The tale of two naughty dogs

Sami & Harley. Just a couple of dogs.  We have a buried wire around our property and both the dogs wear shock collars. They have a large automatic feeder, a heated water supply and an acre and a half to run. So when we left home for just about two weeks we thought they would be just fine. They were definitely outside dogs. With Ashley's allergies and Tyler's asthma we had never had any desire to turn two big hyper long haired dogs into house dogs. We arranged for the neighbor to check on them daily just to make sure there were no issues. After being gone for 12 nights we pulled into the driveway late Sunday night and the first thing we noticed, there were no dogs running out to greet us. Our hearts sank. They never ever leave the yard. But we headed off to bed and figured they would be back in the morning. I was up once or twice during the night, checked outside, no dogs. Next morning the kids rushed to the door but, still no dogs. Everyone was a little glum that morning when they headed off to school. Later that morning the neighbor came over and was very upset to have to tell me that he hadn't seen the dogs since Wednesday. So that means they had been gone for 6 days already. I figured that after being gone for that long the chances of them coming back were slim to none. I made several phone calls that day to sheriffs, vets, animal shelters, neighbors, posted an 'alert' on facebook, but not surprisingly heard nothing.  That night I went and made the rounds, picking up kids from the bus and sports events and had to tell them each as I picked them up that, 'no, the dogs haven't come back yet and they've actually been gone since last week Wednesday'  You know that saying 'you don't miss what you have until its gone'? Well that was kind of like this. When the dogs were here, they didn't get as much attention as they should have. They annoyed me more than slightly on more than one occasion. But now that they were gone, it was crazy how upset everybody was. There was a huge empty hole!
Brandi was at a basketball game when I went to pick her up so I informed her as soon as I saw her "Brandi I haven't found the dogs" Instead of getting upset like all the other kids had gotten she replied, "I know, but I think I know where they are! They're at Genesis' house!"  SAY WHAT?? To make a long story even longer, Brandi was in the hallway at school that day when Lolli ( a friend of mine and a teacher) asked Brandi if we had found the dogs yet. As they were talking about it a nearby girl overheard the conversation and began to ask Brandi questions regarding the dogs she was missing. Turns out they had two dogs matching that description who had showed up at their house the previous Wednesday! Of course I was all excited to hear this but Brandi didn't know Genesis last name or where she lived. Right about that time the school principle happened to be walking by and she too had heard of our missing dogs & inquired as to if we had found them or not. When we told her about some girl named Genesis who might know where they were she took us to her office, looked up Genesis on the school database and made some phone calls for us. Turns out Genesis' family lived pretty much straight North of us but on the other side of the freeway! We drove over there and sure enough....there were our two very naughty golden retrievers. I wish I would have taken my camera along to capture the pictures of the dogs and Kendra & Tyler rolling around on the ground together. I'm not sure who was happier to see who! If the dogs decided to wonder off I'm sure glad they happened upon a nice family who decided they were lovable dogs and decided to hang onto them and keep them safe until their 'family' came looking! Turns out they had been looking for the owners as hard as we had been looking for the dogs! Instead of being punished for running off, those dogs have become extremely pampered and spoiled. After all, they weren't the ones who ran off, WE did! After being left home alone for that long they probably figured we had deserted them. So now, as adamantly opposed to dogs in the house as we've always been......guess who gets to come in the house every night? They are only allowed in the front foyer. We put the baby gates up to make sure the stay up there and aren't allowed to run around the house....or at least that's what we tell people.

And Sami is getting a little old so we had to put some nice soft blankets down so her joints don't bother her....

But who are we kidding...sometimes we 'forget' to put the gates up......like when Ashley needs help 'studying'

 

 Or when it's a really cold night and Tyler & Kenny need some company in front of the fireplace....

Notice its just Harley though, Sami is very well behaved and knows exactly where she's supposed to lay down and stay...Harley on the other hand will 'crawl' out of the foyer and 'army crawl' her way to wherever she feels she has the right to be. 

I can not believe it. We have become those people. The ones who let their dogs come into the house....sure its only at night but still....it involves daily vacuuming and weekly wash down of the walls in the front foyer but shucks....they're just so cute. We have become 'those people'  sigh......