Lost.............. for more than an hour

2 mins after this photo was taken, Ann lost me for more than an hour. She has never been so worried in her life.................


This is what happened.....................


We went to 'Dalkeith Country Park' and walked along the 'snowdrop trail' without any problems. Then we walked along the right hand side of the river and through the woods, because Ann knew that after a couple of miles, there was a bridge across the river, and once across that bridge, we would be walking on our normal route around the park.


…..........The bridge across the river was closed and no alternative route was suggested.


After a quick look on 'Google Maps', Ann said, Trixie, there's another bridge about a mile downstream. We could see that there was a path on the other side of the river and Ann hates doing walks where we have to turn around and come back along the same route so we walked along some farm tracks (we were out of Dalkeith Country Park at this point), crossed over a bridge and saw a path going along the edge of the river that said, 'Horses only. No bikes & no people'. Never heard of a path that is only for horses so we decided to risk it. I mean, seriously?................ does this look like a path that isn't suitable for humans and dogs?


Walked for about 10 mins and then suddenly I just shot off up the woody bank in chase mode. For about 2 mins Initially Ann wasn't worried. I'd already seen a couple of squirrels that needed chasing but once those pesky little creatures have run up a tree, I always come straight back to Ann. It didn't take Ann long to realise that I'd gone chasing deer. She'd already seen one that I hadn't noticed, because I was having a paddle in the river, so she didn't tell me there were deer about.


After 5 mins of calling me, Ann started to really panic. She didn't have a clue what direction I'd run off in. It could have been upstream or downstream. She didn't think I would have crossed the river because she didn't think that deer would have gone in water. But maybe they would?!


And what made it worse.................. Ann didn't actually know where the 'horses only' path went. (It wasn't showing up on Google Maps) She was hoping that it went all the way upstream to the 'Restoration Centre' (prob about 3 miles away) where she knew there was a bridge back over the river. Fortunately by this time we were back in 'Dalkeith Country Park'. Well technically we were. Think the river is the boundary and we were at the wrong side of the river.


After half an hour of yelling and yelling for me, Ann hit on the idea of messaging the 'Dalkeith Country Park' FB page. What fabulous service from the 'Park Rangers'. Within seconds she had a reply asking what kind of dog I was, what my name was, and whether I was friendly if the team approached me. And then the team was alerted to keep an eye out for me. Obviously Ann gave them her location, but as we were on the wrong side of the river, she knew that the Rangers would only be looking from the Dalkeith Country Park side. And from the minute we had left the 'snowdrop trail' we hadn't seen a single other person.


Come to think of it.......... Ann has got the 'What3words' app on her phone so she could have given them the exact location where she'd last spotted me. She never thought of that?! Hindsight is a great thing!!


After an hour, Ann had started to think that she would never, ever, see me again. She didn't know whether it was best to start walking back the way we came, or to continue walking along an unknown path that was for horses only. Or whether she should just stay where she was, in the hope that I would come back. She decided to walk upstream, calling for me constantly whilst seeing loads of deer. There were so many of them, they were practically jumping over the path in front of her.


…............And then................... whoopee doooo................ she spotted me, running down the bank after something. She screamed at me. .........I looked at her and noted that she knew where I was. I was just about to continue chasing when she yelled at me, 'Trixie, don't you dare!' I immediately flopped down in submissive mode, so she was able to capture me and put me back on my lead. Phew!!!! …..............And then she burst into tears.


…...........And then I pulled on my lead because I'd spotted another deer that needed chasing!!!


After messaging the 'Park Rangers' to let them know I'd been found and texting her sister, not quite sure why she had to let her sister 300 miles away know that I was missing we continued to walk on the 'horse only' path upstream until it came to an abrupt end. Haven't a clue where the horses go. So we actually had to turn around and retrace our steps. We were out for almost 4 hours today and walked more than 9 miles, though I obviously must have walked more because I was chasing deer for more than an hour.


Before we went back to the car, Ann wanted to call into the 'Restoration Centre' to thank the 'Park Rangers' in person for their brilliant service. We met the young girl who had responded to Ann's first message and Ann said she would like to make a donation to the park. Apparently they're partners with a charity that supports Breast Cancer, but Ann wanted to actually donate to the Park Rangers. We must look into who actually funds Dalkeith Country Park. Ann was prepared to give them £100. Perhaps she'll just use that money to fit me with a tracker so that if I ever go missing again, she'll not need to bother anyone else?!!!


Ann is still really, really traumatised. If she'd made the decision to walk the other way, she would probably never, ever, have found me. I could have been lost forever.


Would I have cared? Who knows? Is chasing deer really more important to me, than living in a kind and loving home for the rest of my life?!!!


PS - We know it's 'JoeTreeDay2023' (the founder of BLIP) and the plan was to photograph me next to a tree.  Unfortunately, due to my appalling behaviour today, that never, ever happened.  The way my human is feeling at the moment................... I'm not sure if I'll ever get let of my lead again........................... BUT thanks JOE TREE, at least my human has had the opportunity to record what has happened in her life for the last 12 years. xxx