Wednesday 7:40 AM

This is the update Bryan emailed out yesterday. I thought I would post it here as well. It's titled "What Bean Does When it Rains":

She walks up to her dog door, pokes her head outside to stare at the rain, and then realizes that she's too big of a diva to be out in that kind of weather and walks back in.

So...

The fact no one called us to say that they saw her today in the rain is just a testament to:

a) Her prissy-ness
b) Her newfound street smarts
c) some really sweet old lady letting her stay in the house and watch The Price is Right all day

But, we have had about another dozen or so folks that we don't know out driving around, taking their lunch breaks to look for her, etc. etc. It's really a world full of amazing people that we live in. One of my students brought his dog out from across town and walked around with me for 2 hours, then called and told me he'd help out in any way he could.

We're still on the hunt y'all, and we're not giving up anytime soon. Our baby is coming back to us. If you'd like to help tomorrow, please do one of the following things:

1) Take down signs that you see around town on lightpoles and stuff like that. The city said that they were going to fine us $500 if we didn't have them all down by like 2 tomorrow. Jerks. Just the city property, not bulletin boards and stuff like that. Hold off on this until we see if we can't get an extension/ exception. Call/email the city planner and ask for the rules to be relaxed in this case. His contact info is listed in the previous post.

2) Pass out flyers to everyone you know.

3) Take a minute to go out and look. The latest area of concentration (5 sightings yesterday) is on the nature trail that runs North/South between Trinity and Club between Duke and Washington and then down at Northgate park.

4) We'll be out again in full force in the afternoon if you'd care to join us.

5) Keep having your dreams, sending your prayers, and telling everyone you know.

Let's make it happen

Wednesday 7:12 AM

Yes, I am supposed to be in class right now. But I don't think it would be conducive to anyone's learning experience for me to be sobbing and wailing in the front of the auditorium. I'm just not ready to go on with life as usual. It feels too much like giving up on Bean. So I am sitting here in my tiny Chapel Hill apartment (Bryan and I officially have two separate addresses, that's a whole other story) typing this while wrapped in a comforter that we snuggled with Bean on just 2 Sundays ago.

There is a mandatory Clinical Epidemiology class from 2:00-3:30 that I will make myself go to. (For those of you who don't know, I am a 2nd year medical student at UNC). When my exam rolls around on Monday, by which time we will have of course found our Bean, if you all would not mind rolling those "Bean come home" prayers into "Please let Rebecca pass her Psych Exam" prayers, that would be great. After all, I have to graduate and get a job so I can afford to keep Bean in steak and sausages for the rest of her warm, safe, happy life!


So, let's everyone just hold off on taking down the signs. I think they are too important in the search for Bean. Everyone who has called about seeing her has done so because of the signs and flyers. Let's just hope that the city has some mercy on this lost dog of mine. A commenter has some helpful advice:

Steve Medlin is the Director of Planning and Zoning for the City of Durham. I suggest we all (politely) e-mail (steve.medlin@durhamnc.gov) or call him at (919)560-4137 and let him know how the citizens of Durham feel about how the sign ordinance is being applied to "lost dog" posters. It's one thing to regulate solicitations, it's another thing to impede a rescue effort! Not just for Bean, but for any of us who could be in this situation someday.
Here are the pertinent links:
http://www.durhamnc.gov/departments/planning/
http://www.durhamnc.gov/departments/planning/udo/pdf/udo_11.pd

I am going to email him right now about this, and call later on. Hopefully if enough people do this we will be granted some sort of exception. If not, I say leave them up until they actually mail us a bill. What do you think?

Tuesday 10:52 pm

One more thing, "the city" called today and said that if we did not take all the posters of Bean off of the telephone and electric poles by 1:00 pm on Wednesday, they would fine us FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!! I hope that is not a per-flyer charge...

I'm not sure how they are going to enforce this, or how serious they are about the precise time they need to be down, but we are going to go around as soon as we can tomorrow and tear down all the posters. If you happen to be walking by one, and wouldn't mind taking it down for us, that would be great.

