Last Saturday night about 9:30 p.m., Alayne and I were putting the dogs up in the various cottages. This is quite the process, since there are 44 dogs, multiple buildings, and each dog needs to "do their business" before bedtime. Typically we empty out our house first, then the smaller cottages next to the house, making sure that everyone has adequate potty time outside. (This is strictly a notional exercise for the incontinent ones!) While Alayne is riding herd on the gang over here, I head over to Widget’s House to start putting those guys up.
I was finished at Widget’s House and moving on to the horse barns when I heard Alayne calling for blind Austin the Beagle. Austin loves his doggy buddies and is always at their side, so he follows along at night when Alayne calls everyone to the cottage for bedtime. Not this night. He was nowhere to be seen. I hurried over and started searching with Alayne. By now it was getting dark and we were getting nervous. This was totally unlike Austin to not be with the other dogs. He also isn’t an explorer, and with sheep fencing layered with chicken fencing and topped with electric fencing, it was most improbable he could have — or would have — gotten out of the yards and wandered off.
We searched and searched the dog yards, our house, and the other buildings. There was no sign of this small blind Beagle. By now we were increasingly frantic, and the light was fading fast. I jumped on our utility vehicle and raced out into the pastures to start looking there while Alayne kept looking for him around the cottages. Up and down the pastures I drove, flashlight in hand, calling for Austin. Finally I gave up. It just didn’t make sense that he would take off.
Moments after I returned, Alayne glanced over and saw Austin slinking around the corner of our house, headed towards Kelly’s Cottage and her. He looked sheepish. Alayne raced over and scooped him up in her arms. She was so relieved to be holding him I thought she was going to squeeze him to death!
We walked around the front of the house to see where he could have come from but found nothing to indicate where he might have been. Perplexed but happy to have found him, we tucked him in for the night.
On Sunday night, this time about 9 p.m., we started the bedtime process again, and just like the night before, Austin did not show up. Alayne was walking around the house again and lo and behold, she found him. She called me over to see where he’d been.
Deep in this hole by a small pine tree, right in the front yard, was Austin … and he was sound asleep. I went back into the house to get the camera. In the photo at the top of this post, you can see why he’d be almost impossible to notice unless you walked right on top of him … especially in the late evening light!
He didn’t even wake up until I got close enough to get this photo:
At that point we explained to Austin that rabbits are supposed to be in holes, not Beagles!
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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