Small Black Female Mutt (Not Izzie) Found in Blacksburg

It's now well past the point at which we get excited when there is a sighting of some kind. We can still remember in the beginning when a sighting call was an exciting call. Back then, before it seemed possible that more than four months later, we wouldn't know where Izzie is or has been, any call to say that Izzie was sighted basically was accepted as true. We had to learn quickly that a sighting should be considered as merely a possible sighting, not a valid sighting, unless or until enough information could be gathered and checked out.

Over time, with there having been a lot of spreading of the word about Izzie, and so many great people in the area that want to help us find Izzie, there have been plenty of calls and sightings that didn't turn out to be Izzie.  We have no regrets about any of the calls or emails we've gotten that weren't Izzie; we are still grateful for them, and we still want to be called any time there is sighting that may turn out not to be Izzie. We know that there are so many ways that an unlikely sighting can turn out to be the right dog, and we want to check out every sighting that we can.

So, sightings rarely cause us to jump any more. We know that alot of people whose dogs have been lost for so long become skeptical when they get a call after so long. We don't think of ourselves as skeptical; that seems to imply that we don't think it can happen -- that Izzie is going to surface somewhere. We do think she will!  We know of so many, many situations in which dogs -- even little dogs -- have survived on their own for a surprisingly long time. And while it certainly seems like we've found ways to spread the word to everyone in the area, we know that's not true. There are still so many, many possibilities for Izzie to have been taken in by someone that the word has not spread to. So, skeptical we aren't, and we think any day could be the day she pops up somewhere and is reunited with us.

Finally, one came along earlier this week that sure did get the heart pumping! There are several websites or organizations that allow you to sign up to get alerts when a dog in your area is lost, or in the case of fidofinder.com, found. So the following came through on Sunday that SO could have been Izzie!

It was thoroughly checked out, and definitely not Izzie, sadly. But at this point, it was nice to just find out that we aren't permanently numb, you know? And oh, what a round of day dreams it set off about when and where and how it will all go down one day, that Izzie is found. We may not have control over where she is right now, but we can control our day dreams about that reunion. In our day dreams, we can make it really fun and exciting how she's found, and of course, she's kept up her health and strength. And even though we suspect that her thoughts each day are really about survival, in our day dreams, her thoughts are about us!