I will pray for her...I'm so sorry...are you able to go out and look for her?

I hope you find her soon, and I send good thoughts your way. Please keep us updated.

Can you track her in the snow?

We've been looking since last night and, yes, we have tried tracking in the snow - but no luck. We are beside ourselves with grief. Thanks to those who have said prayers.

Best wishes. I'm sure you've called the pound, the vet, put up signs, posted to any online lost pet sites in your area and contacted your neighbors. I would call all those places daily. Is she microchipped?

Sending prayers & best wishes your way. Hope Lucy shows up safe very soon. Terri

You need to get flyers up everywhere, contact your local rescue groups, post on-line at all of the petfinder sites and Craig's list and the like. Someone will see your dog and contact you if you get the word out. Was she wearing a collar with good id? Have you called and personally checked the shelters? Please get flyers up and get your friends to help you. Take action.

Go to all of your area shelters, rescues, and pounds daily to personally check to see if your dog is there. Do NOT rely on phone calls to those facilities. Shelter and pound workers often lack proper communication with other shelter workers and often are not adequately knowledgeable in different dog breeds, so they can easily give inaccurate information over the phone. You MUST visit those facilities frequently yourself to go through the kennels and look for your dog.

Also, call all area vets, kennels, groomers, trainers, pet stores, dog clubs, and anyone else who has anything else to do with dogs and let them know your dog is missing. Better yet, visit all of those places and distribute flyers with your contact information and a photo and description of your dog.

I hope you find your dog soon.

Laurie

I'd also go door to door in your neighborhood. What kind of dog is she and has this ever happened before? Was she microchipped or tattoed? Go to any shelter yourself and maybe post on any bulletin board in a public place. Good luck.

Gee whiz people, OP doesn't want questions, "just prayer". So pray.

Is she trusting of strangers? Sometimes people ASSume that a loose dog needs to be rescued, and take them if they can be caught. Get the word out that she is loved and lost to as many people as quickly as possible- flyers to every mailbox, posters at every store that will allow it, with pictures. Also take one to the shelter, WITH pictures because as already mentioned, shelter communication and breed identification is often lacking. My pure-breed husky was listed as a shepherd mix...

I am hoping and praying that Lucy gets home safely.

I was hoping you would have her home safe by now, I'm sorry that's not the case.

I agree with everyone else to visit shelters in person, not just call. Often shelters are staffed with volunteers who may not know breeds well.

quirky - I think the "no questions" refers to how the dog got away and I think the responders are being very considerate of that request. Asking questions to help the OP with finding the dog is a sign of concern by the posters.

Glad Quirky finally got here. You all have no idea how many times I edited my previous post. I'm prayin' she gets moving with the flyers.

I agree with Cynthia and QQ - praying is fine but taking action would probably get your dog home. I do hope you find your dog, and I feel for you. But I'm just hoping you are doing everything you can to find her. I'm sure you are - well, I hope you are!
Good luck.

Any luck finding Lucy?

bump

Tink, any luck? I hope you're talking to everyone on the streets, offering rewards to the kids, and talking with all the local shop keepers. I hope you've haunted all the animal shelters in a 50-mile radius at least twice a week. I hope you have picture-posters up on telephone poles for miles around. I hope you've taken out ads in the local papers. And most of all, I hope your dog got found.

I guess Lucy never came home. How sad the family must be.

This is the first chance I've had to come back and let you know how things stand - we still don't have Lucy back home. At times, it is almost unbearable and my husband and I don't know how we will get through this. Following are the steps we and our friends have taken so far - if we have missed anything, please let me know.

- 270 flyers in mailboxes around our house.
- Ads in newspapers
- Radio ads on our local radio station
- Posters at gas stations, stores, on phone polls, etc.
- Contacted police departments, street departments, animal shelters, veterinarians in our area.
- Posted on pets911.com, fidofinder.com, bubbler.com, petfinder.com, craigslist.com
- We are offering a $10,000 reward in hopes that it would get peopleÂs attention.
- Last night,my friend arranged for a pet psychic to talk with me and I talked with her for about 20 minutes. That's not really my thing, but I'm willing to do anything.

She had a collar on with ID tag that had our name, address, and two phone numbers. She also has a microchip; however, from what I have been learning about that whole thing, I donÂt put much hope in it.
I know in my original post, I asked for only prayers  no questions. If anyone has questions, please feel free to ask  weÂll do whatever it takes to get her back.
Let me say a heartfelt "thank you" for your prayers and concern  it truly made my heart warm to return to my posting and see that you care.

