry for repeating if someone already said this but you may want to clip a little flashing light to her collar – I use one for running in the morning that clips to my shirt and also clip it onto my dog when I let her out at night.
My dog chases after anything that moves!
Oh my gosh I’m so glad you found her! That must have been so scary!
So glad Sadie was okay Julie! I completely understand that feeling. I let our golden retriever, Hudson, outside one morning and when I opened the door again I saw two missing fence boards and no Hudson. I was completely taken over with terror and started screaming his name. Luckily, a second later, I saw his little paws under the fence door (he could figure out how to get out, but not back in) But there is truly NOTHING more terrifying than thinking your dog is gone. If my experience felt like that, I can’t imagine how you were feeling after 25 minutes! Glad all is good!
i know! it’s terrifying! glad hudson was safe!
Aww, sorry to hear that Sadie gave you such a scare but I’m SO glad that it wasn’t anything serious and that she was found!
that does not sound dramatic at all !
around 7 years ago my maltese crossed with something (also coincidentally called sadie) was an escape artist, and decided it would be cool to find a spot at the gate and dig under it, going through to the other side ! well we all freaked out (not finding her for 4-5 hours or shear terror), we even had enough time to put missing dog posters up ! well finally my brother was so fed up he just yelled one big “SADDIEEEE” and he heard a little bark. to our astonishment she had dug her way through to next doors rock wall, which had a 10 ft drop, so she had gotten stuck up there. we got her back safe and sound and filled her belly up with a nice dinner. *sigh* if we had only known all along she was only next door the whole time. needless to say her escaping (and tried escapes which failed) days were over, for a while 😉 but for the future times we always caught her in the act *phew*
Oh goodness Julie…what a morning! I’m so glad you found your little girl! When Carrie and I took her to the dog park a few months ago she stayed so close to us and was sooo good. I’m glad she didn’t give us a heart attack that day!
Here’s to having a less eventful day! 🙂
I think you should build a little dog run for her. It may cost a little but if there are coyotes in the neighbourhood it would be worth the investment. We back onto a golf course and there are lots of coyotes on the course, especially in the early morning hours. Sadie is worth every penny . We are all attached to her now. So glad she is safe. How was Ryan?
he was really shaken up, too. we both said we felt like we lived 1,000 days in that short 30 min. timeframe.
Oh my gosh, that’s terrifying! It does seem dramatic but I get! It’s a dramatic time and totally appropriate. We have a fenced back yard so we let our little girl out unsupervised all the time. One time I went to get her and she wasn’t waiting at the door. She always waits at the door! It’s that scary flood of panic that swells and we ran around like crazy calling her name. My husband went to go out the garage to get the car when we heard scratching at the front door. Calmly sitting on the front porch like “let me in you dummies.” She must’ve gotten tired of waiting at the door and slipped through a fence crack to go around. Sheesh.
I’m so sorry that happened, but glad Sadie is ok!
I used to live on the top floor of an apartment complex that was located directly on one of the busiest roads in my city. I was walking my dog Sasha when she ran after a squirrel, pulled on the leash, and her collar BROKE! She darted off into the dark and I immediately ran after her, but since she’s solid black and it was night I lost track of her in an instant. I was so terrified…no one would see her, her collar broke so her tags weren’t even on her, and I thought she was going to run straight into the road and be hit by a car. I ran back to my apartment to change into tennis shoes (I was wearing flip flops and couldn’t run very well) and immediately called my dad hysterically crying. As soon as I opened my front door, I saw her happily walking up the stairs to my apartment and she just trotted right in.
I was SO relieved that I just cried harder. I’m extremely grateful that in my big apartment complex full of identical looking buildings, she was smart enough to know exactly which one she belonged in! I think as soon as she noticed I wasn’t a few steps behind her, she came back.
It’s not dramatic at all! She’s your baby and how you reacted is a natural mothering instinct. Glad she’s safe!
