Mimi, a Brussels Griffon

Naples dog owner aided by Marco resident in return of pet
By Leslie Williams marconews.com
Monday, July 30, 2007

Jeane Hilt got Mimi, her beloved Brussels griffon, back more than three weeks after she was picked up.

Marco Island, Florida  After the ordeal that separated Jeane Hilt from her dog Mimi for three weeks, Hilt says she feels nothing but gratitude.

Mimi has finally made it home after being picked up July 1 by an out-of-town woman who mistook the dog as neglected, even though she had a tag with her owner’s information.

According to the man who arranged Mimi’s return, the woman was one of several people who helped save Mimi as she wandered from the home of a friend up Barfield Drive. “There were six people that stopped traffic on the Barfield Bridge,” Hilt said. “They saved her life.”

Hilt said Mimi apparently made her way through a field first, probably picking up dirt and brambles in her wiry coat.

“She looked like a scavenger,” Hilt said. “I’m not surprised someone thought she wasn’t being cared for.”

Hilt declined to give more details about the woman’s reasoning for picking Mimi up, saying that she is simply grateful to have her dog back.

She credits a story that appeared in the Eagle July 18 for effecting Mimi’s return.

The woman who was holding Mimi, apparently a Fort Lauderdale resident, read the story and contacted the man who originally called Hilt about the dog’s rescue. He acted as the middleman in the return.


Source: Marco News
http://www.marconews.com/news/2007/jul/30/marco_resident_aids_dog_owner_return_pet/
Printer-friendly version here

The dog in the vacant yard

Today's story is an item from a police blotter, or more to the point, animal control's blotter, as published in a newspaper. But it's very thought provoking. Did someone steal the dog and then change their mind? Did someone find a stray dog, intend to try to find the owner, but then get too busy to finish the job? Why didn't the woman tell the man that the dog was not her dog that she was asking him to watch? Thankfully the ending was good other than costing the dog's owner $35, but how the heck -- and more intriguing, why -- did that all go down the way it did???


Fairfax Animal Watch
Friday, April 27, 2007
Fairfax County


DALE DR.,10200 block,
Compiled by JEAN MACK
April 14.

A woman noticed a dog in the fenced yard of a vacant house and asked a man next door about it. He said that he had placed the dog there after a woman asked him to briefly keep the dog.

When the woman did not return after several hours, the female neighbor took it to police headquarters. The dog was transferred to the city shelter.

The next day, the owner, who lives on a nearby street, contacted animal control and said the dog was missing after her gate was left open. She said she did not know who had left the dog with the man.

The animal was returned to the owner after she paid $35 in boarding and pickup fees and for a rabies vaccination.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/27/AR2007042701148.html

Charlie, shih tzu mix

Here's a story you won't read every day. It's fairly involved, but worth hanging in there. Charlie's people had incredible luck in some area residents that were both very alert, and willing to go to uncommon lengths to help. Enjoy the story.



Stolen dog recovered Friday in Newport
By Steve Card, News-Times
2006/09/27

A dog that was stolen in Newport a week and a half ago was returned safely to its owner on Friday, thanks to the watchful eyes of a Newport man who tracked down the vehicle being driven by the pet-nappers.

On Sunday, Sept. 17, Joe Rossi of Vancouver, Wash. was fishing off of the rocks at the South Jetty of Yaquina Bay when his dog, "Charlie," was stolen. The 20-month-old Shih Tzu mix had been on a leash attached to the tow hitch of Rossi's sport utility vehicle, which was parked nearby. When Rossi went to check on Charlie at around 6:45 p.m., the leash was there, but the dog was gone.
Rossi saw a man and woman walking away from the area, and when he called the dog's name, Charlie popped his head out of a basket the couple was carrying. Rossi gave chase, but the couple reached their car before Rossi could reach them, and they sped off with his dog.
The story of Rossi's stolen dog appeared in last Friday's edition of the News-Times, and Michelle Elmore of Newport was reading that article to her husband, Chuck, while the two were enjoying their morning coffee on Friday. "I have two little Yorkies, and I thought how sad that would be (to have a dog stolen)," Michelle said. When she read a description of the car the two suspects were driving (a red 1991 Toyota Camry with Washington license plates), Chuck said, "I've seen that car."

On Monday, Chuck Elmore told the News-Times that he recalled seeing the car in the early afternoon on Sunday, Sept. 17, which would have been before Charlie was stolen. "We were standing in the driveway (of their home on NE Eads Street in Newport), and they drove by really slow," Elmore said. He said he has seen other suspicious activity in the 20 years he has lived in that area, and these people just seemed "out of place."

When his wife described the car involved in the dog theft, Elmore recalled having seen it several times during the week, usually driving by his home around 12 or 1 o'clock in the afternoon. He decided Friday that he would watch for that car, and sure enough, it again drove by around noon.

But Elmore didn't have access to a vehicle at the time, so when Michelle arrived home for lunch a short while later, the two of them drove around town in search of the suspect vehicle. They failed to find it, but Chuck later went looking with his friend, Brian Cooper, and as they were pulling out off the Safeway parking lot, the Toyota Camry drove past them.

"So we followed it," Elmore said. The problem was, he was in a large pickup, which made it tough to discreetly follow the car. "I think they figured it out because they were trying to ditch me."

And the driver of the Camry did, in fact, lose his pursuers, but Elmore was determined. He continued driving around, and while traveling on NE Harney Street east of the Lincoln County Fairgrounds, he once again spotted the car. "There's a row of camp sites by the fairgrounds where they let you stay for like a week at a time," he said, "and lo and behold, there they were, loading their trunk with a bunch of stuff, trying to get the heck out of Dodge."

Elmore parked out of sight nearby and contacted the Newport Police Department.

When Officer Dustin Kittel arrived on the scene, the man and woman who were camped there did, in fact, have a dog in their possession. But as fate would have it, Kittel had just come back on duty after being off for several days, and he was not yet aware of the circumstances surrounding the dog's earlier disappearance. The man and woman told Kittel they had seen the dog wandering around town and had picked it up for safekeeping.

Kittel gathered information from the couple and then took possession of the dog and walked it next door to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter. He then went back to the police department to continue his investigation. Once there, he discovered the report of the dog theft from five days earlier, and he immediately returned to the fairgrounds. Less than 15 minutes had passed since Kittel had left the campsite, but when he arrived back there the couple and all of their possessions were gone.

Newport Sergeant Dave Teem said generally, there would have been two officers responding to the initial call, and one of these officers would have remained on scene while the other went back to the police department to check out the information. But at the time, all of the officers on duty were tied up elsewhere, Teem said, "so we couldn't."

Kittel had obtained a cell phone number for the woman, and he gave her a call. Teem said, "They had agreed to come in and turn themselves in, but they never did." The police are now seeking the two for questioning.

"We'll pick them up," said Teem. "We've identified the suspects, and we'll put out a warrant for them."

The male has been identified as Steven Anthony, 45, of Texas. He is described as a white male, 5-feet 8-inches tall, weighing 180 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. The woman was identified as Yolanda Anthony, 46, a white female, 5-feet 5-inches tall, 130 pounds, with blue eyes and blonde hair.

Teem said the Toyota Camry the couple had been driving was apparently a borrowed vehicle. They are now believed to be driving a white, 1963 Ford van with Oregon license plate CZD-204.

