[nagdu] Haas anyone ever gotten lost in their own yard?

[Tracy Carcione]

Hi Allison.
Sounds like you did the right things, once you stopped panicking.
I haven't gotten lost in my own yard, nor my parents' yard, but I did get
lost by my sister's house in the woods when I went to visit her.  Like
you, I started following Ben when he was sniffing, figuring I wouldn't go
too far and could just retrace my steps.  But I must have turned a bit, or
gone around one too many trees.  I just told Ben "inside", and eventually
he did lead me back to the house.  He's not officially trained to guide on
leash, but I've found that dogs can do it anyhow.  Actually, I think
pretty quickly he took me to the back porch, but I'd never been there and
didn't recognize it.  It didn't help that everything was covered in 6 or 8
inches of snow, either.  So we wandered around a bit, then he went back to
the front door.  There wasn't any traffic for me to use as a guide,
either, since my sister's house is on a backroad in the woods.
It was a bit worrisome, but we figured it out, as you did.  Now you know
you can get yourself un-lost, and needn't panic next time.
Tracy

> Hi List,
> I had a rather frightening experience last night.  I was
> wondering if a similar experience has ever happened to any of
> you, or am I the most directionally challenged person in the
> history of humankind (grin).
> Usually, I can brag that Gilbert is a perfectly behaved dog.  He
> always obeys me, and when I take him out to relieve, I take him
> to his designated spot just off the porch in the grass, he does
> his business efficiently, and we go back into the house without
> incident.  But every once in a while, and it seems to be when
> snow has just melted, and there are all kinds of new currious
> scents, he will get so preoccupied with sniffing that he leads me
> far past his relieving area, and I get lost.  It has only
> happened twice, but last night was the most frightening because
> it was midnight and I was completely alone.  On top of that, I
> forgot to put my cell phone in my coat pocket, and I didn't even
> bring his harness so he could work me home if I got lost.  Living
> in the same house for 18 of my 19 years, you would think I should
> know the way around my own yard right?
> Anyway, I live in a rural suburban area with no sidewalks and a
> two acre yard.  I took Gilbert into the grass, and he peed like
> he was supposed to, but then he started walking and sniffing.  At
> first, I thought he was just sniffing out the perfect spot to
> poop, but after awhile when we started getting farther and
> farther from the house, I realized he was sniffing out of
> naughtiness, not looking for a place to poop.  I gave him a
> correction and tried to tell him firmly, "let's go home.  The
> trainer did recommend that I have Gilbert on a long leash when he
> relieves, but I prefer short leash because on long leash, it is
> harder to tell when he is squatting to poop, and harder to find
> it when he is done.
> I turned in what I thought was the direction of my house, and
> used an old trick I figured out when I used to get myself off the
> school bus and walk up the driveway.  I slapped my right leg with
> my hand, and the sound echoes off the house, thus leading me in
> the right direction.  What I didn't realize until last night
> though is that this echoe can also bounce off trees, so before I
> knew it, I was walking into a clump of trees.
> A huge weakness of mine is that I am a panicker, so when I
> realized that I had walked into a clump of trees, of course I
> panicked.  I ran in circles trying to pick up an echoe, and when
> I did hear one and follow it, I only went deeper into the trees.
> I tried shouting for help but no one heard me.  I tried waving my
> arms, but there was nobody outside, and even if there had been, I
> now realize they probaly wouldn't have been able to see me from
> where I was anyway.  I don't know how long I wandered in panick,
> but finally rational thinking did set in.  I realized that I
> could either camp out there all night, or calm down and retrace
> my steps.  I knew I was capable of the latter.  I told Gilbert to
> sit, took deep breaths, and realized that I could hear cars.  If
> I followed the sound of the distant cars, I would end up back at
> my driveway.  I turned around, ducked through the tree branches
> and followed the cars.  When I slapped my leg again, I heard the
> familiar echoe, and this time the echoe led me the right way.  I
> have never been so overjoyed to feel blacktop under my feet!
> Last night during the ordeal, I was on the verge of tears, but
> since all ended well, I can now reflect back and laugh.  If I
> made it home alive in the worst possible circumstances, getting
> lost on my college campus will be a piece of cake now.  And I
> also learned why cell phones were invented (grin).
> Allison and Gilbert
>
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