I honestly can't even remember where we put them all....

Ugh!! Doesn't the city have anything more important to do??? Like, say...finding my dog!!!

OK , now I really am going to bed.

Rebecca

Tuesday 9:23 pm

Well, I just got dropped off back at the house. Bryan, along with 3 other amazingly awesome people, have returned to sit in their cars in the rain. They are hoping to see Bean on the trail, and Bryan is checking on the doggie trap every 15 or 20 minutes. Bryan is sitting in the rain, staring at a damp piece of fried steak. I don't think it gets much sadder than that.

I have to admit that things are looking pretty grim. I know it's probably because of the rainy weather, but the fact that Bean has not been seen at all today is really scaring me. I think the weather should clear up soon, and she will hopefully start making appearances again.

Tomorrow I have to go back to school. I have skipped classes Monday and today. I hadn't even thought as far ahead as Wednesday, because I thought "We will surely have found Bean by then!"

And here it is. Just a few hours till Wednesday and our little girl feels farther away than ever. Another reason I need so desperately for her to be spotted running around loose everyday is that it is the only way I can know that she has not been picked up off the street by those monsters who like to do horrible things to pit bulls. I would honestly rather find out that she is dead than to have her end up chained to pole in someone's basement for the rest of her life. That is the life we rescued her from. When she came to us we promised her she would never have to worry about being hurt again.

If anyone out there has stories about pets who went missing for weeks, and then showed up out of the blue unharmed, now would be a really good time to share them.

Also, I know we are in a severe drought crisis and all, but if you could pray for sunny skies, that would be awesome too.

Sorry to be so down. I will try to be more positive tomorrow.

Rebecca

Tuesday 7:44 pm

It's kind of a sad evening around here.

This is the first day since she was taken that there has not been a sighting of Bean called in. The last she was seen was last night on the trail that runs through the woods behind our house. It's also raining, and that means that Bean is out there in the rain somewhere. I hope she has found someplace dry and warm.

Late this afternoon, there was apparently a dog bite incident on the other side of downtown. Rumor has it it was a pit bull. A brindle one, so it doesn't sound like Bean (I would also be shocked to hear that she is biting now). However, it is being said that animal control picked up that dog as well as several others that were running with it. It is possible that Bean has fallen in with a bad crowd, and that she got thrown in the slammer with the biter. But we can't know until tomorrow when the shelter opens.

Tonight, a very sweet woman who works with a local animal rescue lent us a humane dog trap. It looks like a very long wire dog crate. The door swings up, and stays propped up until it is triggered. At the other end of the trap, there is a little platform that is about 1 inch off the ground. If you put food on the far end of the trap, on the other side of the platform, then the dog would have to step on the platform to get the food. The second the platform is pressed down, the door slams shut.

I am currently frying Beef and Cheddar-filled sausages. Since neither of us eats red meat, it is kind of disgusting. But hopefully it will be irresistible to Bean. Of course, you have to check the trap very often, since you don't want the dog to be trapped in the cage for very long. They don't like it at all and start freaking out.

We are going to set the trap on the trail she was seen on last night, and then camp out nearby. I wonder how many other strays that aren't Bean we will catch!

Wish us luck. Will post an update later on, before I go to bed.

Rebecca

Tuesday 12:28 PM

No new news.

I just spent 90 minutes walking the trails around Northgate Park. I walked so much I ended up back home, and now I have to wait for Bryan to come home from work (any minute now) to take me back to my car. It was a sad, gray walk, and I was in tears by the time I got home. I found myself peering into little creeks as I passed them, actually looking for her body! But I have to keep telling myself that she is strong and she is still out there somewhere. As I walked into the house, I called for her again. We have opened the fence to the backyard, so that if she were to get home, she could come in through her dog door. Every time I unlock the front door I say a quick prayer that she will be on the other side, staring up at me, demanding dinner.