My heart breaks for you and Lucy. I know how devastated our family would be if our precious baby went missing.
Tink, what kind of dog is Lucy?
And could you post a picture of her? Strange things happen sometimes and just maybe someone online may recognize her.

We just read a news story today where a dog missing for 5 years was recognized in an online photo and was reunited with his owner. Maybe this might happen with Lucy.

I will keep all of you in my prayers and pray for a safe and speedy reunion.

I'm so sorry that she isn't back yet. We're still hoping and praying for a happy reunion very soon.

I would suggest also providing pictures to the local and not so local veterinary emergency centers. With all the holidays, if something happened to her, she would most likely end up in an ER and not a regular clinic.

I'm so sorry. When I was a little girl I wrote a letter to god when my dog got lost. I cried for days. Guess what? God did answer my prayers. Someone picked him up and he must of escaped and one of the pounds my mom called said they found a dog. It was about 15 miles away. God does answer prayers. I am praying for you, Lucy and your family.
Lynn

I'm very sorry Lucy hasn't returned yet. It sounds like you have done everything possible to find her. It wouldn't hurt to put a picture of her here just in the odd chance...Don't give up hope. Maybe someone took her and she will escape, or others will notice this "new" dog. That's why pictures all around are important..Good Luck.

Oh, this makes me so sad.... I hope and pray you find your little one soon....I'll say a prayer for little Lucy tonight...

Cindy

There was a story in our newspaper yesterday. Five years ago an elderly man had his 4 year old Golden Lab stolen from his car. He spent every day going to shelters and driving around looking for him. He also posted on a lost dog site, newspaper ads, etc.The policeman who took the report brought him a puppy after a few months. But the man still wondered how Buddy was.

Fast Forward Five years! A lady who deliveres Express Mail noticed this Golden Lab in a yard last spring. She commented to the owner about the gorgeous face the dog had. The owner told the lady they were moving in a few days and asked if she would like the dog cause she was going to take it to the pound. The lady saw the condition the dog was in, ended up that it had fleas, ringworms and hookworms and was overweight cause the owner had been feeding it PIZZA! The lady took the dog home and nursed it back to health. A few months later they (the woman and her sister) found another dog running loose in their neighborhood. They took it in and went on line checking lost dog websites. As they were going through listings, who did they find but a picture of Buddy, the Golden lab! They knew it had to be cause of the pink freckled nose and beautiful face. The name also matched as the dogs name was on the tag when he was stolen. So they called the elderly man and made arrangements to return Buddy to him. Buddy spent one night with the elderly owner. Buddy seemed to recognize the man, laid at his feet as he always had but seemed to miss the women and the other pets they had. The elderly man, now 91, also had the puppy, now 5, to care for, so he called the women and asked them if they would like to have Buddy back. The women agreed. They have also taken Buddy back again to visit the elderly man. You could say he has two homes and people to love him!

So there is always hope. Never give up!

Oh, I wish your baby was home safe & sound by now. I am sure you are so sad & stressed. Never give up & hopefully you will be reunited again soon. Terri

I'm so sorry you've lost your dog. A few other suggestions may help. Have you gone in person to all surrounding dog shelters/pound? I would go in person and NOT call. I would also contact each vet in your area in the event someone has brought him in, also ask to post flyers in their office. I'd post flyers in grocery stores too. Offering a large reward may bring Lucky back if someone has him.

What type of dog is Lucky? I'll be sending good thoughts that he returns home safe and sound. ((hugs))

I'm so sorry to see that she isn't home yet. My thoughts are with you, your family and your Lucy. It sounds like you have blanketed your community to raise awareness of Lucy.

Two suggestions based on my experience with animal shelters. As mentioned above: go in person and check the found animals. It's been my experience that breed identification is very hit/miss in shelters. Our border collie was described as a spaniel/lab cross until someone corrected it. Also though you've filed a missing report, shelters can be so busy and chaotic that they don't reference the 'lost' for every new arrival.

This may be unpleasant to bring up but I think it is important to keep in mind: you may want to target the shelters by how busy they are. Ask how long the 'hold' period between an animal arriving and being evaluated to be adopted or put down. We were shocked to discover that two of our local shelters the 'hold' period is only 3 days. The average here is 5 - 7 days.

Keep your hopes alive and again I hope your Lucy finds her way home soon.

Here is Lucy's picture. We can barely stand to look at it - our hearts are so broken. We wonder if we will ever be happy again.

she is a beauty !! I'm so sorry this happened to you; I can only wish you strength and courage in dealing with this pain.

