thank you to all of you for your kind words. our weimaraner is sulking around the house still looking for him.
novi suggested a situation with crockett, thanks novi: when we first got him, (6 years, show dog) you naturally keep the animal on a close lead to prevent them breaking away; i was at the harley shop and my wife had grabbed crock, put him in the truck and met up with me. there was a lot going on at the shop that day, so she parked in the back so crockett could take a hose after the ride.
long/short, he got free of the collar and took off running across the parking lot toward a four lane. my wife is screaming and before i could understand what she was saying, i see crockett running toward the road. several people standing around ran with me toward him and fortunately, there was a wooden wall to stop the forward movement. i tried to go toward him and he bolted in the opposite direction to where my wife was--who did a marvelous flying wallenda and captured the boy. scared the scoots out of us and all the dog owners present.
when we got home to told my wife to go to the back porch and to call crockett to her. reluctantly, she agreed so i brought him out of the truck, dropped his lead from my hand and he went right to her. i called him to me, he came straight off. so while he was with me, i took off his collar and told my wife to call him. (she's really freaking out right now) she did and he went right to her. you should have seen the change on crockett's face. it was as if he had been set free. the only time afterward we put a collar on him was to go for a ride. by the way, we live in the woods and have a safe distance to the dirt road.