It feels like we are always one step behind her.

It really does feel like the whole city is looking for her!! Thanks to everyone for being our "eyes" all over town.

I'm feeling really down right now. But it does help to check my email and this site and get all the encouraging messages. Please don't you give up hope!!

What hurts the most is that I feel like I have let Bean down. She was trusted to us because we promised to keep her safe for the rest of her life. And now we have lost her. I hope she knows we are looking her her. That we have not forgotten about our little girl. That we never will.

Rebecca

Tuesday 10:53 AM

Another sighting!!

A very nice woman just called to say that she saw been yesterday at about 5pm. Bean was "running really fast" along Club Blvd, and then turned into Northgate Park. This was just an hour or two before she was spotted on the trail behind our house, which also leads to that park.

There is a dog park there, and Bean has always been excited about other dogs, so maybe that's where she's been hanging out. I am headed there right now with flyers and my staple gun.

At least if she is running, she is not hurt too bad. Poor girl! Her bad leg must be sore by now. She is getting a massage and a hot bath (and a steak) as soon as she gets home!

No sightings today, but a good friend went to the shelter for me (those places always make me cry) and confirmed that she is still not there.

Keep the prayers coming everyone! And check back often!!

Rebecca

Tuesday 9:12 AM

This morning a very kind man (a stranger to me and our situation) at a local copy shop paid for me to make 500 copies of Bean's flyer. I pretty much started crying right there. How can there be even one bad person like the man who stole Bean when clearly we are surrounded by angels every single day?

I have covered a very long street near where she was last seen. They are forecasting a cold rain this afternoon, and I pray we can find her before then.

I will go to the shelter when it opens at 10:30, to see if she was picked up overnight.

Thank you all. Keep on praying!

Rebecca

Tuesday morning 6:30 AM

Hello all,

Alas, another night has passed without Bean in our bed safe and warm. We know that she is very close, and I am spending the morning going door-to-door in the surrounding areas. We must have printed thousands of flyers by now. I feel good. Good enough to write my own words today. We are bringing her home today! I just know it!

Keep checking back,
and keep on praying (the prayers have worked wonders already!!)

Rebecca

Monday Night 8:30pm

Good News! Bean was spotted at around 7pm on the trail right behind our house!!!

She was not only clever enough to get away from the man who stole her, and to make it on her own for 2 nights on the streets, she seems to have found her way back to our neighborhood! Everyone is out with flashlights now. I have a good feeling about this. I know that if she can just find our street, she will know how to get home. We have all the lights on, and a big bowl of peanut butter is sitting on the front porch.

I'm going back out now.

Please keep your fingers crossed that we will find our baby tonight!

Rebecca

Monday afternoon 1:30pm

Again, this is an email Bryan sent out. I don't have anything to say, except that is feels like my heart is breaking. Please keep praying.

Okay y'all...


Today's the day! Everybody seems to be feeling it. Thanks so much to all of y'all that have called/emailed and let her know.


Bean was not at the shelter this morning, so Rebecca and I came home and got a little rest (not much of that has been going on). We're getting ready to head out and just sit on a couple of corners for a while. Bean seems to be a moving target, so maybe if we sit still, she'll emerge.


We're asking any and all of you to join us today/tonight when you get off of school and work. We'll still be out there, and we'll have fliers so that we can show them to folks and ask if they've seen her. I think that if we saturate the neighborhood one more night, she's bound to show up.


Michelle apparently had a dream that Bean came home tonight. Keep dreamin y'all. For my Catholics, holla at St. Francis and/or St. Christopher. Everybody just keep doing what you do. We're going to find her and bring her home and smother her with all the love and attention she can imagine.


And just so that y'all know, if she's been out this long and walking, she's going to be limping a significantly. Her back right leg is no good, and she's got to be getting tired. Not that you could mistake her for another dog, but just in case.


Please call me (210-9256) or Rebecca (604-1143) and come join us.


