Finding a lost dog

By the third day of searching for our lost dog Winnie, my imagination was going to pretty dark places.

Visions of …

Winnie being consumed by the dozens of coyotes that taunt the dogs from the field, or

the possibilities of her being roadkill along the highways of our daily commute, or

simply the miles of rolling fields and wilderness from which to get lost in.

The prospects didn’t seem promising.

Winnie was spotted at a neighbour's farm chasing a cat up a tree at ~11:00 Sunday morning then five miles east at a rural church at ~14:00, then… radio silence.

Thank god my sister suggested posting a missing dog on facebook (a platform that we’ve never joined). And then some friends further pushed and shared the message to the community. Over a hundred ‘shares’ later I was much more hopeful that someone would spot her.

My understanding of the rescue story is that Winnie’s ‘cuteness’ caused a local girl to share the picture with her husband, who was coincidentally checking farm properties when he noticed a dog that fit the description.

Our skittish dog would not come to them so they waited and directed my sister and I to the location.

We had success. Our Winnie was found.

The power of social media prevailed.

The event was educational for many reasons,

• On our gravel road grid patterned car rides. Olive and I took in miles of gorgeous scenery and shared great conversations.

• We met many new and old farm neighbours, all of which greeted us with kindness, and a promise to assist. From Claus, to Angie, to Sharon, Kim, Mike, Mirna and more…

• I was shown again how despite my philosophical rejection of social media, it clearly is a powerful tool that can be used for good.

Having a community come together and help out was not only refreshing, but also rejuvenated my appreciation for the good nature of my fellow humans.

• Now that’s a peak ethos.