Lost and Found

I have to tell you what happened to some friends of ours. About two and a half years ago they lost  Pinocchio who was their Shih Tzu. He disappeared right out of the yard, leaving behind his family and his collar. His human girl who, although very young at the time, was never any kind of fool called it right away. It was a dognapping, she said. And between the collar and the fact that there was no sign whatever of Pinocchio to be found it did seem like that was what happened. A lot of time went by and it seemed like there was nothing to do but accept that Pinocchio was gone for good and they had no clues as to his whereabouts. This would be bad enough at any time of life, but the family had already suffered about as devastating a loss as a family can. The girl's Daddy had only recently died of cancer while still in his thirties. Still, they eventually had to move on and they got a little girl Teacup Shih Tzu named Lily and got on with life, because really, what could they do?

Well, just a few days ago, Pinocchio's Mom got a call from the local animal shelter. He was microchipped, you see, and they had him there at the shelter. As it turned out, he was found right on their own street. It's looking very much that wherever he was, he was just biding his time until he could make an escape and when he got the chance he lit out for home. His own real home, that is. No Stockholm Syndrome for Pinocchio. When his Mom and his girl went to down to the shelter he was in a cage and as soon as he saw them he went all ballistic with excitement.  And when they had to step into another room to complete paperwork he cried and cried the whole time. But now he's home and everyone is happy except maybe for Lily. I'm sure she'll be just fine with it once she gets used to the idea.

Reunited and it feels so good

 You have to love a happy ending. I do wish that Pinocchio could tell his humans, and the authorities, just where he was for two and a half years, though. Anyone who would steal any dog, let alone a kid's dog deserves a visit from the police dogs. Or just the police. The other thing that I think is kind of interesting about this is that, while there are exceptions, most dogs adjust to rehoming. All of us rescue dogs have had to do it and most of us are quite happy in our new situations. This little guy was not having it. He was the victim of a crime and he seemed to know the difference between that and adoption. Good for him.