I’ve always heard that dog is man’s best friend. That’s not always the case.

Sometimes us girls are the lucky ones to have four-legged buddies.

It’s hard for me to think about my Maggie, a miniature dachshund I bought from a receptionist at a vet’s office when she was a puppy.

I walked up to her kennel and she wagged her tail so hard I thought it might fly off any second and she kissed my hand repeatedly through the cage.

Magnolia Clementine went home with me that day and was my best friend for over 13 years until I had to say my final goodbye and let her go in peace.

That was a few years ago and tears fall on my keyboard even now when I think about her.

So I can just imagine the fresh heartbreak one of our readers is feeling right now.

Miss June called me this week all upset. Her baby is gone and she’s beside herself with worry.

I can hear the desperation in her voice. “I’m so devastated,” she tells me and I’m nodding on the phone even though Miss June can’t see me.

I understand.

Albert is Miss June’s best friend. An 87-year-old widow and a Yorkie-poodle-dachshund mix are an unlikely pair, but for these two I can tell the love is there.

Albert is missing and so is a part of Miss June’s heart.

“He’s just my whole life,” she said, catching her breath to keep from crying again.

Miss June gets up every morning at 1:30 to let Albert outside. She opens the back door and he scoots into the yard to do his business.

She never worries because there is an underground electric fence and his collar will gently remind him if he gets too close to the edges of the yard.

She waits inside for him for a few minutes and opens the door.

He’s always there, waiting and happy to see his Mama.

This past week, she waited the five minutes and opened the door.

He wasn’t there.

She called him.

He didn’t come.

That was early Monday morning and Miss June’s days are all running into each other now without her buddy there to keep her company.

Albert has filled a void for three years that Miss June never thought could be filled after her other Yorkie died.

She had been grieving for four months when her vet called her about a puppy he had. It was love at first sight and she took him home.

Playing in the yard, she called him Albert and it stuck, she said.

Odd name for a dog, but it fit him.

I say all this to ask if you’ve seen Miss June’s Albert. He’s small and looks like a cross between a Yorkie and a poodle. He lives in Macedonia and has someone at home waiting anxiously for his return.

He’s wearing a collar and probably looks a little worse for wear after a week without the love and attention he’s used to getting from Miss June.

She’s a little worse for wear, too.

“Everything we did, we did together,” she told me. “I’m heartbroken and I’m desperate for him.”

I understand her pain. I still feel it. I’m sure you’ve felt it, too.

So call me if you’ve seen this little guy running around Macedonia. This dog is  a woman’s best friend.

Managing editor Donna Campbell can be reached at donna.campbell@dailyleader.com or at 601-265-5304.