Jake is BACK!!

Jakers is back! He has been missing from Leonora's dogyard since June. Jake retired from racing this year and as promised, went back to Leonora, his original owner. But, just about a week or so after arriving, Jake went missing. It looked as if someone had let him off of his chain, but we'll probably never know. Jake wasn't one to wander. He got loose at our house once and stayed right in the dogyard. However, he disappeared back in June and though many of us looked high and low, he wasn't found. Until today. Actually, it was on August 21st that Animal Control picked him up, in the same area that he dissapeared from. He was well fed and looked cared for. A mix up with his paperwork (he'd been listed as female on the paperwork) and a miss in the shelter database (they revamped their missing dog reports in July, which meant that since Jake had been reported in June, he was not entered in the new report) which all resulted in them not realizing that Jake was our missing dog. I happened by the shelter today and as soon as I saw Jake, with his little black scar across the top of his nose, I knew we'd found him. Ironically, my son Devlyn had just mentioned Jake this morning, and I said that I doubted we'd ever know what happened, since he'd been missing for so long. Then, lo and behold, there he is on house G in the shelter dog yard. I immediately looked closer to verify that this dog was our missing Jakers....then, went to the front desk to tell them that this was our missing dog. I asked if they found a Quest microchip and my #3 Quest tag on his collar. They said they sure did. Righteous! We'd found Jake. They allowed me to spring Jake from the shelter so that I could take him back home to Leonora's (a promise is a promise).

At first, I was very worried, as Jake wasn't very responsive and even looked sick (though he's really FAT). I got him to the car, and the boys and I just kept talking to him. Within 5 minutes, he started resting his nose on my shoulder (he was sitting in the back seat, just behind me). Then, he was responding to his name, kept nudging me and Devlyn to pet him and by the time we'd got him to Leonora's, he was jumping on me again, giving me hugs. What a happy dog he was to be home!! We are so very thankful that this old guy is safe and sound now. He's been missing for 3 months! We'd all but lost hope of finding him. Then, there he was. I wanted to bring him home with us....but, he's a retired Quest dog and he was promised to go back to Leonora, his original owner once he retired. So, he's now back and happy.

Moral of the story? Never give up. Something told me to go check the shelter, even though I hadn't been there in a few weeks. I'm glad I listened to that voice, because it was already late afternoon and I had thought that perhaps we should just head home. But, I listened to my instincts and found our boy. I guess I should have never doubted him...Jake's a tough, Quest dog. I'm so happy he's home!! Right on!!