Lost then Found

We found Cobie. Halleluljah!
Shocked and feeling absolutely helpless were Ashley and I last night, after arriving back in Canada after a short trip to Australia for my brother's wedding, only to be told that Cobie had bolted away from the people who were caring for him for us, when they took he and Angus to a park for a play and a walk. Obviously they were stressed to the max and feeling sick to the stomach about the situation, but they did everything to find him - rang each of the shelters daily and placed ads in all the local papers.
Last night travelled back home with one dog less, saddened, shocked and silent. Alex kept asking "where is Cobie? I want Cobie". W e told him the truth, "he ran away and we don't know where he is". We told him "Cobie was very sad that we went away and he wanted to find us". We told him "we will ring some people in the morning to see if they know where he is". Alex seemed to accept this and stopped asking about his lost dog. Alex's first words when he woke up this moring were "are we going to ring some people about Cobie now?" I was already on to it, checking websites for lost animals before the shelters opened.But at noon today, I rang the last shelter on Angus and Cobie's carer's carefully compiled list, only to be met with the joyous words "yes, Cobie has been found".
Cobie was in Burnaby, quite a distance from where he was found. He had crossed some major roads to get to where he ended up - wandering around outside a spare parts wharehouse for Patrick's forklifts and loaders. Miraculously he was safe and well, but extremely thin, dehydrated and hungry.
When we arrived to pick him up, he was inside the store with a kindly man who had him leashed to his chair behind his desk. He had shared his sandwich with Cobie and provided him with a nice drink of water. Upon seeing us Cobie started his now familiar grumbling yelp, which he does after a distressing time. It is as though he is trying to speak - telling us about his ordeal or asking us where we had been, perhaps both. But he was happy to see us, he did not look distressed - it was as though he felt he now had what he had wanted - his own family back.
After that we took him to the vet for a check up and a rabies shot (since his whereabout were unknown for so long). He received a clean bill of health, besides some redness of the eyes and very obvious starved physique. We thank the angels who looked after him, and can hardly believe we have him back after he went missing for so long in an unfamiliar environment.
I am also thankful to those who looked after him; for not telling us when we were far from home; for trying desperately to find him during the week and for caring for him lovingly before he ran away. He is a one owner dog and it troubles us when we must leave him for any length of time in an unfamiliar place, because he gets so distressed. Since the flight over from Australia his nervous disposition has heightened significantly, and we do not know what to do. We know we have not been in our new home very long, so we hope he will settle down once a routine becomes established, and a sense of security can once again be entrenched for him.
Anyway, in future I think we will pay for a dog sitter!