Reunited, and it feels so GOOD!

When I read this news story I almost cried. A little girl was reunited with her beagle after 5 years. The dog escaped from her backyard and was never seen again, at least not by anyone she knew, until now. The girl lives in Queens, and Rocco, the beagle, was turned into a dog shelter in Georgia. Rocco was identified by the microchip embedded in Rocco’s back area and the family was contacted.

If only dogs could talk! I have so many questions for Rocco. What was he doing all this time? Did he live with new owners for awhile and run away from them, too? Or maybe he was living free, like Tramp, just roaming the streets as a stray dog. How did he survive? Did he find a nice butcher to give him scraps of meat? Did he eat wild animals that he caught? Did he scavenge other animals’ leftovers? Or did he resort to trash picking? Why did he escape and run away in the first place? Was he chasing a squirrel or cat? Was he just tired of being in the city? So many questions! The speculation so far is that Rocco somehow made it down to Georgia and stayed there, near Fort Stewart and the Army’s Third Infantry Division. Perhaps the troops stationed there thought he was a friendly stray and took him in until he ran off.

If anyone has seen the movie, Homeward Bound, you know that dogs face a lot of adversary when they accidentally escape or get lost in the wild. I imagine Rocco came face to face with some pretty evil animals on his journey – hawks, badgers, skunks, raccoons, opossum. He probably tried to run from dog catcher or two, weave his way through cars, suffer in cold, rainy, snowy weather. The poor little guy… but he made it! He’s like super dog! Then there is the issue of whether or not he remembers his first owners. The little girl said Rocco didn’t seem to recognize her. Maybe he did recognize her, but just wasn’t happy to be back! (kidding) But you have to wonder if dogs can remember.

They say a lot of human memory has to do with the Olfactory Sense, a.k.a. our sense of smell. For instance, the smell of popcorn and hot dogs reminds us of baseball games; the smell of a blue spruce reminds us of Christmas,; pumpkin pies remind us of Thanksgiving and so on. Why would it not be the same for dogs? Especially since dogs rely so heavily on scent. I mean, dogs mark their territory by peeing everywhere and rubbing the oils in their fur on everything. For example, I take my dog to a kennel club when I go on vacation. As soon as I take her in and she smells the other dogs and the caretaker, she freaks. Then when I bring her home she relaxes and starts wagging her tail again. An even greater example, I go to college for 9 months out of the year; when I come back home she sniffs me first and then recognizes me because I must have some special scent to her. So dogs must be able to make some kind of association with different scents. Maybe Rocco does remember. 5 years is an awfully long time, though.

NOTE: None of these pictures are of Rocco.