As for Joe Rossi, he received word from the police late Friday afternoon that his dog had been found, "and I headed straight down," he said. "It took me about four hours because of traffic, so I got there between 9 and 10 sometime."

The animal shelter closes at 5 p.m. on Fridays, but shelter employee Mindy Kirkpatrick went ahead and paid the required fee of $25 to claim Charlie, and she then met Rossi later that night in Newport to bring owner and dog back together.

Rossi said he was elated to have his dog back. In the days following Charlie's abduction, "I wasn't very optimistic and kind of gave up hope; was getting depressed."

It doesn't appear that Charlie was mistreated, added Rossi, but "he was real exhausted when we got him back, and he slept for about two days straight." The dog also seemed to have an upset stomach, "so he probably didn't eat all that healthy throughout the week, but I'm getting him back on course."

Source: Newport News Time
http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2006/09/27/news/news02.txt
Printer-friendly version here

Bailey, a Shih Tzu

Lost Dog Story has Incredible Ending

More than 1200 miles, and 12 months, but Bailey finally makes it home
By Jon Dunn, Best Friends Staff
October 3, 2007

The thought of losing an animal for any parent is probably the worst thing imaginable. Not knowing where the animal is, and what it is going through can rip your heart out. That’s exactly what happened to Tamara Beckett exactly a year ago.

“We think she may have been stolen,” explained Beckett. “She went missing a year ago this month.”

“You never give up hope,” said Beckett. “We still had all of her toys, there was just no closure.” Beckett says knowing Bailey was micro chipped with current information made them believe that one day she could just make it home.“Maybe someone would take her to the vet and realize that the dog belonged to us,” said Beckett.

What makes this lost pet story unique is what happened recently. Tamara was contacted by the Animal Foundation in Las Vegas, the group that operates the Lied Animal Shelter. They told her that a microchip scan of a Shih Tzu that came into their shelter contained her information, meaning that the dog they had was indeed Bailey. It was their daughter that had been gone for a whole year.

But wait, it gets better. The Lied Shelter is in Nevada. Beckett lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma! So no one knows what happened to Bailey over the span of the year, but we do know she traveled more than 1200 miles!

Since then, working in tandem with Best Friends, the Lied Shelter made sure Bailey caught a flight home. Best Friends is assisted the Beckett’s financially with the cost of the flight back to Tulsa. Bailey is now back home with her parents.

“Bailey arrived safe and sound on Friday night,” explained Tamara. “She looked like she had been in Vegas with her sparkle collar and bows!” Tamara says Bailey was certainly excited to be back in Sooner Country.

Bailey’s amazing story highlights the importance of getting your pet micro-chipped! Having a quick and easy way for your animal to be identified as a member of your family can mean the difference if your pet ever goes missing.


Source: Best Friends Network
http://network.bestfriends.org/lasvegas/news/19349.html

Delta Dawn, Boston Terrier

Dog back home after 17 months away

By Tom Hartwell, The Vicksburg Post
Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Amanda Williams holds her 7-year-old Boston terrier, Delta Dawn, at her home Monday morning. Delta was returned to Williams after being missing since February 2006.

Seventeen months after Delta Dawn's disappearance, Amanda Williams admits she had lost hope.“I had a gut feeling I would never see her again,” Williams said of the Boston terrier that turns 7 today at the Rhodes Drive home where she lived until she was 5 and scooted out an open gate.

Described by Williams as “a little bit hyper,” Delta was welcomed home last week by Williams, husband Johnny, daughter Alex, 4, and Labrador mix Dixie, also 4. Her son Tanner, 9, is away at summer camp. Williams said she called to tell him the news, and he could hardly believe it.

When Delta went missing in February 2006, her family posted fliers, advertised in the newspaper and even called a radio station. Her two children mourned, but Amanda Williams said she took the loss hardest.“For me, it was like losing one of them,” she said.

On Thursday, Delta came home. Williams picked her up from a woman who told her the dog had been rescued from abuse. The woman, Donna Johnson, had placed an ad in The Vicksburg Post, saying she found a Boston terrier. Williams' mother, Carmen Rouse, saw the ad, called Johnson, and was convinced the dog was Delta Dawn.

Williams, a nurse at Vicksburg Convalescent Home, was leaving work Wednesday when she got the call from her mother.“I think I've found Delta,” she said. Williams started crying.

Johnson, 52, of Dudley Road, had taken the dog last Sunday from Redbone Road after a fellow member of Wayside Baptist Church contacted her about a dog she had seen being mistreated.“She called and told me she was afraid for the dog,” said Johnson, who owns two Boston terriers.

Johnson said that when she found the dog, she could tell it was in poor health.“It was thin and its stomach was tucked in and its back was hunched up,” she said. “Wherever she had been for a year, she had not been loved and cared for like she should have.” The people she found the dog with said it had wandered up a few days earlier, and allowed Johnson to take it home with her.

“That dog nearly broke its neck running to the van,” Johnson said. “It didn't even know who I was.” Johnson took the dog home and placed the ad.

“That's one special lady,” Amanda Williams said. “I don't know what I'm going to do to thank her.”

When Williams and her mother arrived at Johnson's house on Thursday to look at the dog, Delta Dawn had become so thin that Williams did not even recognize her. “She told her mother, ‘Oh, look how bad she looks! How can that be Delta?'” Johnson said. Delta had dropped from 19 pounds to 9. Williams could be sure it was Delta, though, because of discoloration in her left eye from surgery.

“When she got back to the house, when she got to the backyard she sniffed every corner of the fence,” Johnson said. “Her first night home she curled up in the bed with me.”

Williams said she doesn't know where Delta has been, and doesn't want to know. She's just glad she's home. The dog has been eating well and resting since being home. For her seventh birthday today, Delta will get a steak, Williams said.


Source: http://www.vicksburgpost.com/articles/2007/07/17/news/news02.txt

Tabitha, a huskey

Dog Recovered
Missing Fort Wayne Siberian Husky Found After Six Months

 Joyce McGiffin said she knew that huskies were notorious for being runners, but was surprised when she discovered that her daughter's 18-month-old Tabitha had managed to escape a seven foot chain link fence with gates closed. Most alarming was the discovery of the dog's identification tags lying in the grass. The S-hook appeared to have been pried open.

"We were never sure what had really happened, but I wasn't going to stop searching for Tabi," said Joyce. For six months Joyce visited Animal Care & Control to search the kennels for Tabitha.

"My family thought it was becoming too much for me and suggested I stop going to the shelter, but I just couldn't, she said.

Tabitha was given a microchip as a puppy, which is a great back-up system to identification tags. And, that's exactly how our department was able to make a positive match when Tabitha was finally found and brought to our shelter on the afternoon of June 18, 2007.

We scanned the husky and located the microchip, but discovered upon calling the number that the phone number for the daughter's home had been changed.

As luck has it, McGiffin just happened to stop by as part of her routine check.

A tearful Joyce called her family from our lobby to tell them that Tabitha had been found and would be coming home at last.

Source:  http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1243&Itemid=39#up

Lost Yorkie Found

The author lays out some great lessons here, but it’s a wonderful story even if you miss the lessons. I LOVE the resourcefulness of the animal hospital worker, Debbie, that took the call. Enjoy the story.

