Lost Dog

Not so much a 'Needle in a Haystack' as a 'Pom in a Wheatfield'.

We had a major scare today. The dogs get at least a 2 hour walk most days, and today was no exception. We have a regular walk from our house, across a busy dual carriageway, then down a busy country lane, before reaching a bridleway, which passes under the M5 into open country.

Tim the Pom has the stamina of a small terrier, and takes this walk in his stride, although I often carry him for the road section. Off the bridlepath for what would strictly be termed trespassing, around the field headlands. ( We've done this for the last 25 years or so without problem or comment.)

So, we are a couple of miles, maybe a bit more from home, just passing along the edge of a field of wheat which still hasn't been harvested. As the grass on the border is long and often wet, I've taken to walking in machine tracks in the crop, and Tim follows me.

Except today, he vanished. We searched the field high and low, calling him all the time. Bramble, our Border Terrier, stayed with us, she couldn't find him either.

In the end, I left my wife in the field with Bramble, whilst I ran (and walked and puffed) home, to get the car and a couple of mobile phones, dreading what I might find along the way. Unbelievably, Tim was waiting for me at the front door. How he survived crossing two busy roads, as well as running along the lane, is a complete mystery.

As is why he did it, first time in his ten years that he's ever done something like this. Whether he lost sight of us and thought we'd gone home without him, but we were calling him all the while, and there's nothing wrong with his hearing.

To say we are relieved is an understatement. We had a dog run over and killed many years ago, my wife is still traumatised by that episode.