Christmas becomes a tragedy...

I really need to do a quick update, but I don't wanna. I am sitting at work, thinking and realized that this Christmas was bitter sweet. It's something I knew, but the more I think about it, the less I focus on the "sweet" and the more I focus on the "bitter".
Kyle and I spent Christmas in Las Vegas. It was such a fun time. We got there on the 22nd and by the 24th, Christmas was definitely ruined. Take the time to read and I'll explain.
... My parents have a HUGE back patio, solid concrete. When we moved into that house in 2000, the patio was cracked but the previous owners said it has been like that for awhile so my dad figured it was nothing to worry about. The crack got so bad that it cracked a wall in the house, so it was time to get it fixed. My dad hired someone to fix it and it was being done during the week of Christmas. So we spent two days listening to a jack hammer and wanting to literally pull our hair out. But that is not the tragedy. We have a really old dog. He is our family dog and probably everyone's favorite. We got this dog when I was 8 and we all grew up with him (his name is Ricky). Ricky is dang old now... old old old. He is almost completely deaf and we think he is going blind as well. You know when old people get to that point where they are constantly confused, well that's Ricky. He literally will get himself into a corner (an actual corner, not like a situation) and can not figure out how to get out. In the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas he lost a LOT of weight. He looked completely different. Kyle was in the backyard for awhile and said him and my dad saw Ricky take a few stumbles. It has been really sad to watch. We are all super attached to him, especially my dad. So anyways, Ricky was fixed and never goes to the door when people come, we can leave the door open without worrying about him ever walking out. He is a good dog. All day on Wednesday, Ricky was outside with the workers, just walking around the backyard, just hanging out with "the boys". Then Thursday morning he was out there with him again and next thing we know, he is gone. He wandered away. As soon as we realized he was gone, we immediately went out looking for him. For one thing, he is old and we figured he couldn't get very far and for another, we want him back. Kyle, my mom and I walked around our neighborhood for a good hour or so. The sad thing is it is pointless to call out his name, he can't hear us. But my dad was out looking for probably 5 or 6 hours. It was really sad to watch. He would be gone for about an hour, come home so see if we had found him and then pack up and leave again. Once it started to get dark, my dad went to the animal shelters to see if anyone found him and turned him in, but no one had. I actually saw my dad tear up over it. It was sad and hard to see. I have a few theories...
1. Ricky is a shetland sheepdog (he looks like a miniature Lassie), and his breed comes directly from wolves. My first theory is that he knew he was getting old and was likely to die soon. Wild animals can often sense a nearing death and will leave their pack to die alone. Maybe Ricky knew he was dying and went to be alone.
2. He wandered out of the yard, and got turned around and had no idea where he was so he kept wandering. (this seems more practical at times) Although, in his condition... it doesn't seem likely he could get too far. My dad says he has a collar with a phone number on it.
Either way, I am so nervous about him. If he is still alive, he is probably starving and about to die anyways. It was the worst thing to deal with the day before Christmas... might as well have been a member of the family dying (which in a sense, it was). Unfortunately, Christmas 2009 will always be the year we lost Ricky. We are still praying that we get good news, but it's not looking very good. When Jay left he said "When I come home, I hope Ricky and Grandma are still here", he got to talk to Grandma on Christmas, but how do you tell him Ricky "wandered away" when he is already so far from home and super homesick. Makes for a sucky memory huh?!