Hank the lost and scared

The story of Hank... it's a crazy one. Truly! We were watching Hank my mom's dog while she was visiting my sister. Long story short, Dave took the dogs outside, then went to grab the garbage can. Hank is VERY skiddish, and hates loud noises. So, he ran. And ran and ran and ran. And Dave couldn't find him and I came home early and I couldn't find him, and Dave got Ava out of school to yell for him (because he loves her!) but he didn't come back and Ava was returned to school in tears. His photo was shared on FB, and then on Lost Dogs of Wisconsin and we got all kinds of recommendations for getting him back. Including having mom wear the same pair of underwear for 2 days and then putting that out so he could smell it and come back (ewww!).

A day came and went. And then two, and three. And then a week. Oh goodness. We put up signs, and walked the neighborhood daily. Nothing. I'm not sure any of us actually held out hope. There were two snow storms and some freezing weather. And he's scared of everything. On the 11th day, I talked more with the Lost Dogs person, and she told me I should put up 500 signs and talk to everyone and do all kinds of things. And I wouldn't do that for my dog, but it wasn't my dog so I called my mom on my way to Walmart that night and asked her. And she said no, she's ready to pick up his food and water dish and let it be done. But then... 5 minutes later, the vet called her and said someone called them and had Hank! He was about 3 miles from our house, and scared as could be and lost about 5 pounds. How crazy. ELEVEN days!!! After that he wouldn't leave my mom's side, and ate. And ate and ate until he puked. And gained back the weight, and is still a bit quirky!

First picture is a dog we found while Hank was lost. Funny that we found a dog while looking for one! We named him Brownie. A police officer came to get him and we're assuming he found his home.


FOUND! and TINY!


Kids were super excited.
      

Jim and Julie... his rescuers.


Mom also wrote a story about Hank... so as guest author, here it is! (Formatting issues are my fault!)

Hank’s Journey Home

An Answer To A Prayer

By Christine “Gram” Prause

Dedicated To Ava, Hank,

    Jim and Julie.

My name is Hank and I’m a dog. My best friend is Ava and she’s a

human. Ava is six years old and she’s so smart. I am only two so I can

learn a lot from her.

I met Ava when I was a tiny puppy. She came with her mom and Gram

to get me from the shelter. We’ve been best friends ever since. I live

with Gram, but Ava comes to visit me sometimes.

My journey starts at Ava’s house one day when I did something very

foolish. I was outside with Ava’s dad. I got scared by a loud noise. I ran

away.

I was so scared, I just kept running farther and farther away. Once I

thought I heard Ava call my name, but I couldn’t get to her. Soon it was

dark and I was cold. I was hungry and all alone. I found some hay

beside a shed, so I curled up and tried to sleep.

While I was lost, Ava was very sad. When she went to bed she said a

beautiful prayer to St. Francis asking him to take care of me until I could

get back home.

I told you she was smart! She knew that St. Francis was a friend to all

animals, but mostly ones In trouble like me. I’m sure it was her prayer

that gave me the strength during my journey. When I woke up the next

morning, standing in front of me was a small gray donkey. I was really

surprised when it started talking and told me his name was Francis. I

was scared and I wanted to run, but I remembered, running away is what got

me into this mess.

I took a deep breath and decided to trust Francis. Maybe he would help

me. After all, if he is able to talk he must be pretty special. For the next

ten days we traveled through snowy fields and along icy rivers. I was

very hungry, tired and cold.

But Francis kept talking to me and encouraging me to keep going. He

reminded me of the love that was waiting for me back home. I thought

about Ava and knew I had to see her again. That gave me the strength

to go on.

Then I looked up and saw a house. I knew it wasn’t Gram’s house, but it looked warm and there was a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen. My tummy was so empty I started crying.

I looked to where Francis was but he was gone. I moved closer to the

house, but I couldn’t stop crying. All of a sudden, the kitchen door

opened and that wonderful smell hit my nose. Standing by the door

were two creatures.

They looked like humans, but I think they were angels. Francis told me many stories on our journey. My favorite ones were about angels. These two coaxed me inside and from that point on things went really fast.

It was nice and warm inside and they gave me bites of sausage that

smelled so good. I finally trusted them enough to let them look at my

tags on my collar. They made a phone call and before to long I saw Ava’s mom come through the door.

I was so excited and let her pick me up. I couldn’t stop shaking. She promised we would see Ava and Gram soon. We drove three miles back to Ava’s house and the celebration began. I wished I could tell Ava about my journey and my new friend Francis.

Then Ava said “Oh Hank, I prayed real hard and I knew St. Francis would find a way to get you home”. I told you Ava was smart!

    THE END