Little dog lost.

As i previously posted, Rosie was our sweet, loyal furry companion, who was later joined by another sweet, loyal furry companion named Roxy. Whilst Rosie was happy to be wherever we were, Roxy was always looking for a new adventure, and if that meant going under the fence, then that is what she would do. When those holes were filled, and going under was no longer a possibility, she discovered a new skill, climbing the fence. Not jumping. Climbing. It became to the point that our lovely neighbor was putting her back over the fence time and time again. We added wire to the tops of the fence, she just climbed higher.

We decided to move this year, and chose a house with 6ft high wooden fences. Roxy-proof fences, we were sure of it, there just seemed no way she could climb them and we were right. She didn't climb them, she started going under again. Not long after we moved in, she dug out and took Rosie with her. (We always joked that Roxy was a bad influence on Rosie) .Roxy was found by some people in the neighborhood but Rosie had separated from her in fear. A little bit of driving around, i found my little girl and returned them both to our yard and filled in the hole. But, the holes kept coming. We ended up spending a bit of money and a weekend of time digging trenches under the fence and adding timber underneath to stop them digging out. It seemed to work. We didn't have to worry about them escaping and we were relieved. I came home one day to find that a scummy person in the area had deliberately opened the gate for them (it was happening in a lot of yards) and they had both wandered off again, but just as i was going out searching, they came running back home. So, we locked our gates and figured that our dogs were safe in our yard where they belonged.

We were wrong.

On 23rd May this year, i came home from a busy and exhausting morning helping out at my Daughter's school excursion. My feet and ankles were screaming at me and i was kid-free for the afternoon. I had my McDonalds ready to eat for lunch and was about throw my feet up on the recliner, that is, until i looked out the glass doors and noticed there was only one dog... Roxy. This was unusual as Rosie was usually always there waiting for me. I went outside and i called her. She didn't come. Roxy was whining. I checked the gates. Still locked. I searched the yard. There was no Rosie. Then i saw it. A great big hole. Right in the corner, underneath the wooden barrier under the fence and through to the other side, right next to a retaining hole, a spot we honestly thought was far to small for them to squeeze out of it. But Rosie had. She was the smaller of the two dogs and had managed to get out. Roxy had been left behind, although i imagine it was probably Roxy who had dug the hole.

The first few hours after a pet goes missing are critical. You hope that in that time, they are still nearby. I quickly posted photos to local Facebook sites and drove around the neighbourhood calling her name, hoping and praying i would spot her. But there was no sign of her. We have alot of bushland around her, so we knew that if she ran into it, it would be nearly impossible to find her. My parents came out to help me look. We searched and searched. It got dark and still our Rosie had not returned. I cried and i fretted for her. Not having her lying next to me in bed that night was horrible.

The next morning, we prepared posters and walked around our street putting up posters and handing them out to Neighbours. We did what we could, but we had to go out of town for the morning to my nephew's birthday party. I was concerned. We all were. We had heavy hearts and we wanted her home. Not long after we arrived at the party we got a call from a neighbour to say she had been found and they would hold her in their yard until we got home. I was so relieved. That heavy heart was gone and we could relax and enjoy ourselves. We arrived home and i walked happily to the neighbours house to collect her. My smile faded when the neighbour explained that Rosie had dug out of her yard, but they had found her again and put her into our own yard . But as i looked over at our yard, i could see just one dog sitting in the yard. My heavy heart was back. We checked the backyard, but only Roxy was there and that ugly hole she had dug out of, and we had refilled, well, she had dug out again. This was all in the space of about an hour and a half. I was angry and sad. I couldn't understand why she had escaped again. We searched again and we continued reposting to facebook . Another night passed and i continued to cry. Days passed. There were sightings but no matter how many times we scoured the neighbourhoods we just couldn't find her. We checked the pound listings multiple times a day. We put up extra posters. We did everything we possibly could, but we just couldn't find her.

Where are you Rosie?

It has now been one month and two weeks since Rosie went missing. The sightings stopped after the first week and our hope started to vanish. There were reports of dogs being killed by wild dogs around the time she went missing, and my heart breaks to think that she could have suffered such a brutal death and that  her body could be lying in the bush land. We try to tell ourselves that maybe someone found her and decided to keep her, rather than find her owner. We try and encourage ourselves with this thought, rather than facing the thought that she could be dead.

Hope has faded for me. I try to be positive. I have heard the stories of dogs who have gone missing for 10 years and finally return home. But i also know the stories of dogs who go missing and never, ever return. I still post her pictures on facebook sites, in the hope someone may have her, and her posters still hang on the telephone poles, but deep in my heart, i honestly don't believe she will ever return to us.

And it hurts. It hurts so bad.

Rosie.