Julie you made me cry!! I’m so glad Sadie is safe. I love my animals more than people, lol…so I truly understand how you felt. Please give Sadie a big kiss for me. Hugs
I’m glad to hear Sadie is okay! I know exactly how you feel. One time we lost my puppy in the woods, and we couldn’t find him for an entire week! It was the absolute worst week of my life. When somebody called to say that they had found him, I instantly broke down and started bawling. I can’t believe he survived a week in the woods! We call him our little eagle scout now. 🙂
So glad you guys found her!!! OMG, I can only imagine what you guys were going through emotionally. I would die if my Maddie poo went missing or something terrible happened to her.
Oh my goodness how terrifying! So happy Sadie is safe with you.
That’s SO scary! Thank God she got home OK! This is the second blog post I’ve seen in recent weeks in which a blogger has temporarily lost their dog–so sad. I’m going to be keeping Butters on a short leash at all times now–like Sadie, he typically never leaves our line of sight, but after reading this, I don’t want to take any chances with him.
I totally feel for you, the same thing has happened to me before – thinking I’ve lost my dog – and it is the scariest thing! So glad you found her safe and sound <3 xyx
This post is quite dramatic, BUT having a pet missing is very scary and it’s a dramatic situation for sure.
Our backyard is fenced in, and I can see all of it but one little corner. We have two gates going in and the part I can’t see has a gate. When the dogs doing come when I call I start getting all nervous that the gate was open and that they are out frolicking around the neighbhorhood. It’s an intense feeling.
I better go home and hug my stinky dogs. This morning they were driving me crazy and I left the house mad at them, but this post made me realize they need a hug. =)
Glad you found Sadie, and that she was okay.
I have so been there with my two dogs. My husband thinks it’s crazy that I think of them as my kids, but when I see him cuddling with them on the floor when he thinks I’m not looking, I know he feels the same way.
Oh god, i can totally relate. I have a bijon shitzu and he totally went through the whole running away phase. one time he mananged to sneak under the fence and get onto the main road when my dad let him out in the early morning. i was still in bed and wearing the worst pjs ever, way too big so they kept slidding down my waist and no bra :s. anyways my dad starts hollering at me that hes running away so i wake up and run out the door barefoot one hand holding my boobs downa nd the other holding my pants up. the little bugger ran the loop of our community (approx 2km) and just came back. i was terrified the entire time and i got so many strange looks from cars on the chase.
Oh wow, what a scary experience, but glad that everything is OK.
I can totally relate – three years ago, I was taking out the garbage and there was a cat in front of our door when I opened the door. My cocker Spaniel, Brinkley ran after the cat in pitch black dark night…We just moved to the new city and she did not know her way around there at all…we looked for her for 15 minutes and finally found her sitting next to a Jeep Cherokee 2 blocks away from our house. We had a Jeep at the time, and she must have thought it was ours….
So glad everything turned out fine!!!!
Your store made me tear up a little while sitting at my desk at work! I couldn’t imagine what life would be like without my little dog, Maya. Glad Sadie is good and back safe and sound in your new home!
I would be scared too, especially since it’s a new neighborhood for her! A week ago my sister in law was taking their new golden retriever puppy to the park here in Chicago, where they always let her off the leash because she’s also a “velcro dog”. She immediately bolted for the street!! Let’s just say she’s not getting off that leash until she’s all the way inside the park, far away from cars!
Hey Julie,
Long time reader first time commentor. I’m SOOOO glad Sadie is okay. She is such a cutie. I’m so sorry that happened. It’s terrifying when anything happens with our loved ones.
We have two indoor cats, Max and Dutch. One night we came home and couldn’t find Max anywhere, we looked and looked and then heard him crying piteously. Though we could hear him we still couldn’t find him. Eventually we figured out that the screen in the window had popped out and he had fallen outside! Thankfully he was so scared he just sat under the window and cried. If he had run off I don’t know what would have happened. (also thankful we live on the first floor)
Extra hugs and cuddles for our furry buddies tonight!
