Sweet Zoey Lost Options

[kab4176]

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Last Saturday, 12/1, my husband and I were at Mark Twain Lake where we have some property. Two of our dogs Ollie and Zoey went out that morning with my husband to relieve themselves. I came out about five minutes later to feed them. We have an electric fence, but we had not yet put on their collars. We were shocked that they had already wondered into the woods before I even feed them (this is why we put in an electric fence last year). I admit we have been lax about the collars as they hate having them on and I knew they loved the woods and stupidly never thought this could happen. We just always "knew" they would return. My husband said he had a bad feeling when several hours later they still had not returned. Four hours later Ollie came back but was without Zoey. We started searching at that point. This is an RV subdivision however this time of year not many weekenders like us come up. The area is sparse with full-time residents, lots of woods and farm property.

I walked back to one house that is not too far thru the woods from our place and strangely enough one of their 7 dogs never came home Friday night. I left my phone with several people but we had to leave Sunday late afternoon to come home. I took off work Tuesday and went back up with one of my other dogs Bodie and we searched the woods and creek bottom for hours to no avail. I called all the nearby shelters, although there are none in the immediate area. She is chipped. I'm driving up tomorrow morning (Sat) with dozens of signs I made that I am going to post everywhere within 50 mile radius as she could be anywhere at this point.

We are just sick. Feel a tremendous amount of guilt - we let her down. And all the what if's...what if we had just put her shock collar on, what if we had her regular collar on, what if we had called for the dogs as soon as they went missing as they couldn't have been far because my husband had just seen them going potty near the woods five minutes before. We have been so depressed.

Zoey is a sweet sweet girl. She was brought to work at 6 weeks old by a friend of mine who found her sitting on the curb of a busy street in several inches of snow and the cold in East St. Louis. She was lethargic but healthy and I took her home with me. Everyone absolutely loves Zoey. She is a gentle loving dog who loves people. She is extremely laid back, in fact, we joke a lot about how lazy she is - she is a lounger for sure. We miss her and this has been gut wrenching - especially the not knowing part. Where is she? What happened to her that she didn't/couldn't come back? Is she hurt? Did she get shot by a farmer? Is she cold? Is she hungry? We are so depressed.

I can't think of anything else to do after posting signs tomorrow. We are so very sad. It will be a week tomorrow. Where is our sweet baby girl? We want her back so badly.

[moon_beam]

Hi, kab, thank you so much for sharing with us how you're doing and how things are going with your search for your precious Zoey. The good news IS good news that she is alive and has been looked after by very kind people. I can so understand your frustration and heart sickness that you and your precious Zoey were so close to one another in your search - - very possibly crossing one another's paths yet not seeing one another to be reunited - - YET. It could be that she is trying to follow your scent as you search for her - - which may be why she had not yet returned to the hotel.

I do know how very heartbreaking this is for you, kab. Just keep doing what you're doing, and HOPEFULLY, she will return to the hotel - - or perhaps taken in by another person / family - - where the people can corral her long enough for you and your husband to bring her home with you.

Please know your precious Zoey and you are in my thoughts and prayers that you will be reunited with one another very soon, and please let us know how things go.

Peace and blessings,
moon_beam