Hello, everyone. I'm sorry to report that no one has seen Olivia for a while or, more accurately, no one has seen Olivia and reported it to us for a while. Despite this frustrating lull, I am putting up a new post for two reasons.
1. Flyers, flyers, and more flyers. And then some business cards. The best way to generate reports of a sighting is to get and keep flyers up all over her area and to hand out business cards and talk to people around there. I printed up a couple hundred more and assembled them by putting them into plastic sheet covers, stapling them in, and backing them with little wooden skewers so they'll stay flat. Unfortunately, the magnitude of the task is so great that I am not even close to being able to keep up. Her area is so large and I am so car-less (to say nothing of the 50-60 hour work-week) that I have fallen way behind. Consider this a desperate plea for help! Please let me know if there is anything you can do to help, whether by putting flyers up yourself, driving me around to do it, or (best of all) by handing out business cards and talking to people.
2. Even though Olivia has made herself scarce lately, there is cause for hope on several other fronts. Olivia's (as-yet-unmet) friend and fellow lost dog Sassafras has shown herself several times lately, definitely this month and maybe as recently as last week. (More on that at her blog: findlostbeaglesassafras.blogspot.com) Also, just yesterday, I got word of a dog who was lost in a serious car accident. When I called to offer to help, however, her daddy gave me the excellent news that she had gone into a crate they put out for her near the accident site and now she is home safe and sound. One more thing: a not-so-near miss, but it's still better than nothing. Montgomery county shelter got a female brindle mastiff in, but it's not Olivia because it listed her as "unaltered" and it's not Bogey because the tail is not cropped. These don't actually help Olivia, but they do let me know that at least some good things are happening.
This is enough activity to keep me from total despondency and, more importantly, my desire and hope to get Olivia home is still plenty strong enough to keep me going. As ever, I appreciate all the help you have already given and any more you can offer!