She is beautiful. Sounds like you're doing everything in your power to find her. She has to be somewhere!!

Weimaraner? The picture is so small it's hard to tell.

tinkybell-even though your pic is small one can still tell that Lucy is a very lovable dog, I would be heartbroken also. Sounds like you are going to great lengths to find her and do hope that you do very soon. My prayers are also for you both. Wendy

This morning, my husband received a call from our county public works department. They said they had Lucy's collar, that she had passed, and if he called them back they would tell him where her body was. He called them and they told him they had found her, over a week ago, by the side of the road. The worker took her collar off, dragged her off into the ditch and left her there. My husband went to the area the worker said he left her, in hopes of recovering her body, but he couldn't find her. Tonight, the worker's boss (who is a neighbor of ours) brought Lucy's collar to us. We are exhausted from crying.

Though this is not the ending we wanted, we are greatful that we have closure now. We believe in an afterlife that includes animals, so we believe she is safe and happy.

Thanks to all of you who have been so kind and understanding - it really was very comforting to know people understood what we were going through.

I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you.

I am sorry for your loss. I know you tried your best & the love you had shows. Terri

How sad, our hugs and tears are with you also, Wendy

I'm so sorry :(

So sorry about your dog.Not to sound crude but is the worker who found her body expecting the $10,000. reward? Wonder why it took so long for the worker to notify you if he has had the collar for a week?

I am so so sorry for what you are going through. Really I am. You must be heartbroken. I just want to say this though - please look into all possibilities. If it took the worker over 1 week to notify you that he had the collar and found your Lucy on the road (which doesn't make sense...anyone in their right mind would've called the number on the collar right away, especially if there was a connection to you, with the boss being your neighbor), then could it be possible that they kidnapped Lucy? I don't want to put these thoughts in your mind to make you more unsettled, but I want you to think of the possibilities just in case there is some other explanation. I have no advice on what to do, but just keep it in the back of your mind and see how things go in terms of him asking for the reward. Also, could the boss have dropped off the collar because he didn't want you to come to his (or the worker's) house for some reason? I am hoping with all my heart that I am right in my suspicions and that Lucy is still with us.

Best wishes,
Gabi

I am so sorry for your loss. You must be heartbroken. I think the way it was handled is very irresponsible. Why would it take a week to notify you?..I know you have closure but not the kind you wanted.

Under the circumstances, we don't feel the reward is warranted and no one has asked for it. My husband did give the worker $100 for at least taking her collar off of her.

The explanation we were given as to why it took so long to notify us, is that we just "slipped through the cracks". We have had an extraorinary amount of snow here and the workers are overworked and exhausted. It all happened near the holidays, so people were gone, there was a death in the department, etc.

Hopefully, they will not let this happen again - I would hate for anyone to have to go through this.

Thanks again for your support and prayers.

I was praying that she'd safely find her way home. I'm sorry that this is the way your search has ended, but at least you do have closure.

Please accept my condolences. I know your hearts are breaking over this.

Mona

I'm so sad for you, been hoping for good news...
Hugs~Cindy

I'm so sorry for your loss. Not the kind of closure that we wanted but at least you know. Too bad the person who hit her didn't stop to get the ID and notify you.

I'm so sorry for your loss. :(

I hope that you will consider a better containment system for your dogs because of this event. I would hate for you to go through this again.

God Bless...

Olga, thank you for your condolences. You mention that we should consider a better containment system. Ironically, we were installing a fence around the five acres surrounding our house when this happened. The day after Lucy was lost, the crossboards on the fence were installed. Previous to us deciding to install this fence, we had installed an invisible fence; however, Lucy was such a sensitive girl, that she would quiver and be frightened when we put her collar on - that's why we decided we needed a real fence. Additionally, we actually own an additional 20 acres of land around us and we never thought she would run far enought to reach a busy road. Unfortunately, she spotted a deer that night and ran after it. Now that the fence is installed, it is a constant, daily reminder of our loss. I just don't want you to think we were totally irresponsible - we really are devoted, loving, responsible pet owners.

The only good thing to come of this is the compassion people have shown us (as you all did on this forum). We have people, who don't even know us, calling with condolences. I think people are more aware these days of how much animals become an intregal part of our lives. Had this happened 25 years ago, I don't think we would have seen the outpouring of concern that we see today.

my, what a sad finality to your story; but closure is good.
all the best to you and your family with your grieving process.