Searching for the Escaped Dog
This is why we needed an Invisible Fence
Running back to the house, I tell my wife what happened. Panic ensues: both of us imagine Carmy being hit by a car as she crosses the busy street right next to our house. Our fence was there primarily for pet containment, after all, so Carmy really didn't have any experience being on her own and wouldn't know what was dangerous and what wasn't.
We can't both go searching for her because our daughter is sleeping upstairs in her crib, so my wife decides to drive around in her car and search for Carmy while I stay at the house and call the dog's name on the off chance she's still in the area. Barney, of course, stays inside where it's much easier to keep a dog safe.
Luckily for us, Carmy didn't go far. Instead of following and crossing the busy road, she had walked across the lawn to go explore our neighborhood. That's why Barney had barked earlier he saw her run by the front door! My wife was just around the corner in her car, about to leave the neighborhood, when I saw a shape trotting towards us from a nearby crescent. It was Carmy, finally responding to our calls. She was safe!
We decided then and there to get ourselves an Invisible Fence.