So Hank and I were out on a morning walk yesterday at one of the parks near the house (it's a heavily wooded one of about 50 acres). A cold front just came through and the air was crisp and still (making for excellent 'hunting' weather). Hank and I took off on our normal loop and he was clearly amp'ed about something in the air, took off a few times then came back. Well for some reason I had headphones in (I don't normally) and I kept on walking, he like to hang back and investigate the race past me at 25 mph. So I didn't notice him zooming past, for a few minutes.

I stopped because I couldn't see him, pulled my plugs, couldn't hear him (crashing through the brush like he normally does). Hmmm, paged him on the remote, called out to him (my voice can carry a LONG ways, annoys the wife you know). No Hank... Crap. The park is pretty well fenced so I wasn't too worried, and were alone in the park.

So I headed back towards the car, continuing to call out to him. Well I get about 30 yds from the car and out pops Hank! What I think happened is that he spotted a deer/squirrel and took off after it, and then lost sight of me. Since he couldn't find me He then headed back to car and waited for me. Good Dog.

When he 'found' me he raced up to me and dove between my legs for lots of lovin' like when I get home in the evening. We were apart for a good 4 minutes but he stuck a lot closer for the rest of the walk.

I'm glad he's got some sense. It makes for lot less drama in my life.

Smart boy!!

Very smart boy!

glad that had a happy ending .

a good buddy of mine lost his dog for four days . his little toddler daughter left the yard gate open and out went the dog . he got taken in by some slack-jawed redneck off the grid type who figured he " found " a new friend for the dog he already had .

it was actually the yokels' neighbor who called kevin after he recognized the dog from posters kevin had plastered all over town ( pemberton = very small town ). when kevin went to get the dog , there he was tied up in the front yard with the other dog , both of them happily gnawing on a deer hindquarter . guy claimed total innocence and had no intention of looking for the dogs' proper home .

I had a bit of a scare like this. My pup is pretty weak nerved and spooked herself on the trail one day. She took off and was completely unresponsive to any commands. She typically ignores her e-collar as well when she gets that way. The end result was an unexpected trail run to relocate her since she quickly got out of sight and a new toy for her. The next day I decided to purchase a collar mounted gps tracker that I can track from my smartphone. I haven't had a problem like this again but it's a great piece of mind to know that I can see where she is at any time via my smartphone.