Dogs of Our Lives

I started reading a book called, The Dogs of Babel. It is a book about a dog that is the only witness to a death. I was sceptical at first, having 2 dogs of my own, but it had a good start. And that is when it happened...Sunday evening, when we got home from visiting Grandparents, Shrute was gone (our Golden Lab). We figured he was at the Jr. High, High School, or church so that is where we looked. But it quickly became dark and he was no where to be found. After we put the kids to bed Dave and I got in the truck and began driving around Bountiful, mainly Orchard Drive in fear that he had been hit and was on the side of the road. But alas, no Shrute.
That night Dave and I both had nightmares about what had happened to him. Dave dreamed he was hit by a truck. I had a horrifying dream of the neighborhood kids (teens) drowning him in our creek. When we woke up I hit the pavement again looking for him. But to no avail. Shrute was gone.
I called the pound, no Shrute. We went outside every 20 min and yelled his name, no Shrute. I gave up at 2pm and sat on the porch to read my book, The Dogs of Babel, and waited for the phone to ring. The book took an interesting and heartbreaking turn that made me feel a massive guilt for having lost Shrute. I missed his annoying, hyperactive, puppy behavior. I missed him wanting to follow me everywhere. I missed walking him this morning. It was a strange sensation seeing as how I thought I hated him, cursing his name on a hourly basis. I continued reading but it was painful and I was sad. I found myself making promises of loving him, letting him in the house more, taking him to work with me, throwing the ball for hours with him, if only we could find him, if only, if only....The book ended on a sad note for me. The beloved dog in the book will never be the same and I was haunted by that. How much emotion can a dog feel? Lonely, Sad, Happy, Elated, Mad, Scared? Was Shrute feeling sad and missing us?
Then at 5pm we got the call from a lady that lives about 1 block from our house. She found him at the Jr. High and took him to her fenced in yard to keep him from getting hit by a car or picked up from the police. I was grateful to her, she was kind to him. She fed him and played with him. When he saw us he ran right up to me and sat down waiting for me to praise him for his intelligence ("Look at me, you found me! I am such a smart dog) he is defiantly a male dog :) She said he followed her around and did not give her a minutes peace. I think Shrute would be happy with anyone that gave him attention. But in the long run I have to believe that he would miss us and does love us in a big dog way. Not like Charlie our little dog, not like a human. But in a "something is missing, not quite right, and I just can't put my paw on it...oh well, let's play!" way. He is that kind of a dog and I love him for it!