I worry about my dogs

I worry about my dogs.

More than I should.

It might be all those photos of lost and missing dogs I see every day on the Internet.

I haven’t lost a dog in some time so there’s little cause for alarm. I keep them in a fenced yard. The young, fast one wears an electronic collar when we hunt. The older one seldom leaves my side.

But I worry nonetheless.

Each time I open my laptop I see all those missing dogs. If mine aren’t in the room I go looking for them.

I’ve never lost a dog for long. My dear, departed Jem used to jump the fence at night and disappear in town. I’d call and whistle for him, and at times I’m sure he was watching me, but a black and white dog on a dark, snowy night is practically invisible.

He always returned. Eventually I’d hear the chain link rattle when he jumped back in the yard, and he’d appear wagging his tail as if nothing had happened.

His nighttime escapades ended when I took him to the vet and had him lightened by a few ounces. Although he weighed less than before, he’d also lost the incentive to jump that five-foot fence.

It used to be that most folks simply let their dogs run. I sure did. Tippy, my Samoyed Border collie cross would wake me hours before dawn to go out, and I wouldn’t see her again until she’d show up later that morning at the marina where I worked.

Times have certainly changed. Hardly anyone just lets their dogs run anymore. A loose dog ends up on Facebook within minutes, even in the little rural town where I live.

“Does anyone know where this dog belongs?” someone will post.

And it wasn’t that long ago that I’d let my bird dog keep hunting after I’d gotten my limit of grouse and sometimes wouldn’t see her again until I got back to the truck.

Now I start to panic if Dot disappears over the hill and doesn’t return the moment I beep her. Again, I blame all those missing dogs on the Internet. There are so many. Mine must be next.

But like depressing news stories that have little effect on me, yet run on an endless loop on television, pictures of lost and missing dogs haunt me every time I open my laptop.

The remedy is simple.

Don’t open the laptop.

But first I’m going to check to see if the dogs are in the yard.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]