Emma Huggett
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Dogs I’ve known and loved (and lost and found)

I am a dog lover. Ever since I was young, I have been privileged to meet and share my home with many dogs. An Ottawa organization that I work with, Freedom Dog Rescue, gathers dogs that are lost or abandoned from around the country and helps them connect with a loving foster home or adoptive family. While stories of lost dogs don’t always have happy endings, here are some memories where dogs that briefly wandered off or went for a spontaneous solo adventure, and safely returned home. 

Not all heroes wear capes

I lived in the suburbs when I was little, with my parents and our dog, Rio, a hilarious Border Collie. She was intense about herding and retrieving tennis balls and had a serious aversion to hot air balloons. She was so personally offended and upset by the presence of hot air balloons, that on a summer evening, while one floated overhead, Rio (let’s call her Houdini) escaped the fenced backyard and booked it down the street to “chase” the balloon away. Rio was fast! Of course, to find Rio, we ALSO had to aim our search at the evil balloon, watching, and listening for the whoosh of fire feeding its belly. 

We did catch up with her, convinced her that she had saved us, and we could safely return home, thanks to her. 

1 dog – 1 dog = 2 dogs 

That’s dog math, and here’s how it works. 

I also lived in a more rural area growing up and would sometimes walk along River Road (essentially a highway) to get to the convenience store for snacks or a household milk run. One afternoon while walking home with my then-boyfriend, we saw my white Samoyed, Neesha, sniffing around on the other side of the highway! Horrified, we ran across to her, all concern and worry, and where is her collar? Totally focused on avoiding cars, we carefully guided her back home about a half km away, only to find …Neesha, already in the backyard. 

So weird. We’d dognapped a doppelganger. Two *identical* dogs running around in the backyard: Neesha and OtherNeesha (actually Quimmi, who was indeed AWOL) bounding around in synchrony (not really), playing and having a great time. After Quimmi was picked up, I don’t think I ever saw her again. …or did I? 

Wolfie

Another sweet, white dog (possibly a Spitz) I took in was Wolfgang, or Wolfie. I cared for him through the Palliative Care program with Freedom Dog Rescue, whose connections had found him up in Iqaluit, wandering around alone and seemingly without any family or owner. Our time with Wolfie was short, but we got to share a variety of (presumably) new experiences with him, including canoeing, some beautiful walks, and a fun trip to Kingston. 

While visiting my mum with Wolfie once, the back gate was left open, and he got out. My mum and I quickly prepped to dash out for a thorough neighbourhood search, with bicycles, leashes, treats and phones. He could be anywhere by now! 

But an open back gate didn’t have the allure to Wolfie that it would to lots of other dogs. Wolfie had already spent most of his life being lost, and now that he was found, he wanted to stay found forever. Instead, he trotted up to the front door and gave a few short barks, as if to say, “uh, hello! I’m supposed to be with you, let me in please!” 

What a treasure this little soul was. Such a good boy!