Betsy's Adventure

As many of you know, Betsy ran away earlier this month. Some of Jeff's friends had come to Eau Claire from Minneapolis to surprise him. When they burst into the house, the front door didn't shut and in all the chaos Betsy escaped. Thus ensued a frantic search over the next day and a half. To say the least, we were devastated. Betsy has run away before, but has never been gone for more than a few minutes. We drove around Eau Claire, talked to the neighbors, called Animal Control and the Humane Association, posted lost dog notices online, and came up with nothing. Her name is on her tag and she's microchipped, but we didn't get a call from anyone. Nobody seemed to have seen her anywhere.

I was starting to lose hope after Jeff and I drove around searching on the second night she was gone, still with no results. I woke up several times that night to go to the bathroom. Each time, I went into the living room and checked for any sign of Betsy. At 3:00 a.m., I stumbled into the living room and was shocked to see her out on the deck, shivering and scratching at the patio door! Somehow, after being off-grid for 30-some hours, Betsy had made her own way home. She was limping a little and was VERY tired, but recovered within a couple of days and is now back to her perky little self.

Resting after her escape. What a stinker.

Since her return, we've asked Betsy about her little excursion, where she went and what she did, but she's not giving anything away. We've also chided her extensively about all the worry she caused, but she doesn't seem very remorseful. The entire experience has given us a glimpse of the emotional ups and downs that will inevitably come with parenthood. I don't know how we'll handle the stress, quite frankly. For now, we figured out a good way to contain Betsy in the baby's new play yard. :)