love bond | bark

The bond of love and connection between human and animal companions can never be underestimated, especially when they are unexpectedly separated.

This was the case when I left my German Shepherds, Sasha & Bear, in the fenced yard and forgot to lock the latch on the door. An hour later, I noticed that the door was open. They are gone. My heart sank in fear and worry about them.

These dogs have been out before, but never for too long – this time will be different. We now live in Patoka Lake in southern Indiana. The second largest lake in Indiana, with 26,000 acres and 26,000 acres of water, is located in three different counties in the heart of the Indiana National Forest, covering 317 square miles and including 204,000 acres of wilderness. These dogs could be anywhere.

I started yelling, “Sasha, Bear, come on,” and when they didn’t come running, the dreadful feeling grew. Soon, I ran into the house and let my wife Brandi know they were out. She ran outside, shouting their names, and I grabbed my truck keys and sped to find them.

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After hours of searching, we got neighbors, friends and even strangers to participate in the search. We created flyers to post to local businesses in the area, shared on Facebook groups offering rewards, and reached out to local police departments, animal control and humane societies. The two escaped dogs now have full APBs.

As the days passed and the sun began to set, Brandy and I both fell into a depressed sleep, realizing that for the first time in their lives our children would not be with us. Brandy and I held hands, crying and praying for their safe return.

German Shepherds are loyal to mistakes. They become your partner, your shadow, your emotional support, loving you unconditionally, and when they leave suddenly and unexpectedly…like losing a close friend or family member. But we have hope.

On this sad December night, the day after Christmas, we feel a lonely emptiness and worry about how our pets will survive alone in the wilderness.

Will they get hit by a car? Will they be shot by farmers?

Injured by wild animals? What if someone would find them and try to keep them?

We pushed open the front porch door and turned on the ring camera. We lay on the bed, holding hands, looking at the phone screen, hoping Sasha and Bell would show up, begging to come in, have the pet on our chest and be treated. At some point, each of us fell asleep in a daze.

Brandy had to be at the hospital at 7:15am the next morning for outpatient surgery. Immediately after being woken up by my alarm clock at 5am, I walked to the back door hoping our furry companion was home – only to be disappointed.

We silently moved through our morning routine, each trying to process our sense of loss as we prepared for the one-hour drive to the hospital. Brandy goes out and starts the SUV so it can warm up when she feels something touch the back of her leg. She turned to find Sasha, who immediately bent down to offer her love. At that moment, she realized that the bear was not with her.

Brandy called him louder and louder, but he was nowhere to be found. What had been an overwhelming sense of happiness now turned into a sinking feeling at the realization that they were separated. The two dogs have always been together. When Sasha returned, the two had been lost for 21 hours.

Brandy came in through the back door. Only to hear her say in a heartbreaking tone: “Only one is back!” When I walked up to her, I asked, “Which one?”

She replied, “Sasha.”

My feelings were torn apart. I’m glad Sasha is back – but Bear is my dog ​​- I love him but he’s still missing. I bent down and gave Sasha a hug and some pets. She whimpered and cried, as if to say she missed us too.

After returning from surgery, Brandi suggested that I take Sasha for a walk and see if she would show me where she and Bell had gone the day before. I took Sasha into the yard, but she seemed afraid to leave the brandy, so I went home. After a few minutes, Brandy took Sasha outside and told her to find the bear, and I joined them. Sasha took us to an overgrown field and started sniffing like she knew where to go, so we followed.

I knew Brandi was only a few hours away from surgery, so I suggested she come back and I’d keep looking with Sasha. As Brandy walks away, Sasha stops and turns to take care of her human. I loosened her belt and she walked straight to the brandy. Obviously, she hadn’t been by Brandy’s side for a long time and didn’t want to make an exception.

As we were walking home, one of the neighbors came up to us and asked if we had found our dog. I explained that we were still looking for Bale, then pointed to where Sasha took us and asked if he knew what was on the other side. Neighbors responded that there was a camper van, cabin and several houses on the road under the bay and boat ramp.

We got home and I climbed into the truck and headed down that road alone, hopeful. I’ve searched the area several times over the past 36 hours to no avail. However, I don’t want to give up looking for bears.

I drove slowly, looked at every yard, and shouted out the window for Bear. I half-heartedly decided to check it out near the boat ramp and started driving around the parking ring one last time. The place was deserted in the middle of winter, I rolled down all the windows and shouted: “Bear”, I shouted as loudly as I could in every direction.

Just as I was about to get out of the car, I heard a bark coming from the vast lake in the distance.

I asked myself, are you listening? I called out “Bear” again and heard the dog bark again, as if answering my call. I drove in the direction of the sound. I heard more barking, and before I knew it, I was out of the truck and standing on the lake shore yelling for my puppy. Every time I call, there are several barks in response.

Although I can’t see anything. I stood across the lake and looked out over a large field where there was a huge hill covered with rocks and trees, listening to the bark. The bear who suddenly ran down the steep hill barked all the way! Tears welled up in my eyes as we each stood on either side of the lake, looking at each other. This has been the most amazing experience of my 54 years of life. With such a connection, we will be desperate to find each other.

Soon, I called Brandi and gave her an update, crying excitedly. I found him but I need to figure out how to find him because the water is too cold to get through and bears don’t like swimming. At that moment, I suddenly realized that he and Sasha should be there together, and when she saw the boat ramp, she should have swam directly over. She likes water. Bear, on the other hand, didn’t like being inside at all, so he stayed there like Gilligan alone, unsure of where he was.

When I thought about the situation, I decided to walk along the bank of the lake and let Bell follow him until we both came to Bay Point. When I started walking, I yelled for Bear to come over and point me in the direction I was going. He started walking in the same direction. As we left, I saw him walking slowly, limping. he is injured.

We walked across the lake and I talked to him and encouraged him along the way. I couldn’t see him a few times and was worried until I saw him again. After what seemed like an eternity, I could see the water running as far as the bear and I could meet. We all picked up our pace until we ran towards each other in unison.

I shouted, “Come on, boy,” and I laughed and cried as he approached me.

He ran up to me whimpering, wet and wagging his tail. I hugged him.

After the reunion, we started walking back towards the truck, but we did it together. At times, the bears seem eager to return to the comfort of their homes. Whenever I thought he was out of reach, I called out his name and he came back to me just like before. He cried with joy as I dried him in the truck.

At home, Bell and Sasha are happy to meet again. Bear took a hot shower, dried and lay down in his favorite spot beside my bed. I looked and Sasha was also in her favorite place. All of us are happy to have them back where they belong.