Ohh Julie-that’s happened to me before too! I’m so glad that you found Sadie and that she’s okay! It really makes you realize how much of a huge part of your life your dog has become.
It happened to us when Starbuck was only about three months old (he’s almost 9 months now). My Fiance, Ryan, took him outside to do his business-Buckles had always been walked on a leash by me, but Ryan didn’t like to use the leash because it was short and Starbuck is also a velcro dog. Anyways, it was pitch black out and I heard Ryan yelling and yelling and then he came inside just as I was coming to check on them and told me that Starbuck ran off and that he couldn’t find him. I quickly put my shoes on and ran outside with our small flashlight while Ryan used the light from his cell phone. I searched up and down the stairs of the apartment complex because I knew that he loves running on the stairs. I also searched behind the bushes outside and around the parking lot-terrified that he could have gotten into traffic (we live in Tampa). I was crying when I found him-he had gone up the stairwell on the other side of the building and was sitting at a door that he got confused with ours. It was incredibly scary and we now keep him on a leash whenever he’s outside at night.
Is it ridiculous that this post made me tear up? I’m so glad Sadie is ok! I love my dog more than anything so I totally get your emotion, his wiggly little body makes me happy everyday!
I’ve been there before too– so so scary 🙁 Glad you found her safe and sound!!
Thank goodness Sadie is ok!!! I’ve got a 3 year old terrier mix, and I would be heartbroken if he ever got out! I adopted him from a shelter and he was picked up as a stray, so it’s always been a fear of mine that he’d run away. One time I was at a friend’s house and he was playing in the backyard…so I thought! I went outside to check on him and he was gone. I had no idea how long he’d been missing, and I first started to panic, but quickly switched into search team mode! I ran through the house to the front door (without shoes!) to look for him, and guess what….he was RIGHT outside the front door, sitting pretty, waiting for someone to let him in! He got out by squeezing through the back gate, but didn’t really want to run away. I was SO thankful and once I saw him, I just scooped him up and squeezed him tight and cried. I TOTALLY understand your feelings here, and I even cried while reading this post! I am SO GLAD she’s ok 🙂
My dog will run away at any chance he gets. Twice he has gotten loose. The first time, he ran out into the street and my fiancee actually saw him get hit by a car. The car was driven by an elderly couple at an extremely slow speed (thank god) and my large dog was fine. My fiance caught up to him & came back to tell me about it. He said, “I thought I was going to pass out when he got hit. I didn’t know how in the world I was going to tell you that our dog was dead.” The other time he got loose he was found by a nice man who watched our dog TWICE cross one of the busiest streets in the state, unscathed. He must have nine lives. (I literally went crazy both times). Glad your dog is ok.
Oh my gosh, I teared up reading your p
Let’s try this again…I teared up and my heart raced reading your post. We have a pup, too, and I never knew just how much I could love a dog until him. I accidentally hit him in the eye playing catch (Hmm, wonder why I was always picked last in sports!?) and I broke down so hard! We are going to leave him with family while we are on vacation and I am so nervous about it.
I am sooo glad Sadie is OK. I adore her name, BTW! Love all the pics and funny captions. 😉
No, not dramatic at all!! What an intense morning post! I am SO glad she is safe at home..I know what it feels like when a dog goes missing 🙁 and i also know what it feels like to FIND THEM! phew! definitely deserving of a big sigh of relief and a LEASH! My boyfriend and I did the same to Bailey (he’s a meagle! mini pinscher/beagle..he’s a medium size and he has the floppy ears!) he’s just so quick! And he’s attracted to other people’s fences/gates..and likes to squeeze his little body through the spaces and taunt us from the other side becasue he knows all too well that we cannot fit 🙁 hahah, he’s so cute..doesn’t he know that’s trespassing? 😮
oh my gosh! i’m so glad sadie is okay! one morning this summer, while standing at the front door saying goodbye to my husband, my cat ran outside. she’s an indoor cat but loves hanging out on our porch, so it makes sense that she’d try to escape. we chased her thru the woods behind our apartment for 45 minutes before i dive tackled her (seriously) to catch her. it was crazy scary and i was crying off and on the whole time. so you’re not being dramatic at all. 🙂
I would have reacted the same way! That is very upsetting! So glad you found her!!
