My little poodle Gordon has been missing for just over a week in the Connecticut woods. Who knows what could have happened to him, how far he roamed, if he was picked up, or injured, or hit by a car, or eaten by a coyote. I've made all the phone calls, walked in the woods, but it seems impossible he would be around and still be alive and not come to my voice. I keep re-playing the last time I saw him. I let him out early in the morning, and didn't go out with him. No collar, no chip. I feel horribly guilty. Just terrible. And sad. I'm in a very intese graduate program and I can't really keep it together when Im at school, and horribly stressed about the work I'm not getting done, and the flyers I should be posting, and the ads I can't afford to take out in the paper. I just desperately want him back.

Maybe he'll turn up if someone found him, but he's just the right size and well-behaved and friendly, maybe somebody would want to keep him. I'm trying not to be obsessive, but its all I think about. I'm having to get used to living without him, after only a year and a half.

I'm sorry to hear about your Gordon. I wouldn't give up hope yet--there's a fair
chance that you've just missed each other in the woods, or that someone
has mistaken him for an abandoned pet.

In case you haven't spotted it yet, there's a web page here that gives some
good advice on finding a missing pet. It's a little cat-centric, but it's
otherwise pretty good, and you might find something that you haven't
already tried. In particular, you might try putting up signs at the local
vet's office and pet stores. That's most likely to catch the attention of
pet lovers, who might have noticed something. Even if you can just let
the local vet know he's missing it might increase someone's chances of
finding him.

http://www.mspca.org/site/pp.asp?c=gtIUK4OSG&b=127205

There are also a lot of missing pet pages online where I believe you can post
free missing ads. I know this must be particularly hard on you with your
graduate studies. Hang in there. Take care of yourself.

I hope that you and Gordon find each other again. Good luck!

-Sarah

Any news on Gordon yet?

Gordon has been gone for over three months now. I've worked with an animal communicator who assures me he is alive. Initially he was picked up by "student types" and didn't want to come home as he was having a good time in a house full of people. This was good news, because it quelled my gruesome imaginings of what could have happened, but it also was the cause of some soul searching. ('Why doesn't he want to come home?') Before Christmas he changed his mind, wants to find me, but I can't know for sure where he is. Perhaps living with some nice empty-nesters in Westchester County? (my animal communicator is learning to use dowsing) The communicator has been great to work with, encouraging me to keep posting flyers and contacting vets, groomers, etc., which I've done. She also encourages me to ask for spiritual guidance whether or not I should continue my search. I'm at a crossroads. It's taxing and debilitating bouncing back and forth between hope ('I will find him') and dispair ('He's gone forever'). My obsession is affecting my ability to get work done. Even though I think spiritually I understand losing him, I cling to a vision of the day I find him. This is why "letting go", or "grieving" is so difficult, because it seems like giving up.