Still no puppy. Our third ad is running in today's paper.

At least the word is getting out. Got my first crank call today. Actually, that might be a little harsh. A woman called and woke me up around 9am this morning. In a very calm voice she told me how last Sunday she had noticed a run-over animal at the side of the road. It looked kinda black and white, and might have been a cat, or maybe a small dog, she didn't know, but noticed that our ad was in the paper for the third time and felt compelled to call and tell me about it.

I politely told her that our dog was chipped, and so even dead the animal would have been checked and we'd have been notified. The Germans are very good about stuff like that. Part of the bureaucratic thinking.

Anyway... the waiting continues. I refuse to give up hope just because some woman thinks the dog is dead.

We've been in contact with a German-wide pet organization named TASSO. They've been in the business of helping pets for over 20 years, and have created an online accessible database of microchip registrations. We didn't know that when chipped, our veterinarian had registered Kaya with TASSO. So anyone can easily and instantly check the microchip number for free online, and find out that she's registered to me. They also say that the chances of finding your dog in the area where it ran away is about 6%, and on average it takes 16 days for a pet to be returned. That makes me feel better for some reason.

I also got a few laughs by checking TASSO's database of other missing pets. Somebody out there lost a TORTOISE! Yup.... that speedy little critter somehow got out of the back yard and went on his merry way. But the tortoise has a microchip and is registered, so is listed on the database of missing pets.

And how the heck does someone lose an old cart horse? Gosh, if any animal can find its way back home, a cart horse should be at the top of the list.

I'll keep y'all posted, cause I got nothing better to do except keep hanging up posters, waiting and hoping.