Kevin,

Is Ole, Dog or Cat?   I think Cats are hardier, and will survive longer..just a hunch.  A friend of ours, here in DB land, had the exact same situation with her cat, and he also returned after weeks on the lamb.  (with all of Western Australia to wander).   All's well that ends well...I'm very happy for you and Ole.  Give him a big hug (and one for me too).    You must have been going through a very sad time when he was gone for so long.  There is so much of YOU that becomes part of your animal friends, and when you are away from them, or they dissapear, it really can send you off the deep end. 

I think you know about Boo, my legendary Parakeet (well, legendary in my mind..courts out on what Boo thought of me).   When he died (it's a long story, but let us say it was a veterinary "misadventure" on the part of the avian vet, no less), I was devastated.  I know, only a little budgie, but wonderful things come in small packages (..."saw it all, All God's creatures great and small..etc.."),  and I not only buried him out back with a very special grave marker (a stone that I had brought back from a canoe trip in the Northwest Territories), I memorialized him with a bike ride I attempt each autumn. 

Oh well...enough about animal friends for now.  Let's just say that I am VERY happy Ole has returned.  I don't know him, but I am there in spirit, and really feel for what you went through.  

Regards,

Gene