Cassie the wanderer

Cassie our 12 year old Parson girl like many Parsons can be either the most loving little dog or the best at making it clear that she will do what she pleases when she pleases.

This last summer it seemed like Cassie was with us one moment and gone the next. We looked high and low for her, calling her name countless times to no avail. We have quite a few coyotes in the area and it is always such a worry as the coyotes will often come out in the daylight hours and it would not be hard for them to snatch a little dog.

We searched and searched for Cassie, walking many of the hiking trails behind us and still no sign of her. After looking through all of her favorite hiding places we took a break and just at that moment we notice a couple walking up the road with our little Cassie following tight behind them.

Apparently our Miss Cassie had found this family that was hiking and she followed them back to the Trappist Abbey where she proceeded to go swimming with them, share in their picnic goodies, and generally ingratiate herself to this family. It was not a wonder that Cassie acted as though she was not very keen in returning to the farm.

The monks are the ones that basically put an end to Cassie's adventure as they asked the young family if this dog with them was their dog or one that had found them? The young family stated that Cassie indeed found them while they were hiking and that she was so adorable that they just let her come back to the Abbey with them. The monks told them that they were fairly certain that the little white dog belonged to the farm that was about a 1/2 mile down the road and they were quite certain we would be looking for Cassie. The monks knew that Cassie wandered on a somewhat regular basis, especially during the summer months since we had been over to the Abbey several times to see if she was visiting yet again.

So up the road the family traveled with Cassie in tow. When they came up to the house Cassie gave her usual performance and acted like she did not even know us. Her new found family told us of all the fun they had with Cassie and how she was so sweet. They loved how she smiled. However the monks had told them that they were certain that she belonged back at this farm. We thanked them for taking such good care of Cassie and off they went back down the road to the Abbey. Cassie was in our arms at that point and all she could do was look longingly at her new family walking down the road without her.

This is of course is not the first time Cassie has wandered. Cassie is quite the beloved princess of not only the sofa but the bed too. She is very spoiled, loves her pizza crusts, peanut butter toast, and her special memory foam bed that she is currently sleeping on while I type, but you would never know that from her. I think she just feels that it never hurts to check out the other options that might be available to her and have a little fun in the process.

So with the summer months now approaching it will be interesting to see if Cassie has for some unknown reason outgrown her wanderlust or if she continues to check out those other alternatives.