I am a big supporter of pet rescue organisations and believe pre-loved pets make the most wonderful companions. I told myself that the first dog that our little family of 4 would get would be a rescue dog, needing a second chance. That is, until in 2012, we met Rosie.
A friend introduced us to a litter of puppies her Silky terrier had given birth to. They were furry, they were tiny and they were super cute. We certainly hadn't been talking about a getting a dog at that time. We had a cat and two young children and that seemed enough. But holding wriggling, yapping bundles of energy and cuteness will do something to you -- it will melt your heart and your strong resolve and before we knew it, my Husband and i were discussing getting a puppy. These certainly weren't free puppies, and in hindsight, it went against my stance now, that you shouldn't pay hundreds of dollars for cross breed puppies when you still have to pay hundreds of dollars in vet bills to desex them etc. But at the time, we were smitten and we wanted one of those puppies. We wanted our children to grow up with a puppy and we wanted a loyal companion for our whole family to enjoy.

The day we chose Rosie.

We chose a girl, and we named her Rosie. She was the cutest little thing . I remember taking her to a public event not long after we got her, and my husband carrying around this tiny little pup, enjoying all the extra attention the ladies were paying to him over this furry little bundle of cuteness. She was a bundle of energy and a bundle of love.

At the time, our children were four and two. They were so excited to have a puppy and to play with it. The excitement vanished for awhile, when there was the barking, the chewed up underwear and the not so nice surprises in the house, but still, Rosie became a much loved member of our family. 

Mischief and cuteness rolled into one.

I loved her to bits. I wanted her to be the dog we took everywhere, to family events, to day trips out, fishing, anywhere it was practical. 

There was the time we took her fishing and she decided she had had enough of the boat and jumped overboard, the kids thinking it was hilarious that the only thing we caught that day was a Rosie fish. She even, came on the back of a kayak with us. I loved it, and i think she did too. She loved being where-ever we were.

Kayaking. 

I adored her. I considered her my fur-kid. She was my little shadow, and she loved to curl up beside my back next to me in bed or between my Husband and I. When my kids and i went to England for a month to visit family, she missed us, and we missed her. I still have the Skype screenshot of her and my Hubby skyping us while we were gone and i remember how excited she was on the day we arrived home. Not long after returning from our trip, we adopted another dog, this time, from a rescue organisation. Her name was Roxy, and at that time, she seemed like  a mini-me of Rosie, that is, until she grew bigger and more chaotic and the resemblance wasn't quite there anymore, but the two of them were our two much loved hairy brown terriers . 

Roxy and Rosie.

I love Roxy, but Rosie was my favourite, maybe it was because she was the beautiful little dog we had owned since she was 7 weeks old and she was the little companion i had hoped would be around for a long time. 

But some things are just  not meant to be....

A Pawfect reason to blog.

I'm not new to Blogger. I've blogged in the past. You know, the usual stuff - random ramblings of a mum and the comings and goings of raising children. I was certainly not a blogging superstar, but i hope to my 6 followers, they  enjoyed it, even if it was just occasionally. 

It is now time for out with the old, in with the new.I ended my old blog quite some time ago. I got dissatisfied with the lack of followers, frustrated that my Mummy blog was not being mobbed my followers, whilst others were big hits with readers. I had my number one fan (my devoted Hubby) but i wanted more. I just wanted to think that somewhere out there, somebody thought what i had to say was interesting.

This time though, this is different. This is my place to vent, to reflect and to share. Perhaps, i may only be sharing with my number one fan, but regardless of whether anyone starts to follow this blog, it is somewhere to put my thoughts. This blog is about one thing in general. Animals. Perhaps, animals of all shapes and sizes, but for the most part, this blog will be related to domestic animals, specifically dogs and cats. Maybe that sounds boring, perhaps your already thinking, ok... crazy cat lady... which is ok, cause my Hubby calls me that anyway, but this blog has come out of necessity to me, it has come out of a need of dealing with my frustrations and feelings about the way pets are neglected and often tossed aside like garbage, when the next big exciting thing comes along and the lack of human responsibility when it comes to owning pets. 

I've always been a big softie when it comes to animals. Those big eyes, those furry faces, i just can't resist. I think as i get older, i'm getting somewhat worse and i have to fight all inner urges and impractical thoughts to want to bring them all home to live with me and i've always felt heartbroken when animals have to suffer because of irresponsible pet owners. It is only in the last couple of months, that i have really struggled with my frustrations and emotions on this subject. Losing a beloved pet (which i will blog about later) really opened my eyes to just how cruel and careless human beings can be. It makes me mad, really mad and i get angry and sad and upset and i want to share a billion facebook statuses on just how mad it makes me. But, i can't. I have shared on facebook in the past. I share with my family quite often (thankfully they are animal lovers too and share the same point of view) and i often vent to my Hubby. But this, this is a place i can put all those feelings without bombarding facebook, or family or my hubby. If someone reads it, then great, i hope you like, but if not, well, this is for me. 

Please remember, the opinions expressed in this blog, are mine only. You may agree with them, you may not agree, but please be respectful either way. 

And so, here's to something paw-fect.