When Daxter was 14 weeks old, he choked on his collar to the point of passing out. He was in the puppy ICU for 3 days, in an oxygen tank, and that night the vet on-call at the emergency clinic told us there was a good chance he wouldn’t make it.
Thankfully, he’s a resilient little stinkbug and is totally, completely fine (although whether from brain damage or stubbornness, he still doesn’t seem to understand that “come” does NOT mean “back away”… hrm.) But needless to say, it was single-handedly the worst experience of my entire life. And my dogs don’t wear collars in the house anymore (or even their harnesses… just in case.)
So I get it. I really, really get it. Glad she’s back safe & sound. <3
ohmygoodness… puppy ICU?!?! I would be an *absolute* MESS!!!!
Oh goodness, I’m so glad you found her! It’s so heart-wrenching when I hear about lost pets. Last year, one of my landlord’s four dogs ran away and got hit by a car, needing major surgery. Two weeks later, I was caring for them while she was away and the two puppies (one of whom was the injured) ran off at about 9pm and didn’t come when called. After about a half hour they still hadn’t returned, and I had to make a saddening call to my landlord. I barely slept all night, until finally I heard them barking at about 5am. It was awful!!
Oh my goodness, I don’t know what I’d do if my dog ever got away. I don’t even want to think about it. I’m glad that you found Sadie and that’s she’s safe and sound.
Since my husband and I don’t have kids (yet), I love my dog like she is my child. I would be terrified if I lost her, even if it were for a second. Thank goodness she is okay!
That is the WORST feeling.
Last Thanksgiving I was staying with my dad and taking care of my mom’s dog while she was out of town. I put him in his fenced in yard in the morning and when I came to check on him after Thanksgiving lunch/dinner he was gone. My dad, brother and I searched all over the neighborhood to no avail. We left the kitchen door open that night with food in his bowl incase he came home, but by morning there was still no site of him. I was frantically looking through the woods around our house and calling him name when my brother, who had gone inside to put something in his room, came running out saying that he thought me heard the dog under the house. sure enough, we lifted off the cover to the crawlspace/basement and there at the bottom of the stairs was my dog, in perfectly good health, albeit a little dirty. we still have no idea how he got down there, but rest assured, i made him a special bacon and eggs breakfast as soon as we got him inside.
it was without a doubt the scariest 24 hours of my life. i’m glad yours only lasted 30 minutes.
Julie, If you go to the pet store they sell little flash lights for dog collars. That way you will be able to keep an eye on her in the dark! I don’t think you are being dramatic at all, I would be freaking out if I couldnt find Jersey! She is my life, I love her soooo much!
Our dog Buster escaped from his leash for the first time a couple weeks ago when I was home alone before work, and I was in a total panic watching him take off down the street. But it was like he took himself on our normal morning walk – he stopped at all of his normal pee spots, and once he got to the stop sign at the end of the street, he turned around and sprinted back home. The little rascal. I hope that’s the furthest he ever goes on his own!
One time my puppy Mooch (may she rest in peace 🙁 ) escaped out of our door during a bad thunderstorm. The rain and wind blew open our outer door and she left! We went all over the entire town and couldn’t find her. We walk in the door and look out in the yard, sure enough she’s sitting in our neighbor’s yard trying to stay dry!
It’s so awful when you love your pets so much and don’t know where they are!! We have 2 Jack Russells, and we never let them off leash unless we’re in a fenced-in area because they are such curious dogs and follow their noses everywhere… they are also little diggers and we’ve had several instances of them digging out under our fence to go play with other dogs, or just explore.