Let's do it y'all

Update Monday morning 6:30 AM

This was sent out by Bryan late last night. I am too incoherent to write an update myself. Although I am not able to express it right now, I am so grateful for everyone's help and kind words. But I am too sad to write more.

"Hey y'all...

Here's where things are right now. Rebecca and I are going to sleep without our Bean for the 2nd night in a row. Theo, Rebecca's dad (Curtis), and I just got in from one more late night sweep, and we didn't find anything.

I did, however, just get a call from someone who said that he saw Bean near Lancaster and Markham today with another dog, wandering about. Our baby has, apparently, made a friend, and is looking for us.

While this has been an excruciating couple of days, we are so warmed by all that everyone has done. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family of people around us. Many of you have worked with us, many of you have worked on your own; many of you have said prayers and chanted for Bean to come home to us, and many of you have spread the word far and wide. I personally am in love with the people of Walltown, who have been so supportive and so willing to help us, calling just to see if we've found her, and going out of their way to bring our baby back to us. It's just a testament to how many wonderful people are in this world, despite the broken soul who took our Bean in the first place.

Please don't stop. Everyone in the area knows about Bean, and everyone is looking. One more day of persistent searching, and I know that our love will be back here annoying all of us on a daily. Please keep talking to your neighbors. Please keep walking around and looking for her when you can. Please keep putting up flyers. We will find her. And we will find her because of this wonderful family that we have.

Rebecca and I are checking the animal shelters first thing in the morning, and then we'll be back out in the neighborhoods if she's not in the shelters. We'll find her. Hit me on my phone (210-9256) if you want to come out with us.

Thanks so much y'all. You don't know how much it means to both of us.

bryan"

Bean update 2:30 am

We are printing up hundreds of these at Kinko's and knocking on doors to hand them out first thing in the morning. I will also be bringing copies to every vet office and shelter within 30 miles on Monday. Please pray that we find her before then, though. I know that every hour she is out there increases her chances of being hurt, or being found by the horrible people who stole her.

Update: Saturday night 11pm

Here's where things stand:

We have posted many fliers advertising a $1000 reward for her safe return. We have gotten 2 calls since she was stolen, both people who had seen her wondering around in the neighborhood near wear she was taken. The wonderful news is that she was dragging her leash around and walking alone! She seems to have gotten away from the bastard (pardon the language) who took her! Now she is not "stolen" so much as "lost" and I think that is good news. We walked all through the neighborhood (about 12 of us) in teams of 2 from this afternoon until just now at 11pm. Tomorrow I am going to knock on doors and pass out fliers. I can't bear to think that she is out there alone tonight, but at least I know that she is not with the person who stole her, and that it will not be too cold. God willing, we will find her tomorrow.

please pray for us

earlier this afternoon bean was stolen out of bryan's car while he was buying her dog food. please please pray for her, and if you are in the durham nc area please keep an eye out for her. the police are looking as well as several friends. if she is not found before dark, then I just don't know what I will do. She is micro-chipped, but I am so scared she was taken by the kind of people who will not take her to vet. Oh my baby.

please pray for us.

rebecca

Bean's 100th post!!!

Wow! According to Blogger, this is Bean's 100th post on this blog. That just blows my mind. It seems that only yesterday we brought our tiny little big-eared puppy home for the first time. They grow up so fast...{sniff, sniff}

I am just getting home from taking a monster of a neuropathology exam, and am heading off for a much-deserved nap. But I just had to post this photo first.

Bryan and Bean spent Saturday night here with me. Because my bed is only a full-sized one, and because Bryan is well over 6 feet tall, Bean doesn't sleep with us during the night. She sleeps on her deluxe LLBean dog bed in the corner. (I know, it's sad to see a dog being abused so cruelly.)

However, on Sunday morning, after taking her out to pee (no dog door here) we invite her up into bed to snuggle with us. Is there any better way to start your morning than rolling over and seeing this face?

Oh, Hi. Morning.

