Last week I told you about my brain’s pile-on problem — how I was trudging through the Montana woods calling for a dog who wanted nothing to do with me, and my brain decided that was a great time to tell me I was dumb, and old, and probably foolish for trying.
That post was about catching the pile-on. Noticing the pattern. Creating space between what your brain offers you and what you decide to believe.
This post is about what you do next.
Because noticing the pile-on didn’t find my dog.
Our Dog Is Home
I need you to know that before we go any further. He’s home. He’s been home less than a week, and we’re still figuring each other out — but he’s here, he’s safe, and he’s ours.
Now let me tell you what happened between “he’s gone” and “he’s home.” Because that middle part? That’s where the work lives. And I think you’ll recognize it.
Also, we renamed him Scout
Less Than an Hour!!
We adopted him knowing he was aloof. A big, beautiful black dog — kind-of scared of strangers, not exactly a tail-wagging-at-the-door kind of guy.
We adopted him and stoped for a walk on our way home. But within the hour, he was gone– into the woods near Smith Lake Road. Running like his life depended on it.
This was not a golden retriever who wandered to the neighbor’s porch. This was a dog who ran from people. Who wouldn’t come when called. Who had already been trapped once — and I doubt would walk into a trap again unless he was desperate.
So. A fearful, unbonded dog loose in the woods who actively avoided humans.
Sounds impossible, right?
It felt impossible. But I don’t let “feels impossible” run the show.
I Couldn’t NOT Take Action
There’s a version of this story where I file a report with animal control, post on Facebook, and hope for the best. Even Scott told me to let animal control do their job.
And that’s a reasonable response. But it wasn’t good enough for me. I needed to know that I had done everything in my power to create the result I wanted: that dog, safely home, with me and my family.
So I went to work.
I made flyers and posted them everywhere. I drove around for hours scanning every tree line and ditch along Highway 2. I talked to everyone — stopped strangers, called neighbors, worked every contact I could think of. I called the shelter and asked his favorite person there for dirty clothes to put out so he’d have a familiar scent. I hired a drone operator for thermal imaging, and met her at 6AM when she had a possible sighting. I worked with an animal behaviorist who specializes in reuniting flight-risk dogs with their people. I set up trail cameras. I mapped search radiuses.
If I had an hour between coaching sessions, I was in my car. If there was a sighting, I was there. One morning I was up at 6 with the drone operator; the next I was on Highway 2 by 7:30 chasing a sighting report.
And yes — I roamed through the woods screaming his name. For a dog who would literally run away at the sound of a human voice. I was hoarse by the end of every day.
I felt like I’d lost my mind. Every waking moment that wasn’t coaching was searching.
Five Days of Nothing
Then the sightings stopped. Five straight days. No sign of him anywhere.
Five days of nothing will mess with you. And remember — this is the same brain from last week’s post. The one that loves a good pile-on. So it wasn’t just where is he? It was this is never going to work, you were stupid to think you could do this, and also you’re too old to be roaming around in the brush at dawn.
I see you, brain. Noted.
But I kept going. Not because I had a brilliant plan. Because I believe — in my bones — that we create the results we have in life. If I want something done, I have to do it myself. Not wait. Not hope. Do.
None of It Was Necessarily the “Next Right” Action
Here’s the part I want you to really hear: I didn’t have a perfect strategy. Half the time I was guessing. Googling. Asking people who knew more than I did.
Screaming into the woods for a dog who runs from humans? Probably counterproductive.
Driving around Highway 2 at 7:30 in the morning? Not exactly a precision operation.
But every conversation connected me to someone who knew something I didn’t — which is how I ended up with a drone operator, an animal behaviorist, and a recovery strategy I never would have found sitting at home waiting.
This is the Study of One in real life. You hypothesize. You test. You evaluate. You adjust. You go again. You don’t need to take the right action. You need to take any action — because action is how you get data, and data is how you find the path.
Either we’re winning or we’re learning. But you have to be in it to get either one.
I Had to Keep Believing It Was Possible
That’s the other piece. I had to hold onto the belief that this could work — even during five days of silence, even when my brain was offering me every reason to quit, even when the logical part of me couldn’t figure out HOW it was going to happen.
I didn’t need to know how. I needed to not stop.
Because the how reveals itself when you stay in motion. You can’t steer a parked car. You can’t evaluate results you never created. And you can’t build a life you’ve already decided is impossible.
How We Actually Got Him Back
You want to know the punchline? After the flyers and the drone and the trail cameras and the screaming into the woods and all of it — Scout was found in the yard at the animal shelter. He scaled a 7 foot fence to get IN!
I know. I KNOW.
I know what some of you are thinking: So he showed up at the shelter on his own? You didn’t actually need to do all of that?
Maybe. Maybe he would have ended up there whether I searched or not. I can’t prove otherwise.
But here’s what I can tell you: I would rather be the woman who did everything and it turned out she didn’t need to, than the woman who did nothing and found out she should have.
That’s an identity.
Because who do you want to be? The person who waits, hopes, and accepts whatever shows up — or the person who moves, builds, and creates the result she wants, even when she can’t guarantee it’ll work?
You get to decide.
So Here’s My Question for You
Last week I asked you to notice the pile-on. To catch your brain doing what brains do and create a little space.
This week I’m asking you something harder: what are you going to do with that space?
Because awareness is beautiful. But awareness without action is just a really well-observed rut.
What’s the thing you’ve been circling? The conversation, the boundary, the career shift, the decision you keep pushing to next month? You don’t need to see the whole path. You don’t need the “next right” step. You need a step. Then you evaluate. Then you adjust. Then you go again.
Life is a series of experiments. And our goofy dog named Scout, is my proof.
I’m going deeper on exactly this Thursday evening. Join me for “Build, Not Born” — a free talk about why the life you want isn’t something you wait for. It’s something you construct. One experiment, one action, one messy imperfect step at a time.
📅 Thursday, 5:30 PM
📍 WIEC at FVCC
Come as you are. Leave ready to build.
Reminder: as part of the benefits offered at Logan Health, employees get free coaching sessions. You can book a coaching session here.
Or, if you are not a Logan Health Employee, you can book a consultation to talk about working with me here.