Lessons from a Lost Dog
Vicki Rackner
June 15 2007
Mercer Island, WA

The return of a lost dog is hardly front page news. But as I considered the part I played in the return of a frightened Yorkshire Terrier to her grateful owner this week, I felt compelled to write about it. In fact, this might be the most important story of my year.


As I pulled out of the driveway to get my son to school, a teenager flagged me down. He asked if I could find the owners of the lost dog he held in his arms so he could get to class on time. He said it should be easy, pointing to the dog’s collar that held practically the dog’s weight in tags. I agreed.


My son and I laughed as the teenager passed this creature smaller and lighter than my cats through the driver’s window. The dog was shaking with fear. My son and I assured her, “Don’t worry, we’ll find your owner.”


I dropped my son off, and headed home to do just that. I offered the dog food and water, and she seemed to understand I had good intentions. Elvira, my own lab even contributed to the rescue by not eating our guest.

I looked though the lost dog’s tags. None contained the dog’s name, or the owner’s name or number. The only leads I had after five calls were the dog’s name, the owner’s first name and an off-island local phone number that had been disconnected. I assumed that the owner recently moved to the island, and in the confusion the dog was lost.


I tried to think like someone who had lost a dog. The vet! They might call the vet. I called the first vet in the phone book and explained that I had a lost lap dog and I was trying to find her owner. I expected the vet employee Debbie to take my name and pass my number along should the owner call. Debbie had a different plan.


“I’ll call the owners of all the dogs in our practice with the lost dog’s name.”


Sure enough, she found the owner, who was within a block of my house. I was treated to the owner’s look of joy as the little dog returned to her rightful place in her owner’s arms.


This happy outcome was the result of the combined efforts of strangers. The teenager could have walked right by this dog without noticing it was lost; he could have headed off to school, assuming that someone else would take the responsibility for finding its owner. The vet employee could have just taken my name and waited for the owner to call her. Both of these people jumped in to help a stranger and a lost dog because they knew how much it mattered.

Source: http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/default.cfm?Action=ReleaseDetail&ID=16887

Casper, a cocker spaniel

Heartwarming story of some city workers that each played a part in finding a stray dog’s family. I like the resourcefulness that Mike used when he got to the address found via the dog’s collar tag and the house was empty. I can’t figure out if he was able to go inside the home, or if he could see the mail through a window. But it worked! Enjoy the story.


Dog's Safe Return: On Halloween One Local Dog Got Quite A Treat
12 November 2003


Jim Orton, the City of Bremerton's Public Works and Utilities (PW&U) Fleet Maintenance Manager, informed Janet Martelle, the City's PW&U Customer Response Dispatch Operator, that an older cocker spaniel had entered their building and taken up residence. Jim said the dog had a collar and tags, but the phone number listed on the tag was disconnected. Janet told him she would see what she could do.


"I looked up the telephone number in my reverse directory and got the address and name of the owner. I called information, but there was no forwarding phone number," explained Janet.


She went a step further and called the Kitsap Humane Society to see if they had any more information than she did from the dog’s license number. Janet said they tried very hard to help her, but they did not have anything she could use to locate the parents of the dog.


"This poor dog was older, and seemed very frightened," recalls Janet, "He was shaking all over." Not wanting to give up, Janet called one of the City’s Water Maintenance employees, Mike Bishop, who happened to be the person Janet was dispatching Customer Service calls to that day. Janet said she knew that Mike was a dog owner himself, and an extremely nice person. She asked him if he could do a mission of mercy for her and go to the owner's Kitsap Lake address and see if anyone was around.


Though Mike was very busy, after hearing the story he said he would help her, no problem. Arriving at the Kitsap Lake address, Mike saw that the owners had moved but noticed a new address on the mail sitting inside of the home. The new address was on National Avenue.


Mike went to National Avenue and found the owner, who had been driving all over town looking for the dog. The owner informed Mike that the dog was deaf. Even more ironic, the dog’s name was Casper!


Mike made a quick trip back to the City's PW&U Oyster Bay office, picked up Casper and delivered him back home to his owner, safe and warm.


Janet said she cannot express how pleased she is to have a co-worker like Mike. She added that she and Mike had warm hearts on Halloween, knowing that the dog was safely back home.

Source:
http://www.ci.bremerton.wa.us/articles.php?id=198&bremcity=e

Saber, a German shepherd

Ok, so why doesn't every state have this procedure?

Lost dog reunited with family after new alert system put in place
Program named for Pembroke pooch, first dog returned home

By Kristen Walsh, The Patriot Ledger
Oct 26, 2007

KINGSTON — Last week, Saber was just an ordinary German Shepherd. This week, he has a statewide emergency program named after him.

Saber, who is owned by Rick and Mary Hollstein of Pembroke, was the first dog to be returned home using a new system that finds the owners of missing or lost dogs.

The Animal Control Officers Association of Massachusetts recently implemented the program, now known as the Saber Alert, which is similar to the missing child Amber Alert program.

Saber was found Tuesday on the Kingston-Pembroke line. The person who found him took him to a veterinarian in Weymouth, who called Deni Michele Goldman, Hull’s animal control officer, for help.

Four minutes later, Goldman issued a statewide emergency broadcast alert, sending a message to more than 200 animal control officers, members of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and various humane societies and veterinarians.

Soon after the alert was sent out, Goldman received a call from the Whitman Animal Control officer, who said the Hollsteins had reported their German shepherd missing.

The owner was thrilled with the system, according to Goldman, and happy to be reunited with Saber.

Members of the Animal Control Officers Association of Massachusetts said the new system will allow them to return dogs to their families when the pets are found without identification tags or personalized microchips, small tracking devices implanted under a dog’s skin.

Goldman, who is also the director of public relations and communications for the Animal Control Officers Association of Massachusetts, said dogs can move from one location to another quickly once they are lost.

“Most people, if they find a dog, will notify their own town’s animal control officer, but not in other areas,” she said. “This will allow us to quickly communicate with one another.”

Saber, who had never run away before, had no microchip and no collar when he wandered from his backyard.

Goldman said while microchips are an optional service for dog owners, she encourages them to get one whenever possible for easier tracking.

Source: http://www.enterprisenews.com/archive/x1958154726
Printer-friendly version here

Queenie, mixed breed hound

I'm happy to be able to tell another story of a local lost dog found! What a relief! Queenie was found using a humane trap. Enjoy the story.

Queenie - looking like she was never lost

Queenie never had a home or people at all. K9 Lifesavers rescued her from a depressing situation, and had found her a home where she would learn what it was like to have a home and a loving family to take care of her. They simply needed one night before they could bring her home, so a foster was found for that night.

Not understanding that she was in good hands, Queenie was on the lookout for an opportunity to flee, and did so that night at the fosters’ home. She was on the run from early Sunday, February 1st and for two weeks almost to the minute. She was all over embassy row in NW Washington DC, spending time on more foreign embassiy grounds than I can recall. She was sighted at the Naval Observatory and the National Cathedral and other spots in that area many, many times over two weeks.

From the first sighting to the last, volunteers would respond to sightings by setting up feeding stations or re-evaluating existing feeding stations, calling in a lost pet tracker and a lost pet trapper, and initiating targeted fliering of the sighting area. Humane traps and wildlife cameras were borrowed, permissions were sought to set up traps. There weren’t enough volunteers to respond to sightings, but it went pretty well despite that. Here’s what happened.

