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Loving owners need help finding their missing dog

By Melissa Tully
Published August 31, 2005

My husband, Kerry, and I have a dog, Trent, and like almost everyone's pet, he's part of our family. He has been with us for 13 years, but he still looks and acts like a puppy. His whole dog life, as we say, is filled with funny stories and the warmth of companionship.

He sleeps next to me in bed when Kerry leaves for work, trembles at our feet during thunderstorms and never neglects to rest his head on our laps when we've had a bad day. He served as ring bearer at our wedding, and he survived a bout with heartworms. Trent means the world to us, but right now we can't find him.

He has been missing for four weeks. On July 29, during a thunderstorm, our power went out. My husband had just gotten home from taking me to the airport for a study abroad trip in Ireland. He was tired and had been napping on the couch. When the power came back on, our garage door opened on its own. When Kerry woke up, Trent was gone.

Kerry and I have put up signs all over Inverness, placed ads in the classifieds, checked daily at the animal shelter, and knocked on the doors of 50 of our neighbors in the Inverness Boulevard area of Inverness, but to no avail.

One of our favorite things about Trent is that he's so smart. Most dogs know the buzz words like sit, food and outside. But Trent always knows what's going on in our conversations. He knows when we're talking about him. He knows when someone's coming over for a visit. He knows when he jumps in the back seat of the car whether he's going to a barbecue or the dog doctor.

Something else that makes him special is his ability to predict the outcomes of Buccaneers football games. Trent actually gets his name from Trent Dilfer, the old Bucs quarterback. Before every game, we sit him down in a quiet spot and ask him, "Are the Bucs going to win today?" One paw means no; the other, yes. He's almost never wrong.

We know how easy it is to love Trent; he makes us laugh, he cheers us up and he protects us. If another family has found him and is taking care of him, I'm sure they already understand how special he is. But we are holding out hope that they will realize Trent belongs with his family. We are still keeping his leash by the door. There's still freshwater and his favorite food poured for him in the kitchen.

Trent is an intact lab/mastiff mix. His ears stick up. If you have seen Trent, please call 560-4258. We will gladly come pick him up.

Melissa Tully is a correspondent for the Citrus Times.

[Last modified August 31, 2005, 01:21:25]