Of course, she makes sure to let me know that she is the #1 girl in Bryan's life by draping herself over him in such a way that makes it hard for me to cuddle with him.

Go on, try to kiss him if you dare.

I'm not sure I like this competition.

ps- ignore all dirty laundry in the background, please. things get a little messy around here right before an exam!

I'm dreaming of a white MLK day...

That title is wrong on so many levels. I meant to play off of the "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" song, but somewhere things went awry.

Anyway, as I was trying to convey with this title, we have snow!! I know it's not much, and those of you who are up north will laugh at me. But really, this is a lot of snow for us.


Bean and Bryan spent last night with me, and as soon as we got up this morning I took her out back to investigate. She also ate quite a bit of snow.

As you can see, although my backyard is fenced, it's a wire fence. So unlike the privacy fence she is used to, Bean can see through this one. She has accidentally run right into it on several occasions after seeing something exciting (a squirrel or another dog) off in the distance. I'd like to say that I didn't laugh when she did this, but I can't.

I was surprised she didn't seem to mind how cold her feet must have been. I don't think it hit her until we got back inside. Then she wanted to hop into bed with us and warm up. So of course, we let her. I mean who could refuse this face?

Um, hi. My paws are cold. And my nose. Can I warm them on you??

Bean the Philanthropist

In the spirit of generosity that always comes with the holidays and the new year, Bean has taken all of her allowance money and used it to sponsor one of the dogs at our local shelter. Since Bean doesn't actually like being around other dogs, even the ones she wants to help, I was the one to go to the shelter today and pick a dog to sponsor.

At first I was reluctant to go. Previous experiences with shelters gave me good reason to think that I might leave in tears with a car full of newly adopted dogs. I have only been to shelters that kill animals who do not get adopted. Those are very sad places for me. I want to run in and yell "I'll take whoever is scheduled to die next!!" Even though I understand the reasoning behind the kill-shelters, it is very, very sad.

Also, Bean is 100% against the kill shelters, for obvious reasons.

I was delighted to find that this shelter is unlike any I have seen before. First of all, it is a no-kill shelter. When I arrived, I met a very nice woman named Tracy who gave me a tour. No one is kept in a cage. Even the cats are allowed to roam freely in large rooms full of toys and beds and things to scratch. After touring the cat rooms briefly (We are dog people here, after all) we moved on to look at the dogs. All dogs have pens with both indoor and outdoor areas, beds, and toys. All dogs are allowed to play outside off leash everyday, and get lots of walks. They also have heated floors!

Bean had specifically requested that the money be used to sponsor any bully breeds that might be there. There were two in the facility today. A male named Rocco, who was quite the gentleman, and a bouncy brindle female named Misty. Since Rocco was scheduled to move into a foster home soon, I decided to sponsor Misty.


Everyone, meet Misty. Misty is a beautiful girl with lots of energy. The doors to the pens are the kind that are cut in half and each half opens separately. The bottom halves of all the doors were shut, so that you could still lean in and talk to the dogs. The larger dogs could put their paws up on the ledge and keep an eye on things. The only pen that had both top and bottom doors locked was Misty's. It soon became obvious why. Once she heard us coming, it was like her butt was made of springs. I kept seeing her head bounce in and out of the glass window in the top of her door. Boing! Boing! Boing! Apparently she is a little escape artist, so her door has to be shut all the way.

Tracy opened the top half and we gave her a treat. She is so soft and polite. She reminded me of Bean. Especially her ears. I could not believe that she has been looking for a home for four months now! She is a wonderful dog that deserves a wonderful home. When I was writing out the check at the front desk, I asked if Bean could be listed as the sponsor. Not only did they say yes, they even put a link to Bean's blog beside Misty's photo! So if any of you are in the NC area and have space in your home for this little love of a dog, please contact the shelter! Because as any dog will tell you...

Being homeless sucks, y'all.