Some night watchmen working in the area who sighted Queenie many times were happy to help. They were in a good position to check the trap that the team set up that Saturday. They would be able to look in on it every so often throughout the night. They would have no shortage of fast food leftovers to replace in the trap if any food was gone. The trap, with food in it, was essentially placed right in Queenie’s path, which was determined via the many sightings called in response to fliering. So around 8am that last Sunday morning, she went right in, and the door closed behind her just like it was supposed to. It was picture perfect. The guys even lifted that trap into the minivan to warm her up while they waited for volunteers to come and get her. The two week ordeal was over.
In no time, pictures of her in her new foster's home were posted on the web – looking very much like she belonged in that beautiful home.


Read how it all went down on Queenie's blog at www.helpfindqueenie.blogspot.com

Arnold, a black dog

As you can see from this story, there are times when no amount of spreading the word about a lost dog will do, and it just takes going out and looking. Since this dog was lost on a walk from home, his dad looked at places they would sometimes go on walks together (in better weather). Good thing he did! Enjoy the story.

Debbie Harmer of Jacksonport pets her dog, Arnold, who was found outside by Debbie's husband, Ron Harmer. The couple was on vacation in Las Vegas when they learned Arnold was missing. The dog survived a week outdoors without food.

Dog, owners reunited

Arnold back home after week outside in cold

By Kristen J. Kubisiak
January 24, 2009

A Door County couple recently experienced what they believe to be a miracle. Ron and Debbie Harmer of Jacksonport were reunited with their beloved dog Arnold, who endured a week without food and harsh winter conditions.

Arnold went missing Jan. 6, when the Harmers were out of town visiting relatives in Las Vegas. Arnold and the Harmers' other dog, Bogart, were in the care of a dog sitter during their absence.

Arnold wandered off when the dog sitter slipped on a patch of ice. By the time she collected herself, he was nowhere to be found. After five hours searching for the dog with her friends and family, the dog sitter called the Harmers.

"We were at dinner when we got the call," Ron Harmer said. Shortly after she learned Arnold had gone missing, Debbie Harmer had a heart attack.

"I had a feeling when we were leaving in December that something bad was going to happen," Debbie Harmer said. Arnold, at 15 years old, was already past his prime, and he had an assortment of problems, including a recently diagnosed heart murmur and hearing loss.

"My worst fear was that Arnold would die cold and alone," Debbie Harmer said. Although friends and family were doing everything in their power to find the old dog, days went by with out a sign of him. After his wife was discharged from the hospital in Las Vegas, Ron Harmer decided to return to Jacksonport to look for Arnold himself.

His first day back home, Harmer spent three hours wandering out in the cold looking for Arnold. He searched until it was dark; then resumed searching the next day. On Jan. 13, he put on his snowshoes and headed out onto a trail he and the dogs frequently traversed in the warmer months.

"I didn't know where else to look," Harmer said. "I just prayed to God to let me find him." Harmer's prayers were answered. About 150 feet off of the trail was a dip in the snow, where Arnold lay, covered in ice and snow, unmoving. Harmer said he held his breath, then said the dog's name.

"I said to him, 'Arnold?'" Ron Harmer said. "He turned and looked up at me, and I knew he was alive."

Although Arnold couldn't stand, Harmer said he didn't appear to be injured. Harmer removed his coat and warmed the dog until help arrived. Friends loaded Arnold into a snow mobile-drawn sled and wrapped him in blankets. They drove him to the nearest road, where they moved into a vehicle bound for the Animal Clinic of Sturgeon Bay. Veterinarian Lois Kurschner met Harmer and Arnold at the door.

"Arnold is a remarkable dog," said Kurschner. "Somehow he was able to maintain himself until they found him."

When he arrived at the clinic, Arnold had a skin infection from laying on the cold wet ground, and he lost about 14 pounds, Kurschner said. "He couldn't stand for a couple of days, and we took some X-rays because we thought maybe he was bumped by a car, but we couldn't find anything medically wrong," Kurschner said. "We thought maybe he was just weak."

Arnold stood for the first time after his rescue the following day, when Ron Harmer and the family's other dog, Bogart, 10, came to visit.

"When Ron came back with Bogie, Arnold came to life," Kurschner said. "It was a magical moment. He absolutely needed that connection for things to turn around. His family had a real commitment to find him, and the reunion was sweet." Arnold's survival, Kurschner said, was nothing short of amazing.

"Any geriatric dog would have a hard time surviving out in the elements," Kurschner said. "It's truly amazing that he was able to fend for himself. Arnold is remarkable, and so are his owners." Debbie and Ron Harmer are happy to have their dog home and believe their story is a testament to the power of faith and friendship.

"You should never give up," Debbie Harmer said.

Source: Greenbay Press Gazette
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20090124/ADV01/901240448/0/ADV&theme=ADVNEWS

Printer friendly version

Trudy, a german shepherd

Stories like this one burn me up. But there is beauty in this story in our hero, the sister-in-law, who did what she could to help the strangers from her home accross the country. There's so much to learn from this story, including the audacity that some people have, the power of internet sites like DogDetective, and the reality that you don't have to be there to hang fliers and physically search for a lost dog in order to help someone reunite with their companion. There are plenty of ways you can help from afar. Enjoy the story.

Dog Found Thousands of Miles From Home Reunited With Family
May 23, 2008

It's hard to believe, but a dog, lost in Jessamine County nearly a month ago, has been found more than a thousand miles away.

Tom and Debbie Griswald's 9-month-old German Shepherd, Trudy, disappeared on April 25th.

Tom tells 27 NEWSFIRST, "I had pretty well decided that Trudy was dead, that the coyotes had gotten her because I couldn't imagine anyone picking up a dog in that good of condition with a collar and not trying to find the owner."

What they didn't know is that a woman had picked up the dog in a restaurant parking lot in Nicholasville and driven it to her home in Texas. She even renamed the dog Lexie.

But then, on May 1st, the Griswalds got a break in the form of an e-mail from the Texas woman's sister-in-law in Vermont. Debbie Griswald recalls, "The Vermont woman saw Trudy on Dog Detective.com and said her sister-in-law picked up a dog, a female German Shepherd, in the Lexington area in April. She wondered if that could be our Trudy."

Luckily, the Griswalds had implanted a micro chip identifier in Trudy, and authorities in Montgomery County, Texas were able to determine that the dog there did indeed belong to the Kentucky couple.

Tom and Debbie now give the lady who took the dog the benefit of the doubt, sort of.

Tom Griswald says, "Misguided Samaritan I think is what I've finally come to call her. I had some other names before."

Police in Texas say the woman will probably not face any charges.

Trudy was flown from Houston to Lexington Thursday night where her grateful owners were waiting to be reunited with her.

Source: http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/19177479.html

Harley, a min pin

Dog lost in 2001 is found in Broward County, returned to Boca family
Published December, 25th 2008.
By Dale M. King, City Editor

Raymond and Traci Deien of Boca Raton say it’s nothing short of a miracle. And considering the time of year, the family figures it qualifies as Christmas miracle.

Basically, Harley, a miniature pinscher that Traci received as a Mother’s Day present in 1999, disappeared in 2001. She apparently got out through a torn screen – or was stolen by a thief who ripped the screen, the Deiens said.

