The Story of Gandy

Gandalf...Gandy...My chemo buddy...
I was about to start chemotherapy when I was photographing puppies and fell in love...with the most beautiful, blue-eyed sheltie. (On the left pictured with his brother and then him alone in the chair)

My children fell in love with him too...

His funny playful nature kept me smiling while in treatment...

He laid with me every day in my bed when I was so tired and sick from the chemo. I called him my chemo buddy. He was my muse as he is so photogenic, I was able to still photograph him even if I could no longer handle any clients while in chemotherapy...

He has always been very timid of strangers and new things, even this fake fire hydrant at the dog park...

He is especially afraid of loud noises such as trucks, motorcycles and fireworks. It was the fireworks that spooked him on Memorial Day evening 2012. The fireworks went off at the park nearby and Gandalf went off too. Right over our fence and frightened away. That was 5/28/12. 
We searched for him for hours that night. He had never left our yard before. The next day, I started hanging Lost Dog fliers all over our neighborhood. I plastered his picture and information all over Facebook. I put ads on Craigslist. I contacted local animal shelters, animal control and the local police. Three days later I got the first call. He was seen on a road not terribly far from us but ran into the woods when he was approached. He was spotted once more that day in the same area but again, ran into the woods when approached by a stranger.
I rode up and down the street there and in the local neighborhoods. I searched all through the woods crossing the No Trespassing signs for days. Then there was another spotting, on the other side of the woods. I borrowed a safe trap from the local animal control office and gained permission to set it up on a business' property along the woods. I put food in it along with a shirt with my scent on it. I kept checking. 
Friends and family were out looking for him too. Soon, not just friends and family but even strangers who I didn't know were out looking for Gandalf with us. 
Eight days after he went missing, I received multiple calls that Gandy was seen on a highway by the woods. By the time I got the calls and headed over to the highway, he had already ran back into the woods. It wasn't until I got a call a day later, that a woman said she had seen him the day before late in the evening run up off the highway into the woods on the opposite side of the highway of the forest that he had been in.
I moved the safe trap into the woods on the other side of the highway which is owned by a sand company. I gave the owner of the company a flier and told him about my dog. He said they don't get very many people back there and didn't seem like it would help much. I asked him to show the truck drivers his picture and just maybe one of them would see him.

I drove around there sticking fliers in mailboxes (illegal, and I would never recommend doing anything illegal to find your lost dog :) I searched through the woods at the sand company which has forest set aside for a wildlife preserve. The calls of sightings had stopped coming in.
Nine days in, I found hope, as I found Gandalf's dog print in the mud. 

As I found more and more prints, I became more and more sure he was still alive and hiding in the woods. I walked deep into the forest until I came to a clearing where the sand company had dug deep into the ground. I sat there for over an hour hoping that Gandlaf would come along. While there I received a phone call from family friends who had been looking for Gandalf. They stopped and talked to the owner of the sand company who said one of the truckers saw Gandy the morning before. Hope sprung new again. 
Two of my sons and I came back later that day to check the trap and search the woods again. We brought our other dog Lisa with us. We happened along two men riding a quad on the dirt road. While I handed them a flier and asked if they had seen Gandalf, they said no but would keep an eye out. I turned and looked toward the area of the woods where I had the trap and there was Gandy. Standing there looking at us. 
I asked the men to just stay still. I slowly inched forward calling Gandy's name. He looked scared and leary of if it was really me or not. He would inch forward toward me then look behind him like he was considering if he should run. I told my son to bring Lisa over to me. I held Lisa by the leash and Gandalf started barking. He was pretty sure it was us but still scared.
Somehow, the leash came off Lisa and she went running right to Gandalf. I thought to myself, "Oh no! Now I will have two dogs lost in the woods." But Lisa and Gandalf sniffed each other with tails wagging and that was proof for Gandalf that this was his family for sure, not strangers and he came right over to me. With tears running down my face I hugged Gandy and picked him up in my arms. I yelled to my sons that I had him and they went and got Lisa without a problem. 
This is a picture my son took with his cell phone just after we found Gandalf, before we got in the car to come home.

I never gave up. 10 days he was lost in the woods. 10 days I searched for him. On the 8th day of searching, I was walking through the woods and got caught in a thorny patch. My legs were torn up...I had tears streaming down my face...I was feeling discouraged and afraid I wouldn't find him...when I felt a still small voice say to my spirit, "As much as you love and are seeking your lost dog...how much more do you think I love and seek my children." Right away the parable from the bible of the Lost Sheep came to me...
Jesus' words...
Luke 15  
All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. 

² The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³ Jesus told them this parable:

⁴ “Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? 

⁵ And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders. 

⁶ When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’ 

⁷ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives."

Angels and all of heaven rejoices when someone comes to God, repents of their sins and CHANGES both their hearts and their lives.

Jesus wasn't talking about those who already know Him and live for him. It is those of us who know him and our lives are already changed and living for His will who should be sharing His love with others will come to know God's love as well and change their lives. That was a lesson for those in the church, who sit church service to church service soaking up all they can but not sharing it with those who need it...those who need their lives changed. God can help you change your life but we need to repent, which means change our ways. When we change in our hearts and in our lives then we have truly repented, not just said we were sorry for our wrong doings.

Gandalf is home and my family and my friends all rejoiced with me. how much more does God in heaven rejoice when one of his children comes to Him, repenting and changing their lives?