This just happened to me for the first time. When I met the owner and dog to go over the routine, the owner showed me how she leaves the sliding door partly open so the dog could come and go from the back garden, which is only partially fenced. I asked if the dog would run off, and the owner said no, but check on her every so often. I was also advised that I did not need to keep the dog on a leash, unless we were walking on a busy road or past a house that has a lot of feral cats. Out of caution and wisdom, I DID keep the dog on a leash, except when we were actively playing fetch with the ball in an area where it would have been difficult to run away from. And I DID keep an eye on the dog while the door was open. I made a cup of tea, and the dog was at my feet as I poured it. In the five minutes between when I poured the tea and set it down on the coffeetable, I was about to sit on the couch, and I looked around for the dog who I thought would sit on the couch with me, and she’d vanished.
I went outside and called for her, to no avail. This was a hillside on a treeless coast, and I could see all around. The dog I was told would not run off had indeed run off. I wasn’t sure if I should go look for her or stay home in case she returned. I walked to the end of the road where two neighbor dogs she plays with live—both look a lot like her. The first dog came to my call, and then I realized it was not the right dog. Then the second dog came to my call, still not the right one! I called and called, and she did not return. I called a friend who lives nearby, and he said he would walk around and look for her while I stayed at the house, in case she returned. We did not find her. I went walking all over, retracing the steps of our morning walk, did not find her. I drove up onto the main road and all over the village, no sign of her. At this point I’d covered the entire valley, and there was no place to hide. I talked to neighbors, nobody had seen her. One told me she runs off a lot—funny, the owner told me she didn’t! That neighbor suggested I wait till dark before I call the owner, so as not to upset her prematurely. Knowing what I know about dogs, they will usually return for supper.
So I waited and called, waited and called, talked to more neighbors, looked. As the sun was setting, I figured I’d better call the owner—maybe there’s a friendly house she’d gone to, or maybe she could check or post on the local WhatsApp group (which I’m not on, not being local). Owner freaked out, and got angry that I hadn’t called her right away. She said whenever the dog runs away, she’s able to find her if she looks for her right away, but if it’s been a few hours, there’s no chance of finding her. ??? The dog I’d been assured wouldn’t run away had run away several times??? And there’s a pattern that I wasn’t told when I asked IF THE DOG MIGHT RUN AWAY?! There were specific people to call, which the owner hadn’t told me about, when I asked if she might run away?
Owner called one of those specific people, and that person drove me around to the various places where the dog might be. Dog was not in any of those places. Owner called me a few more times to freak out and say, if only you’d called me right away…. Her friend told me about all the times the dog had run away, but also made me feel bad that I’d lost her—she’s never been missing THIS long (three hours)!! Finally, we returned to the house, and the dog was there waiting for me. Just as my instinct had told me—she’d be back by dark. I just made the mistake of alerting the owner a tiny bit too early.
Lessons learned? 1) Ask the owner exactly what to do and who to call if the dog runs away. If the owner deflects and says the dog doesn’t run away, still ask for an exact protocol. 2) Trust an instinct. The dog returned by dark, just as my gut told me she would.
I’m curious what others think: if a dog disappears from home, is it best to call the owner immediately, or look/give it time, then call if it hasn’t returned by dark/a reasonable time?
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