Once upon a time, we had a dog...

That's right, yesterday Maggie (like so many before her) decided she'd had enough of living with my parents.

My brother came home Saturday evening, I guess for father's day. Yesterday morning they all went for a family walk in the park with Maggie; it was only the third week we've had her.

One minute she's walking on the leash, the next minute she's slipped out of her collar and she's leash-free. I wasn't there (thank God... it was horrible pandemonium), but from what I understand it happened incredibly fast. Maggie charged off into the woods.

They all looked for her, and they had a few sightings. They couldn't get her to come to them. They looked, in shifts, until 9pm at night. Her last sighting was around 2pm, and then she was gone.

I have to make light because it's just so awful. The whole thing has been awful since we got her. Maggie was not adjusting so well at the house. I don't think it's unreasonable for someone to want a dog that greets you with a wagging tail when you come home after work, that looks forward to seeing you.. man's best friend? Maggie seems to have gotten worse once she moved in instead of getting better.

She's incredibly shy and anxious. She's one year old, and she spent her whole existence living outdoors. She loves the outdoors and fears houses. She also fears most people. To my dad, my brother, one of my dad's friends at work, and boyfriend and myself the last time we were home... she just shakes and shakes like one of us is going to kill her. She backs away and hides in a corner. But the day we got her she was friendly as could be.. she didn't start the shaking until a week after we'd had her. I just don't understand.

Everyone has advice about how to deal with a shy dog, but really nothing had worked so far. Plus, it's probably just too great a task for first time dog owners who both work 10 hours a day. They need something with more loyalty than intelligence that easily accepts and loves the role of family dog.

So, my brother and father probably didn't like her too much. They don't have a lot of patience, and seeing the dog shake and back away every time they go by, when all they've done is be nothing but nice to her, is disheartening.

My mom sees it as a personal attack. She gave the dog a warm home, toys, food, and love and yet the dog would rather run away and go live in the woods. She's a complete mess.

I hadn't gotten to know Maggie that well yet. Of course, I hated how afraid and shy she was too. I wanted to play with her and enjoy her company. It's not her fault, of course. Who knows what kind of life she had. But the thought of all the time and energy we put into this and all the high hopes we had makes it incredibly disappointing... plus terrifying... what's going to happen to her?

They're going to keep trying to find her, but what happens even if they do? She'll probably just run away again. She doesn't really get the concept of her name or coming when it's called. She certainly doesn't enjoy the company of really anyone in the house except my mom. She doesn't really understand how to be a pet.

I feel like we've all failed. I have no idea what's going to happen. Will they find her today, 6 months from now, or never? Will there be another dog? Is this it forever? Should I not worry yet because maybe they'll still find her? That park is huge and densely wooded.

What the hell happened? Why can't we just have something nice like normal people!

Sometimes, I swear... it's like there's a black cloud above my parents house where everything turns to shit!