Paddy’s day out

TIFTON — One of my dogs went missing on the Fourth of July. Paddington broke through our electronic fence and went off who-knows-where. He returned about 24 hours after he left, 24 terrible hours for my husband and me, as well as our grown children. This event taught me several important things.

Paddy is a 10-month-old Corgi that our daughter, Rachel, gave us at Christmas to be a companion to our yellow Lab, Jack. We wanted Jack to have a pal, but Gerald and I knew we couldn’t handle another big dog. Keeping track of one counter-surfing canine is enough.

Rachel, who is a veterinarian, said, “A Corgi is a big dog with short legs,” and, boy, was she right. From the time he came to us at eight weeks, he has done his best to keep up with his big brother. Paddy is undaunted when he and Jack chase the same socker ball and, more often than not, Jack plows over him to get to the ball first. Paddy beats Jack to the ball sometimes, though.

His short legs churning, he occasionally catches Jack off guard and launches himself on top of the ball before Jack can get there.

I assume Paddy ran through the electronic fence because he was frightened by the fireworks in our neighborhood. Let me be clear right now on the topic of fireworks and dogs. Paddy’s leaving was not the fault of anyone enjoying fireworks; fireworks are legal, and, under normal circumstances, I would have enjoyed my neighbors’ fireworks, too. I should have brought Paddy into the house before sundown, and I did not. That was my mistake.

When I realized he was missing, Gerald and I both began looking for him. I walked and Gerald rode, for hours, to no avail. I spent the night on the sofa with the door to the back porch open in case he came home in the night. The next day, we did more walking and riding. Rachel called her vet clinic in Cordele and said she would be in late that morning, so that she could help look for Paddy. When I got tired of walking, I rode my bicycle through the neighborhood.

Many of my neighbors were out of town for the holiday. I’m sure if they have security cameras and if they looked at the footage for July 4 and 5, they saw me in their backyards and on their patios looking for a Corgi cowering under a shed or a chair.

One thing I learned from this experience is that technology can be a good thing. My neighborhood has a Facebook page, something I only learned about because of this, and I posted a picture of Paddy there with the message that he was missing. I was overwhelmed by the response.

Even now thinking about the kind messages and promises to look for him from people in my neighborhood makes me tear up. I am not the most social person, and many of my neighbors I know only from seeing them while I’m walking my dogs, either walking themselves or biking or in the car. People to whom I had never spoken told me via Facebook about multiple trips through the neighborhood in cars and on golf carts to look for Paddy. They told me their children were looking for him as they rode mules and golf carts.

Some of these folks posted sightings of him on the Facebook page, which let us know that he was still OK. After we found him, people made additional posts and stopped me in the road to say how glad they were that he came home and sometimes to relate similar stories about their own pets.

My daughter, Sarah, who lives in Maryland, was able to help in the search for Paddy, too, thanks to technology. She made a flyer on her computer with Paddy’s picture and our contact information, as well as info about a reward for his safe return, sent it electronically to Staples in Tifton with instructions on how many to print, and paid for the printing. All Gerald and I had to do was pick up the flyers and place one in all the mailboxes in our neighborhood.

Thankfully, after being gone for almost 24 hours, Paddy came home. He smelled like fish and he had some scratches on his nose, but otherwise Rachel declared he was fine. She had come down after work to help look some more, and, as she got out of her car, he was at her feet. We don’t know if he followed her car to the house or if he just happened to show up when she arrived. We don’t care how he managed to get back home; we’re just glad he made it. A friend of mine asked if we punished him with lots of kisses and treats. We sure did.

The best thing I learned from this experience is that good people still exist. I am certain that my neighbors and I don’t all share the same political views, or maybe even the same religion. What I learned is that that doesn’t matter. We are bombarded daily with messages from those who, for selfish reasons, would tell us that Americans are too divided by their beliefs to work together for anything, that people who believe differently than we do are the enemy, that the America where neighbors help each other is gone. This is not true.

I will reference this experience often, and I will cling to it when I see window stickers like the one I saw earlier this week that had an outline of an AR-style rifle, with the message “Trump 2024, F — k Your Feelings.” Heading into the next presidential election will mean more messages like this and more name-calling and vitriol from both sides, more vulgarity and cruelty, from actors large and small. Americans are better than this.

A little brown and white dog with short legs and a big heart, who will shortly be chasing soccer balls in the backyard with his brother, is living proof.

Special Photo: Wendy Harrison