COLUMN: Incredible Journey: A weiner dog braves the wilds of Walton

This is such a special story, I had to share it with you. If you are a dog lover you will truly appeciate the agony and the pure joy of the story you are about to be told.

Imagine a daschund lover from years back. First there was Teenie then Mollie, Mongo, Mena then ... the story begins.

I purchased a beautiful weenie off the Internet; cream-colored with an old soul look. He was special, you could tell. He was 8 months old then. When we picked him up, I was surprised at how skittish he was. The breeder had planned on keeping him and breeding him.

He had very little muscle tone from being crated for most of his short life.

My husband, Michael and I, drove to Gadsden, Ala., to pick him up on our way to Florida for a week long vacation on 9/11. We were at “Camping on the Gulf” in Destin and really enjoying the stay on the beach.

We had taken Mena in the motorhome with us and she absolutely loved the new addition, Farley. That Sunday night I took Farley out for the last walk of the night, and something startled him.

The retractable leash ran out and jerked from my hand and he was gone. Imagine picking up a special needs dog and having him run away from you two days later.

Scared to death, he ran and I fell over a lawn chair and dislocated my left shoulder. I looked for him with a flashlight for two hours. He had the leash and disposable litter bags attached.

Then the thunderstorms came. I was looking for him at dawn.

I did catch a glimpse of him at 7:30 a.m. for about 10 seconds. I yelled for “Farley,” but he still didn't know his name. He ran away from me as fast as he could.

I spent the next four days posting lost signs, calling the local vets and the animal shelters. Then I was told I was talking to the wrong county shelter. Hey, I'm not from here and I told them the address of where I lost him.

Thunderstorm after thunderstorm, we looked and walked the grounds of the Tang-O-Mar community. We finally had to leave. Oh, my God. I mourned for weeks, called and emailed every other day. We live in Olive Branch, Miss., just outside of Memphis.

I was directed to Walton County Animal Shelter and Rescue and I did feel a sense that someone cared at that point. There was a girl there that answered to “Silver” and her supervisor e-mailed me regularly even though they are in the middle of building a new facility.

On a recent Saturday, there was a homeowners’ meeting in a clearing that I had searched many times. A wonderful resident noticed a little cream, long-coated weenie poking his head over a sand dune. He was not to be caught but the local shelter was notified.

I was called the next day and notified that Farley had been seen. The shelter coordinated a live trap and caught him Tuesday morning. As soon as they called me, I called my father, John Clack of Niceville, and he met the animal control officer in Freeport and took Farley to his home.

Farley had been out on his own for a little over five weeks.

I want to thank the people responsible for reuniting him with the family that was meant to be his forever. He has a new little brother, and they are absolutely precious together. He is finally well adjusted, not skittish and never remembers he was lost for so long.

Except... he always comes when I call.

Thank you Walton County Animal Control... and my daddy.

Jackie Gilmore is a Holly Branch Mississippi resident.