Well, New Year's Eve I was a baaaaaad Momma. 

    I have to tell the truth. We went to a wedding in Tennessee and left the dogs at home by themselves for one night.  I'd never done that with Rudee, ever.. I usually sneak her into the hotel room regardless.  However, since we now have our black lab Doc we decided to leave both at home thinking Doc would be jealous of us taking only Rudee and tear something up.  We do have a fenced in yard and doggie door and planned to be back by lunch the next day so things would be just fine we assured ourselves and bolted.

    When we got back home there was no Rudee!  We searched everywhere and I was panicking.  Walker noticed one spot by the door of our wooden fence where only she could have squeezed through in a panic. I walked around the neighborhood and burst out crying while on the phone with my mom when I saw the Vultures atop a meat hunk of something at the house directly behind ours.  Heaving with tears, I walked right up to it and realized it was just dinner leftovers from the night before.  So I continued on, asking people in the neighborhood if they'd seen my small, Toto like terrier mix but no leads.  When I went across to a neighbor's house and knocked on the door it suddenly struck me that there might have been fireworks somewhere for New Year's Eve and then I knew.. she'd fled.  It's the only thing that makes her absolutely crazy and erratic and I was so mad at myself for fireworks not even crossing my mind on New Year's Eve, July 4th yes that's a given.. but I didn't even THINK about it!!

    Meanwhile, after Walker headed the opposite direction on foot following several trips around in the truck, our neighbor who details cars was outside barbecuing.  After asking about Rudee he got a lead, the guy had gone to pay his booth fee at the J&J Flea Market earlier that morning and had seen a dog fitting her description in the office on a dog bed. We headed straight over, across hwy 441 from our neighborhood off Newton Bridge and went to the little log cabin office and there she was!! 

    So, word from Kristen and Elise, the office managers, was that she had appeared at 11pm the night before and the security officer on duty left her where she was, thinking she would return back to her home eventually.  When Kristen and Elise came in to work at 6am that morning she was still there on the office porch and they knew she must be somebody's house dog and let her in.  She was given treats and a warm dog bed that belongs to Elise's dog Precious, who comes to work with her every day.  I did not have a tag on Rudee (shame, shame, shame again!) so she had already posted on several sites looking for her owners. 

    We were so lucky to have found her, to have had the missing link come right from our neighbor we had never even spoken to before, and for everything to have happened within an hour of noticing her missing.. and the kindness of these ladies to recognize and take her in that morning.  By the unbelievable grace of God she made it across highway 441 from our neighborhood that night and to the office cabin at the J&J of all places.  We were so thankful to see her there and safe, and after the shock wore off I was able to focus on this little black and white dog sitting on the office table with it's tongue hanging out.  This little toy dog named Precious had been rescued by Elise after delivering 6 litters of puppies at her young age by a breeder who sold pups at the J&J. Immediately I thought of one thing I could do to maybe express my thanks to these very sweet ladies.

   Introducing, Precious of the J&J Flea Market:

AYP_7476 AYP_7490 AYP_7483 AYP_7500 AYP_7514 AYP_7531 AYP_7533 AYP_7564 AYP_7578 AYP_7584 AYP_7594 AYP_7612 AYP_7620 AYP_7631 Thank you soooooo much Elise, Precious and Kristen for taking such great care of my little Rudee in my neglect!!!