Winning the lottery doesn't compare to this.
 

My best friend and puppy dog Otis ran off last night. I live on one of the busiest roads in Columbia, MO (town of about 100,000 in the summer and 150,000-200,000 during the college season).

I was spraying the house with home-defense varmint control before we winterized the house so I put him on a chain in my fenced in back yard. He's never on a chain and never outside for more than 15 to 20 minutes by himself, but I was going to the laundromat and wanted the house to air out while I was gone. I came home 1 and a half hours later to find his collar empty on the chain and him nowhere to be found in my yard. It is now pitch dark, 7:30ish pm.

I live in a shady neighborhood. Very shady, old brown stones and duplexes built in the 1920s. Home of crack heads and poor college students. I scoured the neighborhood until 10pm, but soon realized that it was futile and just knew he was gone for good. Drank beer until 1:00 am, knowing I wasn't going to sleep a wink that night.

This morning I woke up at 6:30am, went to Wal-Mart and bought document protectors and duct tape. Ran to campus and printed up color lost dog posters. Spent all morning since sun rise putting posters all over my neighborhood, probably 3 square mile area.

At 8:57 am I got a call that a golden retriever with a blue collar on was playing loose with another stray dog, a black lab. I just knew it wasn't my puppy because of the collar (Otis's collar was still on the chain in my back yard!), after sprinting the 4 or so blocks to where the lady said she was waiting with this stray I threw about 15 dog posters in the air, dropped my coffee, and hugged my Otis! (Named after the great Otis Taylor of course).

Lady wouldn't take my cash reward, loaded me and my dog in her car and drove us home!!!!!

Good people still exist in this world. Even in my crack head neighborhood!

13 to 14 hours loose on busy streets, with no real street experience other than walks on a leash and my dog is sitting by my side as I type this.

How on earth did he get a collar on him?

Very nice. Congrats.

Poster:

I would probably invest and open a new busines if I won the lottery

Me too. But a significant amount would be going to an animal shelter after last night.

Great story! I'm sure Otis was happy to see u too! Have u considered sending the lady a thank u card and flowers, or something?

If total enrollment at Mizzou is only 30,000, why does the population of Columbia balloon by 50,000-100,000 when school is in session? I know there are a couple of other small schools in Columbia, but I don't think they make that much of a difference.

Congratulations on finding your dog. :)

Dude, all you had to do was text Tyler and you would have had your dog back in no time.

Oh, and I'm happy you got your dog back. :)

This is the key question. Did he steal the collar from another dog? Did he buy the collar on a spending spree while he was unsupervised? Was it a disguise so he could go incognito? There's more to this story.

Oh, and it's great to hear that you got him back. That's a horribly worrisome situation.

I figure 60,000 alumni during football games? I don't know... that isn't the important part of the story! Hell last Thursday there were at least 5,000 Nebraska fans in town! I didn't fact check, sorry. Thanks for the congrats!

Tyler?

My guess is the other 20,000 people are there putting collars on stray dogs.

I don't have her address. She was driving to work when she found him on the side of the road. Had seen my posters while walking her dog that morning. I was prepared to pay $200. Didn't put the amount on the posters because crackheads in my neighborhood would steal him on purpose for ransom if I did ever get him back.

I have her cell number from when she called me, but that seems a bit like stalking a good Samaritan. She was kind of cute though...