Dog Gone

Leslie is my pall, my friend, my sounding board when I'm sad. When she was missing for two weeks my world was in shambles. On Tuesday she came to school, which she has been doing, but turned around when I yelled at her to go home (might have also been a rock involved). She was sighted playing around my house at 2:30/3:00 that afternoon so when I got home at 3:30 and she wasn't there I wasn't that worried. It wasn't until Wednesday morning that I started to get worried. It wasn't until Thursday that I was freaked out and stressed.

I don't keep Leslie on a leash during the day when I'm only at school. She always stays by the shop, at my families with their dogs, or with the boys a couple houses away. Everyone in my community knows this and keeps an eye out for her and generally loves her. When news started to spread that she was missing it was so touching how they all rallied around me for support and to help keep an eye out for her. For the whole week and the following week my brothers would go out into the town with her leash and look for her.

There is a guy who is the brother of my friend who is a veterinarian and gives Leslie all her shots. He likes me and is actually pretty annoying. He loves dogs and he really "loves" me so I might have used him to help me look. He got word on the following Wednesday that people had been seeing a dog meeting Leslie's description towards Khanyane. On Saturday I spent 4 hours with him walking from my house to Khanyane, through every village in between, calling her name. We also stopped and the guy described her and gave out his number in case people found her.

We hit a huge field and a woman told us that she had just seen her with a herd boy. We ran up a huge hill into the field, me crouching with my hat pulled low so they didn't recognize me. The kids and men in the fields told us they had been seeing her but we couldn't find her. It was so emotionally and physically exhausting!

Later that night I was watching a movie and making tea with the family when I heard Hlapa start yelling. I stepped out to see who it was and there was the vet guy and a handicap man with my BABY!!!!! It took everything I had not to start crying immediately. It also took 50 rand to pay the guy for bringing her back. He said he "found" her in a village way over the hill, digging in a rubbish pile. Sorry Ntate, I totally recognize him as a guy who walks his cattle through the village. My guess is he got scared that word was spreading and the whitey was looking for her dog. All the villagers were so supportive and wanting to help. Nothing feels as special as when people are willing to help you. It makes you feel like you have really become a part of their community.

Now I have my dog back. She was filthy, covered in fleas, and her eyes were all red. After a bath, a cuddle in from of the heater, and a dinner of milk and eggs she was feeling good as new. She did have runny poo all over my floor but I was willing to let it slide for the one night. I have found a company to ship her to the USA and until then I'm tying her and watching her like a hawk.