Most recently, it happened in our house in AK, and I was terrified that they would run into a moose or a bear (both of which have been seen in our neighborhood), or get hit by a car… But luckily after calling them for about 5 min, they always come running back SO proud of themselves after their “adventure”…meanwhile I am shaking and my heart is pounding.
My own missing dog story… Ps if anything happened to sadie, i would have gone into mourning along with every other blog reader. Ok, so our scary dog story– my dad, just before Christmas last year, brought home a stray that had been basically living for a month at a golf course he golfs at every day. The dog, who we named “Bogey,” — cuz he’s from a golf course HA! — was super timid. I came home one day, and as the garage door was closing, Bogey ran out and was able to get underneath the garage door JUST as it was closing. I, annoyed, waited the — literally — 30 seconds for the door to open again to look for Bogey. After 30 seconds, he was completely gone. My family looked for the rest of the day, then put up lost dog signs the next morning. TWO DAYS LATER — Christmas Eve — my parents are asleep in their room, and my mom says to my dad: “there is some sort of animal in here, thinking that there was like a squirrel in their room.” My dad turned on the lights, and it was Bogey! To this day, we have NO idea where he was during those two missing days or how he got back into our house but he’s back!!
oh my gosh! crazy!
oh my gosh i have a dog named bogey that we found at a golf course too!! he lived out there for like a year before we took him. he is so timid and afraid of loud noises or big objects… I’m not sure if he was like that before he got to the golf course or living there made him like that. I love that they are both named Bogey!!
That is insane!! My Bogey is much less timid than he was when we first got him, but yes– he is SO scared by loud noises. Not even really loud noises, actually, but ANY non-quiet noise HA! He also doesn’t like sudden movements. But he is the sweetest dog with not even a hint of aggression. I bet living on the golf course made both of our Bogey’s afraid of loud noises. And, again, so crazy that we both have Bogey’s from golf courses!!!!
You poor thing! What a terrible feeling.
I haven’t had a missing dog story but I got another kind of scare. My dogs came with my now fiancee. We had just moved in together and the girls were still getting used to me. Without warning Daisy ran across the street just as a car was coming! The car tried to stop but it hit her. I saw Daisy bounce off the front of the car and so luckily land on her feet and scamper away. She was completely fine, tail wagging and all but I was a wreck. Shaking and in tears! I feel your pain 🙂 Soooo glad Sadie is safe and sound
I 100% understand how you felt when you thought Sadie was lost!! I have two cats and on seperate occasions they have both gone missing! I lived in an apartment at the time and on a very busy street. They are both indoor only cats and some how snuck out. They were gone for a couple of hours. I was running around crying, shaking the treat bag, calling their names and doing anything I could think of to have them come out from hiding and come to their Mama! I even called my mom in a TOTAL PANIC and she came over and helped me look for them. I ending up finding both of them and unharmed! I was SO scared!!! They are my babies and I love them to death and I can’t even imagine how I would have felt if I couldn’t find them. I AM SOOOOO GLAD SADIE IS OK!!!!! Give her extra kisses and hugs for me!!!! My pets have always been a HUGE part of my life and a big member of the family!!
Julie, I’m so sorry that happened but I am very thankful Sadie is back home. I haven’t lost Edie like that but she did get hit by a car once. I was silly and let her out about 30 feet from a road to let her jump in a lake and clean off after a day in the salt water. She had a stick and thought we were playing and ran off into the road. Luckily the car was only going 25-30 and stopped as soon as it hit her. I screamed the loudest I’ve ever screamed in my life. My friends were with me, thank goodness, so one drove the car and one comforted Edie while I called my husband and cried uncontrollably. He thought she had died the way I carried on. She only ended it up with some bad road rash on one leg but it took me many many months to even think about forgiving myself. I still take the blame. Needless to say I’m glad we have a fence and Edie is on her leash anytime we are even remotely close to a road.