The family never gave up. And Raymond said he always had a feeling Harley would return. Seasons, holidays, anniversaries and birthdays went by. It was particularly tough on Traci since Harley was born on her birthday, Jan. 22. But one day in early December of this year, the miracle began to emerge from the cloud of doubt.

A min pin – diabetic, blind and poorly cared for – showed up at the Broward County Shelter. An alert worker thought to check the dog for an identification chip. The Deiens had one inserted into Harley when she was a pup. But it hadn’t been updated in years – and still listed the family’s address in California. Some detective work on the Broward animal care worker – including a lot of Google searching – located the Deiens in Boca Raton.

Long Awaited

“We knew it was the right dog,” said Raymond. He, his wife and daughter Roxanne went to the shelter at 8:30 a.m., as they were. When they arrived, they were told the place didn’t open until 10:30. So they waited. It had been seven years, Raymond figure. What difference did a couple more hours make?

Luckily, the Deiens had kept all of Harley’s medical records. “We figured one day we might need them.” And that lucky day finally arrived. The condition of the dog led the Deiens to believe she had been stolen, then hidden and poorly taken care of for years. When it appeared the animal had too many diseases for the thief to take care of, he or she put it out on the street. Luckily, the Broward County animal people were there to bring her in.

Whoever took her “never took her to a vet.” So when the Deiens were able to take Harley away at 10:30 a.m., they took her to a veterinarian. “Everyone welcomed us with arms,” Raymond said. It was pretty much determined Harley was blind because of the untreated diabetes. But “she still had a lot of life,” he said, even at 10 years old.

They ended up taking her to an optometrist in West Palm Beach who is working on the blindness. He told the Deiens he believes the dog may eventually see again – and seems already to be sensing light.

“This was early Christmas present,” said the Deiens with immeasurable joy.

With Harley back home, and the Christmas season fostering memories, Traci Deien remembered Mother’s Day in 1999 when her oldest son, Tim, who was in the service stationed in Nebraska, sent her money to purchase a miniature pinscher as a present. She did, and the family loved her. At the time, the Deiens lived in California, where Raymond was also in the military.

“I retired in 2001, and we moved to Boca Raton Dec. 31, 2000 – New Year’s Eve.” They were living with his brother while they looked for a house. Not long after that, Traci said she went to the market while her daughter, Roxanne, and son, Daniel, were at home. When Traci came home, she said, ‘Where’s Harley?” The family went to a Florida room in the house where they found a screen had been torn. Harley was missing.

“We had posters up downtown, all around the neighborhood, the whole nine yards,” said Raymond. “We never stopped looking.” With luck – and a little intervention from the Christmas season – Harley is back home to celebrate her first Christmas this century with Raymond and Traci Deien and children Tim, now 29; Richard, 27; Dan, 24 and Roxanne, 21.

Source: http://www.bocanews.com/local-news/dog-lost-in-2001-is-found-in-broward-county-returned-to-boca-family-99852.htm
Printer friendly version here

Ziego, a German shepherd

Here, the Animal Control Officer that encountered this at large dog recognized the collar he was wearing, and from it she knew he may obey a command given to him in German. Also note that this dog's separation was theorized to have been caused by a meter reader having left a gate open. This is a fairly common cause for lost dogs when they are left outside in their yards unattended.

German Shepherd Reunited With Owners In Riverside
'Ziego' Responded When An Animal Control Officer Spoke To Him In German
Jan 30, 2009 12:52 pm

Ziego, 6, responded when an animal services officer spoke to the dog in German

RIVERSIDE A lost German shepherd that a Riverside County animal control officer rescued by shouting German commands for the dog to heel was back with his owner Friday.

Ziego, a 6-year-old German shepherd found wandering in traffic Tuesday, was reunited Thursday night with his owner, Brooke Hebenton, a 19-year-old UC Riverside student.

"He's like a little kid. He acts like a puppy," Hebenton remarked shortly after the reunion. She said relief washed over her when she saw Ziego waiting at the shelter.

"It melted my heart. This is my first dog," she said. According to Riverside County Animal Services spokesman John Welsh, the canine might have gotten loose Tuesday after a meter reader inadvertently left a gate open at the Riverside home Hebenton shares with her mother.

Welsh said the dog owner agreed to have Ziego microchipped in case he gets loose again. Microchipping entails placing a device the size of a rice granule under the skin, which can be scanned for identifying information. The Riverside County Board of Supervisors recently passed an ordinance -- which takes effect at the end of next month -- requiring that all pets in unincorporated areas of the county be microchipped.

Around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, UC Riverside police spotted Ziego darting in and out of after-work traffic along Canyon Crest Drive, prompting officers to contact the county Department of Animal Services for assistance. Officer Tiffany Fuller, who previously trained search dogs and owns a 9-year-old German shepherd herself, responded.

"(Fuller) recognized a distinctive pinch collar on the male dog -- a telltale sign that the animal was likely a highly-trained imported dog from Germany," Welsh said earlier this week. Fuller switched to speaking German, yelling at the dog to "Platz!" meaning "Freeze!", at which point the shepherd lay down. The animal control officer then ordered the dog to "Bleib!" or Stay, at which point the German shepherd obediently waited for Fuller to place a leash around his neck.

"He lowered his head as if he had done something wrong, or as if he thought he was in trouble," Fuller said.

She drove to the Riverside Animal Shelter on Wilderness Avenue Thursday night to see Ziego returned to his owner.

"We always love when we can save a life," the animal control officer said. "It's even more exciting to see an animal get reunited with its loving family." According to Welsh, Hebenton provided documents that proved Ziego was hers, and when the dog first saw his owner at the shelter, "he jumped and circled excitedly."

Source: http://cbs2.com/pets/German.Shepherd.Dog.2.922614.html

Roscoe, a German shepherd mix

In this case, something happened that seems like it should be normal, but it's not. The shelter worker actually remembered this guy's description of his lost dog when someone called days later describing a dog they had found.

Dog, family reunited after interstate wreck
By The Times-News of Burlington
Monday, September 8, 2008

Dale Watkins hoped for a miracle, but he wasn't expecting one.

Watkins, 49, of Greensboro, had already tempted fate late on Aug. 26 and lived to tell about it. He never imagined that his story would have a fairy-tale ending. But thanks to the help of friends, a couple of dog lovers and a caring administrative assistant at Burlington Animal Services, Watkins got one.

His story starts with a trip to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Aug. 26 to visit his son, Thomas Watkins, who is a freshman.

''He had asked me to bring his dog so he could see him," Dale Watkins said.

Roscoe, a German shepherd mix, joined the Watkins family about a year ago. They adopted him when he was just a puppy from the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Virginia. Thomas, who wasn't away at school long, was already missing the pup.

After the visit, Dale Watkins and Roscoe headed back to Greensboro via Interstate 85/40 in a 1993 Mercedes Benz. Roscoe rode in the back seat. When Watkins went under the overpass at the Huffman Mill Road exit at about 10:50 p.m., he decided to change lanes to get away from a tractor-trailer.

''It was raining on and off so I moved from the third lane toward the middle to the inside passing lane because the spray of the truck kept coming on my windshield," Watkins said.

