A very hard day

This is Monica again, and unfortunately I have no good news to report. Today Mark, Elaine and I, along with our wonderful friend Randi Plotner from Poodle Rescue, tried a different tack. Rather than going all over town with the canine search team, each of the four of us took up a location in Los Gatos where Raven's trail had visited more than once. We stayed there with scent items (Elaine and Randi had some of our pre-worn clothes) and smelly meat items, and just hoped that Raven might again return.

As you've probably guessed from the headline, unfortunately we had no such luck. Plus, this approach gave us the opportunity to sit all day and contemplate the devastating lost of our sweet dog. Maybe the truth is that we just won't be able to find her, no matter how hard we try.

Anyway, Mark and I are both feeling exhausted, both physically and emotionally. I think we are going to take a break tomorrow, and then maybe re-group Friday or over the weekend. We are definitely not giving up on our Raven, but we have just hit the wall in terms of continuing this intensive search the way we've been going. We need to come up with a strategy that is more sustainable for the longer run -- and just hope for the best. We know that Raven is a survivor, and a surprisingly resourceful dog.