On the Road Again

My parents’ dog, Amber, went missing over the last day or so. She turned up today, thus bringing a happy ending to the story.

She was actually turned in to a near-by veterinarian office. This vet is actually the closest one to my folks’ house, so it seems pretty obvious that “Bo,” as my dad calls her, didn’t wander too far. And, fortunately, my mother had contacted this veterinarian yesterday to pass the word.

So, it was a happy ending all around.

The conversation about Bo’s sojourn brought to mind the wanderings of their previous canine cronie, Shaggy (also known as Shagbark or just plain Shag). She would, from take off from time to time. My grandfather nicknamed her “On the Road Again” because of her quirky practice of taking these unannounced day trips.

All of this makes me wonder if, sometimes, a pet just has to say I ‘wanna get away.’

Early in our marriage, we had a white cat that disappeared right around the time we were moving from a house we were renting to an apartment in the city. We actually traveled back to the rental house a couple times before we found the kitty and brought him to our new abode.

I always thought he was just a little on the high-strung side. Maybe the notion of a move was just too taxing?

But, even Roger – the coolest cat around – has taken off on a couple occasions. Sometimes I wonder if he looks out on our surroundings and decides that it is time to explore them.

 

One time, he came home looking quite disheveled. That road trip took place during the rainy winter season. He was gone for at least a day.

We felt, at the time, that he must’ve hidden in a drainpipe to escape a predator.

In any case, one of Rog’s favorite pastimes is to groom himself, so I imagine he enjoyed the cleanup after his campout.

Who knows what causes a pet to take a break. Maybe they find such interesting scenes to inspect that they lose track of where they are? Maybe a pooch finds some new pals to hang out with? Possibly, these animals get spooked for some reason – by weather or predator.  There are plenty of plausible explanations.

It would be fascinating to follow their ramblings. Otherwise, we may never know the answer to the question at hand.

In any case, Bo is home tonight and the folks are happy.  And I suspect it may be a while before she decides to go “On the Road Again.”

JG

Originally posted 6/11/2013