When Watkins moved to the inside lane, the car's back tires started to slide, pushing the car toward the median wall. Watkins took his foot off the accelerator, which caused the car to start spinning. He did a few 360-degree turns on the highway and the front of the car ended up under the tractor trailer.

''It didn't hit the trailer," Watkins said. "It barely scraped my mirror." The car spun again and the rear tires ended up under the trailer and the car was pushed down the road.

''I heard the back window explode," he said. The car then spun out again in front of two other tractortrailers.

''All I know is that I closed my eyes and waited for the impact," he said. "The car was still spinning and the next thing I know is I heard the trucks go past." Watkins opened his eyes and watched his car hit the median. When the car stopped, he looked into the backseat and noticed that Roscoe was gone.

''I thought he was thrown from the car," Watkins said.

Watkins, who bruised his collarbone, his ribs and side, got out of the car and walked to the emergency lane. He dialed 911 and called Roscoe multiple times but there was no sign of the dog. Watkins continued to call the dog until help arrived almost an hour later.

He didn't see the truck driver until the N.C. Highway Patrol trooper arrived on the scene. The trooper asked the truck driver why he waited so long to return to the scene, Watkins said.

''The driver said 'because I didn't think there were any survivors,'" Watkins said.

The next day, Watkins called his friend Gretchen Stumpf, of Greensboro, because he knew she liked dogs, and he needed her help. Stumpf and her friend headed back to I-85/40, posting fliers and calling for Roscoe. Stumpf also contacted Alamance County's animal shelter and spoke with Becky Mitchell.

Stumpf described Roscoe, but he wasn't at the shelter. She provided Mitchell with photos of Roscoe and a description. Then Stumpf waited. There wasn't much more she could do. On Labor Day, Linda Reid and her neighbor, Deborah Brown, who live on Evergreen Lane in Pinewood Forest, Burlington, both heard a dog barking. They spotted a young dog that looked like a German shepherd, except his ears flopped down.
''He was just terrified," Reid said. "I thought he had been mistreated and maybe broke loose or something." They lured the dog into Brown's backyard with dog biscuits, but he remained frightened.

Reid thought she saw the dog laying on a neighbor's stoop a few days before so she walked around the neighborhood, which is behind Outback Steakhouse, just south of the interstate at the Huffman Mill Road exit.

No one claimed the dog and on Wednesday, Reid called Burlington Animal Services to see if anyone called about the dog. Reid didn't know that the pup, who wasn't wearing a collar, had a microchip with identification information. If she brought him to any veterinarian or the animal shelter, the information could have been retrieved by scanning the chip. But in this case, the chip wasn't necessary because Mitchell asked Reid a few questions about the dog and knew immediately that it was Roscoe. She gave Stumpf's phone number to Reid. When Stumpf learned that Reid might have a dog that fit Roscoe's description, she jumped in the car and headed to Burlington. As soon as Roscoe saw Stumpf, he recognized her.

''The dog was jumping all over her," Reid said. "He was just so excited. I was just in tears. I was beside myself. That poor dog evidently had just been through hell." Stumpf tried to reach Dale Watkins to tell him the news, but she couldn't get in touch with him. She was able to reach Thomas Watkins.

''I told him I had his dog," Stumpf said. "He immediately started crying and was excited." Later that evening, Dale Watkins and Roscoe were together again.

''I was pretty amazed first of all that either one of us survived and that after almost a week, that he was safe," Dale Watkins said.

Everyone -- Dale Watkins, Stumpf and Reid -- all praise Mitchell because she was able to make the connection.

''I give her a lot of credit," Stumpf said. "So many times you call an animal shelter and report a missing animal and they never do anything about it. ... She was a huge part in making this happen. It could have easily fallen through the cracks."

The night Roscoe returned home, all he wanted to do was fetch a Frisbee. Dale Watkins was more than willing to indulge the dog's wishes. He plans to take another trip to Chapel Hill today so Thomas can visit with Roscoe.

''We hoped for a miracle ending of a dog being reunited with his family and after a period of time, it actually happened," he said.

Source:
http://www.news-record.com/content/2008/09/08/article/dog_family_reunited_after_interstate_wreck

Riley, Chihuahua-Pomeranian

This dog's human learned a lesson the hard way -- not to leave your dog in your car. Even if there are no issues with the temperature being too hot or too cold. Never mind that your dog is relaxed alone in the car, and doesn't experience separation anxiety. Make other arrangements to avoid this practice. These two are very lucky to be back together. And Riley's mom did learn that lesson.

Enjoy the story.

Riley, who was stolen from a student's car in November, relaxes at home after being separated from his owner for weeks.

Stolen Pet Reunited with Owner
Justin Cooper, Senior Staff Writer
Thursday, January 22, 2009

San Diego State’s most famous dog is a Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix named Riley.

This dog, the stolen pet of SDSU student Nicole Tjarks and the subject of hundreds of missing dog posters on campus, has at last been found. The dog’s finding came about because of a massive search and a little “dumb luck,” and it brings an end to a saga that began in the Thanksgiving week of last semester.

On Nov. 24, Tjarks left Riley in her car for one hour and went to attend a class. Upon her return, she found her car vandalized, her GPS system stolen and her dog Riley and his kennel both taken.

Tjarks filed a police report with the campus police. She later received an anonymous tip that an SDSU student had stolen her dog, a tip that Tjarks passed along to the campus police. When police started asking questions, Tjarks said that the thief probably quickly sold the dog to get rid of the evidence. The SDSU student who Tjarks suspects stole her pet has been questioned by the campus police but has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Within hours of Riley disappearance, Tjarks struck out on a one-woman campaign to find her pet. Tjarks said that the search became her obsession.

“I started printing posters the day he was stolen,” Tjarks said. “I had like 400 copies of two different fliers printed and I ‘fliered’ everywhere...all over campus. I skipped all my classes.”When those fliers were taken down over Thanksgiving break, Tjarks said she reposted them.

Her search canvassed the university campus and beyond. Tjarks distributed hundreds of fliers and emails, made a multitude of phone calls to veterinarians and dog shelters and established a vigorous presence on Craigslist to monitor any purchases of dogs in San Diego. In doing so, Tjarks created a community of watchers who provided tips and encouragement.

On Dec. 18, when the search was beginning to seem like a cold case, a breakthrough came from a seemingly “random” event. A SDSU student Larry (he did not wish to give his last name) contacted Tjarks with a lead. One of Larry’s friends had purchased Riley as a present for his girlfriend. Larry, suspecting that his friend’s new pet was the dog from the fliers, arranged a meeting.

“I asked her if she wanted to set up a meeting to see if it was her dog or not,” Larry said. “My friend that bought it, really didn’t want anything to do with it. He got a little nervous at that point because he (had not known) the whole story behind it. I took (Riley) to campus...and it was obvious that it was her dog.”

Riley went “crazy,” with activity, Tjarks said. “He freaked out, He jumped all over me and licked me to death,” Tjarks said. “Larry gave him to me right then and there.”

Reunited with her dog and facing a final in near minutes, Tjarks said that she was not about to leave her dog in the car again. She took her dog into her two-hour Shakespeare final and Riley slept on her lap all throughout testing. Tjarks said that she would no longer leave Riley in her car, for any length of time. Riley is oblivious, of course, to his local celebrity status and of the hundreds of messages from well-wishers that have poured in. The pooch is readjusting to his life at Tjarks home in Bonita, where the friendly dog greets visitors with a wagging tale and energetic leaps. Tjarks said that one of Riley’s happiest moments was simply to be home.


