Almost lost...

Coming up for air while on her excavation project, Gladys Knight reminds me of a bird sitting on her nest.

When we finally headed for home, all was going well until we hit the picnic area near the parking lot, where several kids were skateboarding. Gladys balked at crossing their path, and when one skateboard hit the pavement with a loud "bang," she pulled out of her collar and bolted, back the direction we had come from.

I had to secure Elizabeth, before I could go after her, there was no way she was going to respond to my calling her at this point, and I couldn't even see where she had sprinted off to. My first foray to search for her resulted in no luck, although several bystanders reported seeing a young dog running past them at a fast clip. Returning to Elizabeth, I walked her to the car before continuing the hunt for Gladys Knight. I called her, whistled, yelled, and hiked about a quarter-mile, and no dog. I was starting to really get concerned for her, with no collar and her being scared and now alone - there is a lot of beach here, folks, with dunes, grasses, huge piles of driftwood, and miles and miles of beach frontage. I was about to consider doing bodily harm to a skateboarder (lucky for them, they had split - didn't even offer to help me look for my dog...) when I decided to press on just a bit, trying to imagine how Gladys would think under these circumstances. I methodically re-traced our original return route, calling her as I went. Finally, when I was about 15 ft. from a large log, she came out from under where she had found a safe shelter, and came up to me, with a very worried look on her face.

I carried her about a quarter mile back to where she had bolted, before setting her down and collaring her. I wanted her to overcome her fears of the place, and despite numerous anxious glances around, she got past where the noise had come from, and trusted me enough to willingly follow me back to the car.
I have to admit that while searching for her, I felt a real sympathy for all lost dogs, especially dogs dumped on beaches in baja like Gladys Knight and Elizabeth had been before I met them in March.

It just illuminated my commitment to these dogs, to keep them secure and knowing they're loved.