Glad to hear you got your dog back!!
My old dog, Bandit, ran off a few years ago like that. My mom let her out before she went to work and she took off. There was a storm coming and she was always scared of thunder so we figure she just got spooked and took off. My mom waited for her to come back but she didnt so she had to go to work. She got back the next morning and Bandit still wasnt there! So she drove around the neighborhood looking and didnt see her. So she got back and called the city to see if there were any reports of a stray dog and they said there was a couple of a dog in an area alittle over a mile from our house. So she went out in that area and looked for a few hours and didnt see anything! As she was about to drive back home she decided to go down one more block and out of the corner of her eye she saw a dog in someones back yard. She stopped, got out and called her name. The dog stopped and looked and it was our dog, but she was so tired she could barely even walk, my mom had to practically carry her to the car. Sad to say, but that was kind of the begining of the end for her. She was 13 or 14 years old and was having trouble getting up, losing her legs ect.. The thing that really got to me was when my mom had to put her down. I was out of the state living with my brother and we were coming back the very next weekend for his bachelor party. I was more excited about seeing the dog than anything else!! But her legs finally gave out and my mom had to put her down. I was so pissed/sad!!!
Its hard leaving animals, you can always call and talk to your family but unless you are right there with your pet, its not the same.
Shit, now Im all depressed..
sorry