Four 13-week-old puppies went trotting down my driveway on Groundhog Day, hoping to find Punxsutawney Phil or the like. Two were found late afternoon about a mile from my house by painters working at my house –who actually got their car stuck trying to find the puppies on snowy Vermont rural roads. Two pups stayed out all night in sub-zero degree temps. The town animal control officer and I spent until after midnight tracking the missing two to no avail. Social media and Listserve posts went up immediately. The animal control officer and I were ready to canvass and alert the town, knocking doors this morning …and then, about 7:30 a.m., up walked these two missing pups, looking not too much worse for having spent the night out in the cold.

And a bell was ringing in the village square
For the puppies on the run
Band on the run
Band on the run

A very happy ending!

Puppies being retrieved by Jacob and David.

The other two pups who returned the next morning may have spent part of the night indoors. Not clear just where they went or how they managed to find the driveway again.

Puppies understand better than humans the notion of ‘mutuality’.