Apples and Oranges Eggs

Bean has stayed with me for the past couple of nights. Bryan's house is being repainted. It's just the outside that's being painted, so the workmen aren't actually inside the house. However, given Bean's super-powered ears and her strong instinct to bark and whine when she hears anything odd outside, we thought it best to keep her away till the job is done.

This morning I woke to find that I didn't have anymore of Bean's food here. Of course I was not about to let her go without breakfast, so I scanned my kitchen for things that would be safe for a dog to eat. At this point I realized that I have way too much chocolate in my house. But I did see a red delicious apple in the fruit bowl, and remembered giving Bean an apple core once which see seemed to enjoy. So I chopped the apple into large pieces, tossed them in her bowl, and stood back.

She inspected the apple. She smelled the pieces. She even licked one. But she would not eat them.

Then I had the brilliant idea of spreading some of the apple pieces on the floor, because of the well-known...

Canine Culinary Rule #1
The hierarchy of food desirability is as follows (in order of descending yummy-ness):
Food that humans are eating
Food left on plates by humans
Food dropped on floor by humans
Food put into your bowl because humans want you to eat it

Sadly, Bean was not fooled.

Isn't this is the same apple I didn't want 2 minutes ago?

Remembering something I read about eggs giving dogs shiny coats, I grabbed the last two eggs from the fridge and put them in a pot of water to boil. A few minutes later, while I was peeling and chopping the hard-boiled eggs, I was reminded of...

Canine Culinary Rule #2
The stinkier it is, the more delicious it will be.

I diced up the apple into finer pieces and mashed it in with the eggs, making a disgusting sort of warm egg salad.

It smells even worse than it looks.

The results? A complete success. All the pictures I got of her eating it are blurry because her jaws are moving faster than the speed of light.

Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom...

Nom Nom [thud of the bowl hitting the baseboard] Slurp Slurp...

Lick surrounding rug...just in case.

It's actually really satisfying to cook for a dog. They really make sure you know they appreciate it. However, if you are planning on making this dish for your pooch, I must warn you. The combination of eggs and ruoughage makes for some pretty awful farts. Farts that will wilt your houseplants. So open the windows.

Bryan was asleep just feet away (did I mention my place is tiny?) during this whole ordeal. Later he complained that he heard all of it, but I have evidence that he slept soundly the whole time.

Sleeping Beauty.

He later woke up because of the eye-watering dog farts. But then we lit a bunch of incense and all went back to sleep. It was a nice family morning.

Bean visits Mommy's new place...and is underwhelmed

Last weekend Bryan and Bean came over for a sleepover at my new place. It was the first time Bean has really spent any time over here. She kept pacing the perimeters of the rooms, searching for "the rest of it". My place is only 400 sq. ft., and our old house (where she still lives with Bryan) is about 1500 sq. ft., with a big backyard.

When we first adopted Bean, before we were married, I lived in another small place by myself, and she lived there with me. But that was a long time ago, and she seems to have become accustomed to more spacious accommodations since then. Also, back then she was just a little puppy, so the apartment probably didn't seem as small as it was.

She made it very clear during her visit that she had no intentions whatsoever of staying here with me. She wanted to go "home" with Bryan, and kept a careful eye on him at all times, lest he should sneak out and leave her here with me.

It was really hard not to take all of this personally. I mean, I decided to adopt a dog, I picked her out, but she still is somehow Bryan's dog. Man's Best Friend, I guess. She just loves him so much. I'm sure she loves me too. Just in a different, less obvious kind of way.

"You know I'm leaving as soon as Dad gets back, right?"

Here we are, waiting by the front door just before she and Bryan left. Bryan had gone back to use the bathroom before getting on the road. That left just Bean and me in this sort of awkward silence. She sat facing the bedroom (from which Bryan was soon to emerge) the entire time, and only looked up at me when I picked up the camera.

My eyes teared up from all the love and devotion.

Maybe I should start keeping dog biscuits and treats here for her. Perhaps a special toy that she only gets when she visits me. I cannot believe I am already resorting to buying her affections.