Source: http://www.thedailyaztec.com/city/stolen_pet_reunited_with_owner

Rocky, an Australian Cattle Dog

Update to the story . . . there was a standing room only crowd to meet Rocky at the gala celetration held at Dogma Bakery. The Washington Post was there to cover the story, and Rocky was such a good dog!

Rocky, we are all so glad you are home!

Today I get to do something different in posting a lost dog recovery story. Today I get to tell about a local lost dog search that I was involved with. He was recovered yesterday after five weeks on the lam.

He’s an Australian cattle dog named Rocky, and he was being cared for by a friend of his dad’s at a home in Falls Church; Rocky and his dad, Ravi, live in nearby Arlington. On a wee hours walk, a car horn spooked Rocky, and he took off like a shot.

Within hours, Ravi put up a blog devoted to getting help to finding Rocky – www.helpfindrocky.blogspot.com. He circulated the blog address and got fliers going immediately, and within days he had amassed a huge number of supporters. Actually, his supporters cheered him on from all over the country, and many, many people in the area would help flier, search, respond to sightings, set up feeding stations, and the like.

This went on week after week. A lot of us will admit that by the end of five weeks, we were discouraged, beaten down by the lack of success, and wanted desperately to see Rocky come home, yet it became more difficult to get out and pound the pavement. So many of us were at a loss to make sense of how Rocky just wasn’t showing himself, when we knew he had to be somewhere.

Yesterday, Ravi had hoped that volunteers would meet him at a designated place to flier, but only the most faithful showed. The rest of us were there in spirit, but not in person. Ravi's phone rang, and he didn’t fully let on to the other volunteer with him that this was the call we’d all waited for, but he must have known it. Ravi was gone in no time – just like his boy Rocky had been, five weeks earlier.

So it turns out that Rocky had made his way from Falls Church to Annandale, maybe five or six miles away. We weren’t fliering there, or pounding the Annandale pavement. I know for my part, I’ve heard stories time and again about how far away a dog turns out to be in the end, but it was never so real as it is now. It seems that he’d been hanging out in that final neighborhood for a week, not letting anyone contain him but accepting their generous offers of food.

Hopefully at the gala celebration in Rocky’s honor, scheduled for 2 days from now, I’ll get more details about what happened. But it sounds like a young girl was eventually able to get the number off Rocky’s collar, and her mother called. I guess the people didn’t contain Rocky, because when Ravi found the house and drove up, they pointed to the driveway of the house next door, where an exhausted Rocky was snoozing!!! I guess Rocky turned out to be one of those dogs that eventually just stopped running, and let someone help him.

Go now to visit Rocky’s blog, and read Ravi’s account. See the reunion pictures. Read the dozens of comments to see how happy people are about Rocky’s return. We can’t wait for the celebration scheduled for Wednesday. We’ll get to meet Rocky, and a lot of volunteers will get to meet each other for the first time, after many emails and phone calls back and forth trying to coordinate getting things done. The community that was built by the tragedy of Rocky going missing is a beautiful thing, and I’m very happy to be a part of it.

Update: here's the Washington Post article about the search and the celebratory gala. It's a great article!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/18/AR2009021800035.html?referrer=emailarticle

Here's another story from the Falls Church News-Press

Man Reunites With Man's Best Friend: Lost Dog 'Rocky' Ends 36-Day Adventure

Written by Natalie Bedell
Wednesday, 18 February 2009 16:47

The dog days of winter are over for one notorious, now celebrity Arlington pooch and his owner, Ravi Pimplaskar. Rocky, a 7-year-old Australian cattle dog, had been lost for 36 days when Pimplaskar received a phone call informing him that his four-legged friend was sound asleep on an Annandale family’s driveway. The dog had been lingering there for almost a week while the family regularly fed the visibly-thin stray.
Pimplaskar’s endless search efforts were made public through his regularly-updated “Help Find Rocky” blog, where he tracked sightings on a Google map, organized community search parties and even opened up emotionally about losing hope.

On Jan. 21, he wrote: “I still fill and clean his water bowl every couple days out of habit. I can’t believe that I haven’t seen my best friend in 18 days.”

Pimplaskar told the News-Press his friends expressed concern about his well-being during the time Rocky was AWOL.

“I certainly wasn’t taking care of myself,” he said.The pup’s face was plastered on lost dog posters throughout Falls Church and Arlington since he went missing on Saturday, Jan. 3 after being spooked enough by a car horn to wriggle out of his leash near the East Falls Church metro station. Becoming physically ill one evening after spending three hours in the pouring rain wandering the streets where his dog had last been seen at the time, Pimplaskar said he often struggled to eat or sleep during the month-long period of not knowing his furry companion’s location.

His bedroom had been where Rocky found comfort, and where Pimplaskar had found peace of mind by peeking in on the little guy. He slept on his couch during Rocky’s absence, not being able to bear glancing into an empty bedroom, though it’s this minor habit which now means the most.“It was crushing me to go past the bedroom [and not see Rocky]. It’s such a small thing, but now just to look into my bedroom and see him in there really affects me,” Pimplaskar said.

Perhaps it was knowing how clever and strong Rocky was that got him through the tough, pooch-less times. While living in San Jose, Calif., Pimplaskar said Rocky once managed to escape a dog crate, his bedroom and finally, the locked apartment he shared with his wife at the time. He’s even had to padlock his fridge since Rocky’s affinity for cheese and deli meat would often end in an explosion of scattered wrappers and half-eaten bologna on the kitchen floor to welcome his arrival back from work.

“Knowing how intelligent and perseverant he is, I knew if there were any dog that could survive out there it would be him. My friends teased ‘Rocky’s going to be fine. He’s probably acquired a car, bought a suit and is out on interview. Rocky’s just doing his own thing right now,’” Pimplaskar joked.

Apparently Rocky was done fulfilling his mid-life crisis, returned the red corvette, ditched the blond poodle half his age and is now safely at home — right where his master can see him fast asleep inside his usual bedroom campout, instead of on a stranger’s driveway.

As far as man reuniting with man’s best friend, Pimplaskar said, “It was probably the happiest moment of my life.”

Czar, a shepherd mix

This dog was lost about 50 miles from home, and had been hanging around the town he "settled in" for close to three years before a visible jaw abcess gave someone feeding him a good reason to call in Animal Control for help in catching him. He also seemed to be more susceptible to being lured by treats to an area in which he was not as difficult to catch as the all outdoors. 

Michelle Garza is reunited with her floppy-eared pooch, Czar, on Nov. 10 in Lisle.

The following is an unedited essay written by Warrenville resident Barbara Bailey, who helped reunite Michelle Garza with her lost pet.

Please microchip your pets. A Microchip Identification System is a safe, simple and permanent form of pet identification designed to quickly identify lost pets and reunite them with their owners. Over 10 million pets become lost each year. One out of every three pets is lost during its lifetime, and only one in ten lost pets are found. A Microchip Identification System is a proven way to successfully recover your pet if it should become lost.

