pinewoodcavapoos

I have sad news. Sasha (our sweet red Poodle) went missing on Monday.

We’ve searched through and around our property and neighboring ones, notified our nearest neighbors,  put up posters, notified the vet and microchip company, etc but with no luck.

Sasha has one bad habit. She climbs fences. Our whole property around the house is fenced in. Connected with that and the dog house are a girl dog yard, a boy dog yard and the back yard off the house. Many times after letting all the dogs out in the morning, silly Sasha would climb the corner (where those three yards converge) and end up in the back yard at the back door. Or she’d just hang out with whoever happened to be in the back yard (puppies, aunties, or other moms).

Sometimes she’d climb the fence into the front yard where the big dogs hang out. She was intimidated by Zuma so she would just lay in the yard by the girl’s gate until I would come out front. Then she would see me and walk back to the door and go inside.

Two times in the past six months she’s done something new. She went visiting to my sister-in-law’s house up the hill from us. Both times was when I wasn’t home, but hubby was. She’s never gone on one of those “walk-abouts” when I was here.

But I’m guessing that’s what happened on Monday. With our smokey weather from the wildfires, the dogs have been spending a lot of time inside. Monday the smoke had cleared a lot and the day was fairly pleasant. So the dogs went out in the morning and were able to enjoy the nice weather all day hanging out in their respective yards.

That evening I went to the dog house, dished dinners into all their bowls in their individual crates. (I feed each one in their own crate so I can monitor what they get and who is or isn’t eating). I opened the door and the girls all rushed in and into their own crate. Sasha was not with them. But I wasn’t worried because I figured she was in the back yard. I started calling for her hoping she’d climb back into the girl yard and come in. Then I walked out to open the gate and let all the boys in. It was dark, so I couldn’t really see in the back yard.

After the boys were in their crates, I walked to the house, grabbed the big flashlight and checked the back yard, but it was empty. Silly girl must’ve climbed back over as I was walking through the house, I thought. I walked back towards the dog house and didn’t see her in the front yard or the dog yards.

Now I was starting to get worried. I let hubby know, called the neighbors (aka in-laws) that she liked to visit, and started a more thorough search around the yards. We all looked all over our properties and neighboring ones late into the night. I drove down the driveway and up and down the main road. But I highly doubt she went to the road as it’s quite a ways from our house and she had never gone that direction before.

It’s been two days now and there has been no sign or sighting. I’m heading out into the woods again today to look for clues. And we do live smack dap in the middle of the woods! There are predators all around us which is why we have farm dogs patrolling the yard. But when a dog climbs over the fence into the wooded area surrounding us they can’t protect her. My fear is she was taken by one of those predators on her way through the woods to visit the neighbors.

I still look around every time I’m outside, expecting to see her little face pop up from behind a bush or a hill. And there’s a slim chance she’s still alive out there or someone picked her up, but my heart is leaning towards the reality of the other.

I’m sad because she was such a great little dog with the sweetest personality. Not only have we lost a friend, but an excellent mom to her own babes and a patient “auntie” to all the other puppies. And she was just about to retire! I was hoping to breed her with Legend next year for his first litter and her last. But that was not to be. So if you have a Sasha baby, hug it a little tighter for me.

Life sucks sometimes.