It is a heart-stopping moment, when you realize your dog is missing.

Michael Ursiny felt almost physically ill when his wife, Darlene, asked, "Could you let Missy in?"

He knew he had not opened the door to let their puppy out into the fenced yard, because he had been napping while his wife was rocking their infant son, Erik, in a reclining chair.

But still he looked in the yard and he called for the 8-month-old West Highland white terrier. Max, the family's 4-year-old Westie, came running into the house. Missy wasn't out there.

"I looked and called in every room of the house and even the garage," Michael said. "My wife was in hysterics."

Armed with a staple gun and homemade "lost dog" posters, Mr. Ursiny went out in the rain on a dreary Saturday afternoon in January. He posted flyers all through his Braddock Hills neighborhood and in nearby ones, including Edgewood.

Neighbors went out on foot and in cars to help with the search. Police departments and animal control agencies in multiple towns were called.

Oh where, oh where, could that little dog be?

"I wondered aloud if heavy metal Satanists had stolen our dog," Michael said at the time, trying to inject humor into a dismal situation.

Darlene stayed in the house taking care of Erik, 1, and their daughter, Christine, 3. The couple wondered if the little girl had opened the front door. They found a package on their porch and wondered if the delivery person had opened the door and let the little dog out.

The phone in the Ursiny home started ringing, and Darlene fielded calls from kind-hearted people who had seen the posters and wondered if Missy had been found yet. One lady said she was praying to St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes.

After 6 1/2 hours of fruitless searching, Michael got a phone call from his wife, who said, "Guess who just waltzed downstairs?"

"My wife said Missy was yawning like she had just woken up," Michael said.

Darlene ran upstairs and saw that the footrest on the reclining chair was in the "up" position and the chair was rocking a bit. She knew she had put the footrest down after she had rocked the baby to sleep.

Missy, who weighs a mere 15 pounds, had apparently gone under the chair when Darlene raised the footrest.

The big mystery is, why didn't Missy whimper, cry or bark to be let out? When family members frantically called her name, why didn't she answer in some way? Why didn't she scratch at the footrest? Why didn't she try to get out sooner? Why didn't Max show any signs that Missy was under the chair?

Terriers generally are intelligent, high-energy dogs and they tend to bark a lot. And yet Missy was mute and immobile for 6 1/2 hours.

"Max probably would have barked, if he's gotten trapped under the chair," Michael said, "but Missy is the meek one."

Missy was not injured in the incident, but other small dogs have been, so the family would like to share this story.

Anecdotes and warnings abound on the Internet about the dangers of reclining chairs. Cats and ferrets have been known to crawl up inside the chairs, and have been injured when the footrest went up or down.

So be careful out there with your reclining chairs and small pets.

If you missed televised highlights of the Westminster Kennel Club show last week, you can catch up on the Internet. Go to www.westminsterkennelclub.org to see winners in breed judging, groups and best in show. A number of local dogs were entered in the show, which is perhaps the most prestigious show in the U.S.

Results have been online for years, but now you can click on "video" to see the actual competition, including the barking and jumping exhibited by the adorable beagle, Uno, who won best in show.