Life lessons from the dog that came back

My friends Steve and Susan lost their Boston terrier two months ago.

She ran out the gate while they were carrying in groceries and may have chased the neighbor's cat down the street. They scoured their central Phoenix neighborhood as soon as they realized she was missing. They put up signs and fliers. They eagerly followed every lead, each time coming up empty.

It seemed that Clementine, the cute black and white dog that never knew a stranger, was lost and gone forever. Until Sunday, when she came back.

A worker at a nearby restaurant saw the flier and mentioned it to his boss, who remembered his brother had picked up a stray dog at the end of our friends' street. They connected, and soon, that darlin' Clementine was home.

There are obvious lessons here, including the importance of wearing a collar with an updated contact. But dig deeper into this story, and there are even more meaningful things to learn:

Word of mouth still works.

We live in a digital world, but we should never discount the power of old-school connectivity. Our friends hitched up their daughter in a red wagon and distributed fliers everywhere. They knocked on doors. They went to far-flung neighborhoods. They spoke with strangers in the park. Word got around.

Persistence pays off.

You have to admire my friends' resolve. I probably would have lost hope and given up the search after a week or two. But they kept following leads, no matter how fruitless most of them were. They replaced weathered signs. They called the pound and connected with dog rescue groups. They kept printing fliers. And it paid off.

There is a lot of good in people.

Co-workers and friends volunteered to distribute fliers. Strangers who saw them would call periodically to see if Clemmy made it home. The man who picked her up cared for her greatly and willingly turned her over when her family came calling. Giving up such a fun, funny dog takes a special kind of selflessness.

Dogs know (and give) true love.

Clementine was gone for two months and two days, and there were big changes awaiting her when she got home. There was a new puppy in the house, for one. And her human sister had grown a lot while she was away. But there was no resentment, no jealousy, no whimpering, "Why me?" That silly dog was just happy to be back home with the people she unconditionally loved.