I thought I lost Tanner!!

I didn't, he's safe and sound here...but I had quite a scare. Let me preface the story to say that my dogs don't wear collars in the house. I have had a couple instances of collars getting caught on crates, chairs, and even the carpet, and the dogs freak out and could hurt themselves if you're not there to get them unhooked. Emmy (Maura) has a collar on always because I have to be able to grab her in an instant if needed, but our 3 do not. So this afternoon I decide to go see a movie while Rich is at work. I saw Rachel Getting Married, a very depressing indie flick that left me feeling like I should stick around for a feel-good movie afterwards. I had a few errands to run, but was feeling so blah after the movie that I went straight home. **Flashback** Before leaving for the movie, I walked out the front door, got in my car and realized I hadn't locked the door. I decided to just leave it unlocked based on the fact that we live in a very safe neighborhood, and have 4 barking dogs to scare off any potential intruders. **Flashback over** So I get home from the movie, and Dickson (yellow lab) is standing in the front yard wagging his tail to welcome me home. Uh oh, he should be in the house lounging on the couch NOT in the front yard. I get out of the car, and he runs up to me and we go up to the house and I see the front door is standing wide open. The boxer girls, Fiona and Emmy, are upstairs in their bedroom in the crates so I know they are safe, and Dickson is there....but NO TANNER. For those of you who do not know our dogs, Tanner is often equated with Eeyore--he's big and dopey, not the brightest bulb on the tree. Once when I lived in Little Rock, AR with the coolest gals D and L, Tanner and Dickson got out and Dickson stayed on the porch while Tanner roamed around and wound up being picked up by animal control and carted off to the pound. I know, I know, I feel like the world's worst doggie-mom that this has happened more than once. Once I get Dickson securely in the house, I grab a leash and collar and start jogging around the neighborhood yelling "Tanner, here Tan Tan" at the top of my lungs. I make a 1.5 mile loop around the neighborhood, in my jeans no less, and no sign of Tanner. It's dark out, he's a dark dog and I am starting to panic. I call Rich at work and he tells me where a flashlight is, so I decide to run home for a light before heading back out on my bicycle to look some more. I hear 2 distinct barks coming from the dog room, Fiona and Emmy are up there pitching a fit that I haven't let them out....but....I also hear another deeper bark...IT'S TANNER. I run upstairs and found him locked in our bathroom. Now I am 100% sure I did not lock him in there before I left, so I am speculating that he went in for a delicious toilet water cocktail and somehow managed to shut the door with his tail and then couldn't get out. I still don't know how Dickson got out, maybe I didn't pull the door all the way closed when I left, maybe he jumped on it just right...but Tanner locking himself in the bathroom was a blessing in disguise. Had he actually been downstairs and the front door been open, he really would have been missing. Whew, so we are all hanging out watching Jeapardy and I am having a large Firefly sweet tea vodka lemonade to calm the nerves. I have never been so happy to see that big brown lug in all my life as I was tonight when I found him in the bathroom! Another day, another adventure...