Come home Piper

My brother and I came back to my parent’s house last Thursday, following my grandmother’s funeral, to find that part of the backyard fence had fallen down and two of my parent’s schnauzers, Jill and Piper, were MIA. We immediately called the local vet and animal control and put up fliers. We found Jill two days later. Almost a week later, Piper is still on the run.

Piper is my favorite out of my parent’s schnauzer collection. He has a bit of the middle child syndrome and so I’ve always made an effort to give him lots of extra attention when I visit. He is very sweet and incredibly gentle. On several occasion’s, Neal and I have kept Piper at our house by himself to see how he would do as an “only dog.” I can’t believe how well he adapted considering he’s a country schnauzer who has been in a “pack” since birth. He’s very quiet, which is uncharacteristic of yappy ass schnauzers. He doesn’t really bark at much and when he does, it’s a few yelps. (I think he never truly discovered his voice at my parent’s house.) He’s afraid of cars and horses. If you toss him treats, he never misses them. Even if he has to walk backwards and do a back flip, he’ll catch it!

I have been heartbroken. It’s almost a week and no sign of Piper. Mom calls the vet and animal control daily and still nothing. This whole time I had imagined that he’s cuddled up in a near-by home, enjoying the riches of being an only dog. But you can’t go anywhere without seeing the signs for him, so why hasn’t someone called!?

And then, someone at work dropped the bombshell on me.

Co-worker: Your parents live out in the country, right?

Pregnant Jenn: Yes.

Co-worker: Oh boy. I sure hope the coyote’s haven’t gotten to him!

Pregnant Jenn: <<look of shock on my face and run to the bathroom for a good hormonal cry>>

So I’m sending up prayer to St. Anthony (patron saint of lost things) and St. Francis (patron saint of animals) that Piper will come home soon. I hope he’s just in a warm house looking out a window, and if that’s the case I hope those people see our sign soon, because he is missed.

Oh! And I have it in writing from my husband that when he does come home, he’s coming to Hendersonville to live the life of an only dog!