How to lose friends

I almost lost my friends' dog today.

It was a nightmare. I might as well have lost place of someone's child. It was just as bad.

Beth and Aaron took a weekend trip. I was put in charge of Spike, their little Boston Terrier. Spike is a handful...albeit an obedient and well trained handful. Despite his neurotic state of mind, he's pretty much a good dog.

Not today.

I went hiking with the little bastard. He was behaving normally up until we met another dog on the trail. Spike doesn't really like other dogs. He's not mean to them or anything. He's just completely disinterested...if not a little wary. Upon meeting the first dog, Spike held back on the trail a little bit. As I walked towards him to offer some encouragement he turned around and trotted towards the trailhead. "Spike!," I yelled. "Come on." He reluctantly passed the other dog (who was also somewhat disinterested) and followed me. Thirty minutes later...it happened again. Only this time...he bolted. One minute he was fine...the next, he was running back towards the trailhead. Keep in mind, we're about 2 miles from the car. I, in turn, took off after him. I ran my ass off all the way back to the car, taking a pretty bad fall and spraining my ankle in the process. At one point I catch a glimpse of him on a long straight-a-way, but as soon as I yelled his name...he was off again. I finally reached the parking lot, out of breath and in a lot of pain, and Spike is nowhere to be seen. The panic started to set in. A private, gated road sat just off the parking lot. A guy in his truck told me he had seen Spike by that road. So I drive up there looking for him. Nothing. I stop and ask people at various cabins if they'd seen him. Nothing. After 25 minutes, I call Beth and tell her. I have to do this at someone's cabin because there's no cell service where I was. "Spike's given us scares before," she says. I can hear Aaron on the other end and he's not happy. I wouldn't be either. I tell Beth to call friends in Bozeman to come down the canyon and help me look for him. Then we hung up. By this time I was crying. I felt completely helpless. For all intents and purposes, Spike was lost in the Gallatin National Forest. How the hell was I going to find him? I scoured the immediate area as whatever hope I still had, faded quickly. I would say that he'd been missing for about 45 minutes. All of sudden, I spot him in a grassy, open area.

Praise the lord. Seriously. I'm not a churchgoer, but I do consider myself "spiritual"...whatever that means. I'd be lying if I said I didn't say a prayer. I can't know for sure but from previous behavior (that Beth told me about on the phone) he was probably lying in that grassy spot the whole time....little jerk.

So that was my day. I'm drained, in pain, and emotionally exhausted. Like I said, I might as well have lost a kid. That's how I feel.