Today, I was taking out my recyclables out to the trash can and Casey got out shortly before Rob called to tell me he was on his way home.  As soon as Rob called me, I went to go take Casey out for a potty and he’s nowhere to be found!

So, I called Rob back and told him that we had a problem.  Casey had gotten out of the house.  I walked up and down the two main streets (not wide enough for two-way traffic but busy enough that the road should be wider with speed limits of 30 km/hr [18 mph]) for 30 minutes looking for him, asking the neighbors that were outside if they had seen my dog.  I called him to me, fearing the worst.  I walked down to the two major streets (much more traffic than the main streets and are clearly marked two-way traffic roads with a speed limit of 50 km/hr [31mph]) and called for him.  I didn’t see him or his dead body laying in the road.  So, I quickly walked back to the house.  Rob had just gotten home and he was in the car looking for his beret so that he could help me look.

We both walked down the same path that I had just walked and we couldn’t find him.  I bawled the entire way home shouting, “I’m so stupid.  How could I let this happen?”  Rob doesn’t know what to say, so he just put his hand on my back and rubbed it.  We were almost home and Rob says, “Somebody probably just picked him up.  They’re not going to keep him, but they are keeping him safe.”

The words were a little comforting, but still, I was worried about my dog.  As soon as we walked up our street, Rob hears Casey barking.  He shushes me.  We walked slightly faster up the steep hill to our house and there we see some neighbors from up the road that had seen Casey.  He walked into their house!!!  Apparently, they knew who’s dog it was and they put him back in our yard.  My face was tear-stained and all I could do was just hug the woman for bringing my dog back.  I offered her a Coke or something to drink and she politely declined.  I thanked them many times over.  The neighbors to our right were out and said something in German that I didn’t quite understand.  I couldn’t think of the words for “Bad dog” in German, but I said, “Big trouble” and pointed at Casey.  They laughed.  They could see that I was relieved.

Bad Dog!