Just under two miles away from our home are some fantastic ancient woods which run down to and then along the banks of the River Wear. Plenty of paths to take, lots of interesting undergrowth, buckets of squirrels - doggy heaven.
Although the majority of places we walk I can't let Sami off the lead, woods have generally been a safe option, as she runs up and down the path, waiting or coming back to find me if she loses sight.
On this occasion, after letting her off the lead, she did exactly that - ran ahead, and then waited for me to catch-up. Then off she went again - and that was the last I saw of her........
Sami was still not back, nor in sight. Not unduly concerned yet - but neither was I as relaxed as before - started calling and whistling...
Starting to get a little more worried now, I decided to backtrack the river path - see if she had looped right round.
About half an hour later I met up with my wife and daughter who'd walked from home, calling and whistling and looking for her on their way down. My daughter was already upset, bless her. I just felt sick.
We split up to cover the three main paths which run through the woods. 15 minutes later we had all come together again, with neither sight nor sound of her. I had to think ahead - I'd been out for nearly 2 hours and needed some water. I needed to be prepared to stay out all day if necessary. I didn't know if Sami was stuck down a hole, or just lost still somewhere in the woods. I had to do something I really didn't want to do, which was to leave her there - alone - whilst I went home to get kitted-out with food, water and torches. That was a horrible walk home for everyone....
I was back down the woods within the hour, worrying that I might have missed her somehow.
I thought I'd spotted her tracks in some lightly-tilled soil from a molehill which I'd strewn over the path earlier - I text home that I thought she was still in the woods - I tried to stay positive.
As the day wore on, however, I started checking below some of the outcrops in the woods. The local farmer said he'd lost cattle there in the past... I hated the thought of finding her somewhere injured, or worse, cold and lifeless.
If she was hurt she might make a noise if she heard me. I was whistling constantly, but finding I was not blowing as hard - I was running out of optimism.
Sami wasn't a barking dog - it's not in the breed's physiology, but she could howl like a banshee when she was upset about something, (normally being ignored did the trick.)
The occasional walker(s) came passed, but no-one had seen her. The farmer's daughter and friend came down to help, which was good of them considering the light was going.
I started feeling that she wasn't in the woods now - if she was, she wasn't alive. I'd been tramping round and round for over 6 hours now - and had seen and heard nothing apart from some ducks, their quacking seemingly mocking my predicament. Then it got properly dark. I wanted to stay until I found her. I was back up the ravine, which had water running through it - trickling over a well constructed man-made cobbled stream bed - a legacy of the past. I didn't care - it was slippy and I knew it would get me eventually. I had to leave now, I was not achieving anything anymore.
I walked back through the woods, calling and whistling. Once, my torch beam picked out some bright white eyes, which looked like they could belong to an animal about Sami's size - I called her - she didn't come - but I grasped at some faux animal phsycology theory that she'd had a fright, and was disorientated and wary. I'd brought some of her treats which I'd scattered in a couple of places during the afternoon, to see if she was still running around. Almost pleading with her to come to her dad. But those eyes just stayed where they were - fixed on me, unblinking and seemingly cold and devoid of any emotion. I walked towards them, still calling gently. They went out, and were gone.
I allowed myself some self-pity - playing over in my mind the last time I'd spoken to her. My last words to her - the last stroke. Pretty pathetic I thought. But how ridiculous that in such a short space of time I felt so much for an animal. In fact I realised that I wasn't thinking of her as a dog, but simply as a member of my family. I couldn't believe that all the hard work of the last few months was for nothing. No more shared experiences of walking on the beach, trips in the car, walks at 5 in the morning before work - no more being blamed for the loss of one of my wife's best balls of wool.
I got back to the car - I was feeling numb - how was I going to get through the night worrying about my little dog out here - possibly still wondering where I was?
I drove up the lane to a spot which was on one of our morning walks, getting out and walking across the fields. It was pointless I knew, but I needed to complete it. A short drive home, and a last initiative with leaflet printing and distribution in the local pub and through letterboxes of the village shops.
Sami's version:
After Dad let me off the lead, I made a dash down the steps and raced along the path by the river - it was great to be off the lead and to be able to run and run.
Thinking back now, I think I turned left at the post instead of going straight-on - but because I'd been on this path before I thought I knew where I was going. Up some steps, but no sign of Dad. I ran and ran, and finally got to a clearing with lots of paths. Now I didn't know what to do - I normally keep a close eye on him, but I was confused and didn't know which way to run to find him.
Round the corner and up the muddy lane - Dad where are you??
When I got to the top I knew I needed to turn left and then I ran along the side of another path with lots of cars, and stopped at our usual place to cross. Half way across this path, I stopped to sniff something. I heard someone calling to me - there was a car with some people in, but it wasn't my family. I thought they'd take me to my Dad so I jumped in.
They didn't take me to my home, but we went somewhere else which was nice and warm, and they had another dog as well - so I forgot about Dad for a while and had a great time with this other dog.
By the time it was dark outside, they had given me my tea and then we got back in their car. I could tell we were going home. We stopped and parked on my street, and I could see the family going to some houses near mine. I think they were looking for Dad too. If they'd asked me I would have told them which way to go - I could see my house. When they asked the lady in the house next to ours, they then came to get me out of the car, and I pulled them the right way at last! When the door opened I dashed in to the kitchen - Dad wasn't there, but I was home. It had been quite an exciting day, apart from the bit where Dad got lost. Anyhow, next thing he was back as well and he didn't seem to be angry with me so everything was alright.
Final note: Sami had found her own way home, and was metres away when she was picked up. This family probably not only saved her life, but possibly prevented an accident as well - she was half way across a very busy dual carriageway. I have tried not to dwell on what might have happened if she'd caused an accident......
Although I had spent over 6 hours searching for her, she'd actually been picked up before I'd rung home in the first hour, and my wife and daughter must have just missed her when they set-out to come and help me search for her.
She has a collar and tag - but the tag was obviously a cheapy because the family who picked her up, had thought one of the numbers was a 0 when it was actually a 6. When no-one had returned their calls, they came back out to search because the tag also had our postcode on it.
She is microchipped, and so they would have found us eventually.
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