Animal Crackers - Missing Niner

Howdy -

This week has been a very worrying and sad week here. Last weekend we left the house for 1 1/2 hours and when we returned, Niner was missing.

The three outside dogs, Niner, and his sisters Nally and Moxie, were playing with each other just like the always are. They ran and followed us to our front gate. Normally they would have run back to the house as soon as we would drive away. That is how it has been for the years since we adopted them from our neighbor. When we returned home just 90 minutes later the girls were laying at the gate as if they were waiting for us. But we soon realized that they were waiting for Niner. We searched until dark. Was up the next morning at sunrise and 27 degrees, and Hubby went out and starting searching more. Talked to all our neighbors and also located the workman that were working across our pasture. They all remember seeing him playing, but no one knows anything about where he went. 

The only thing we can come up with is that someone that came down our road saw how friendly and funny he is and decided that they wanted him, coaxed him out of our fence and took him.

 We hope and pray that he if was stolen, he has a good home and is loved. But I still keep looking and calling for him. As do his sisters... poor girls have been looking for him all week. The girls are more skittish with strangers and would not go up to someone. Niner knows no strangers and was happy and friendly with anyone.

I am still holding out as much hope as I can that he will be found and return home. But after a week... Hubby and I have just been sick all week. It is always hard to loose one of our babies. When one of our kids get sick or dies it just guts us both. But this one has been really hard to deal with... we don't know what happened or where he is. We miss him horribly...

One evening after Hubby had been out walking the pastures and fields looking for Niner he came back in at dark and laid back in his recliner to rest a bit. Libbie has learned a new trick this week, something she has not done before. She has come find that all though she is only 10 inches tall, she can jump! And jump high enough to get in her Daddy's lap and cuddle in the evenings with him. That is a place that Gato has claimed until now as her private place.... Now she has to share...

They were all resting and it was too cute to not snap a photograph.  - Now he may not be happy when he sees it here.. but it is really a cute photo... I HAD to share it right?

Later that night we put a movie on and I climbed into my recliner. Covered with a quilt and my feet up trying to relax. Then Gato decided that my quilt and my legs looked more comfortable to her....

She crashed big time and soon my legs went numb.

Didn't dare want to disturb her though... again just too cute. Lucky I had my phone next to me to snap a photo :0)

Sorry this weeks post isn't all fun and happy... the whole week was all about Niner and after thinking about it I have shared everything else here at Animal Crackers - you guys are part of the Animal Crackers family so we (Hubby and I) decided that sharing good and bad sometimes is life. You have been here for us with all our kids - births, lives, and deaths. Missing is a new one for us... but I know you guys will say prayers and think good thought for  this one here as well.

Where ever you are Niner... We Love you and miss you!

HUGS and -