In the fall of 2005, my dogs started running toward our back fence barking. I followed them to see what was there - it was a tan and black dog, who looked like a German Shepherd mix. The dog started wagging its tail and ran along the back fence with my two dogs. My dogs seemed to accept this strange dog and I was able to toss it a few treats, which he greedily took. He was not wearing any collar or tags, and he was a male dog. Knowing most of the dogs in the neighborhood, and not recognizing him, I went back inside to call the Warrenville Police Department to let them know that there was a loose dog beyond my back fence. They said someone would come out - but minutes later, the dog took off.

This seemed to be the pattern of the dog for next couple of years - I and our neighbors, the Milnamow and Sider families, would see him early in the morning before we went to work, and then later in the afternoon. I called the police department, but the dog was so fast that he kept eluding them. We kept on thinking that he belonged to someone - that his owners had let him out in the morning to roam, and then let him back in the house at night. He was a healthy-looking dog, too. This dog continued showing up at various times and we gave him food and water when we could. We began to look forward to seeing him each day.

Other people in the Warrenville community had also seen this dog and were giving him treats. One family even put out food at the edge of a small forest, across the street from where they lived, hoping to nourish the dog. Soon, we started seeing this dog in other parts of Warrenville when we were in our cars - near the post office, near the VFW, on Curtis Street, on River Road, etc. He was seen in nice weather and in stormy weather. He was seen eating out of garbage cans, yet he would never approach us when we called him - he always ran in the opposite direction. At this point, we began to suspect that he was lost.

Our next door neighbor's daughter, Claire Milnamow, decided to call him "Bob." Bob would not exactly respond to this name, but now he hesitated when we called him. He took treats very gently out of our hands, and he knew his commands - sit, stay, down.

On November 7, 2008, Bob again showed up beyond our backyard fence. When I took some food to him, we noticed that he developed an abscess on his jaw. On November 8, Bob came back for more food. I called Animal Control Officer Joshua Perry and he came to our house right away. My husband and I let Bob into the yard and fed him treats every five feet until he reached our fenced area near our back door.

With the help of Steve Bailey, Corporal Carl Abraham and Officer Jon Muchowski, ACO Josh Perry was finally able to catch Bob and then transported him to Arboretum View Animal Hospital in Lisle, IL, where he was evaluated and his abscess was treated. He was given a kennel with a bed to sleep in and he settled in nicely. Officer Perry and the staff at Arboretum View Animal Hospital scanned his neck and found a microchip! Officer Perry went back to the police department and put a call into the number listed on the microchip.

Michelle Garza returned Officer Josh Perry's call on the morning of November 10. She was absolutely hysterical, laughing and crying, that her dog was found. She agreed to come up to Warrenville right away to be escorted to Arboretum View with Officer Perry.

When Michelle arrived at Arboretum View Animal Hospital to see if indeed, her lost dog, Czar, had been found, the staff had her sit in a chair while they went to get Czar from his kennel. Officer Perry told Michelle that if the dog did not come to name "Czar" then she was to call him "Bob." Czar came out, looked at Michelle and ran across the room and flew into her lap, putting his paws around her neck and whining softly….everybody at Arboretum View that day had tears in their eyes. What a happy ending!!!!!!!!

It turns out that Michelle and Czar were on their way from the northwest suburbs to Wilmington (where they currently live) in November, 2005, when she made a stop at the Old Navy store on Rt. 59 in Naperville. Unbeknownst to Michelle, her car's back window was rolled down, and Czar wanted to follow her into the store. Czar went into the wrong store and got lost. Michelle was frantic! "I came out of Old Navy and there was pandemonium everywhere - someone said that a dog was running around the strip mall!" Michelle camped out every night for a week in the parking lot of Old Navy, hoping her dog would come back. She called the Naperville Police Department to report her lost dog, posted fliers in a 40 mile radius, called all the animal shelters in the area and had her family and friends looking for Czar. She was just devastated, but did not give up hope that Czar would be found.

In Michelle's words, "I want to give you, your neighbors, and the City of Warrenville a huge thank you for looking out for Czar when he was lost. I am so grateful that he was in a community such as yours. I feel like your neighborhood really kept him going - and I couldn't be more thankful. I had so many fears when he went missing, and they never went away until I saw him again at Arboretum View. It was absolutely the best day of my life and I can't even begin to explain the way I feel. Not a day went by that he wasn't on my mind - now the only tears I have are out of joy!! My family and friends were overjoyed when they found out the good news.

Czar met his new little sister last night - she is a five-month-old Beagle/Golden Retriever mix. I just got her in October, and she was an orphan that showed up in my uncle's yard in Indiana. I always said I would never be able to have a dog again, but this little girl needed to be loved. I felt very bad, because while she was going through her training, I kept on thinking of my baby, Czar. Anyways, the introduction went well - she loves him already - and she now has such a great role model to look up to. Czar also has another sister - my older cat, Oreo. Oreo had such a hard time adjusting to being without Czar after he went missing. When she saw him standing in our living room on Monday, her eyes got real big and he was staring back at her. Czar started his low-whining cry, as when he saw me. They truly missed each other. Of course, I started crying again too. Thank you for being so happy for us and thanks again, Warrenville, for being in his life when I could not."

Officer Josh Perry states, "If it were not for the people of Warrenville, we would not have been able to rescue Czar and get him to his owner. This is just one example of how the Warrenville Police Department appreciates the community getting involved."

Source: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=251467
Another version: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/print/?id=251466

Buck, golden retriever

In this story, the family lost their dog while on a family trip, and they delayed leaving for a couple of long hard days before they felt they had to move on. Those couple of days were enough for the residents of the area to remember, when the dog re-appeared from seemingly nowhere, six months later.

The Real 'Homeward Bound': Dog Found After Missing for 6 Months
Friday, February 06, 2009

HELENA, Mont. — A 7-year-old golden retriever named Buck, startled by a train whistle last summer and lost for six months in north-central Montana, is back home in Washington state thanks to the efforts of several Chester residents.

"I've never had a miracle happen to me, so I don't really know what to think," said Kim Halter of Bonney Lake, Wash. Halter said she, her husband and two of their sons were on a family trip to Montana in August when they stopped at a rest stop along U.S. Highway 2 in the small town of Chester.

"The dog was normally never on a leash. Big mistake," Halter said Thursday. "But he was always next to my son. He never left his side, so we never really had a problem."

"We were under the trestle when the horn blew. When Buck heard the whistle, he took off like a shot. None of us even saw him." Halter said Maxine Woods, who lives across the highway, was waving her arms and trying to tell them that their dog ran away.

"He just basically disappeared," Woods said Friday. "He was just going faster than any dog I've seen run." Woods joined the search for the dog.

"She got in her car and then she started calling people and before you knew it everybody around there was looking for our dog," Halter said.

After two days of unsuccessful searching, the Halters, brokenhearted, resumed their travels. "We went to the library and the librarian in Chester made us posters and wouldn't charge us a dime for them," Halter said. The family put up posters in banks and post offices in the small towns around the area. "That was about all we could do," she said.

After a few false sightings, the family didn't hear anything for six months. As fall turned into winter, heavy snow fell in the Chester area and temperatures occasionally fell into the 20-below-zero range.

"Every time we'd hear about the weather we would just cringe," Halter said. "I would just cry even harder, thinking 'Where is my Buck?' And of course I couldn't let my son (17-year-old Jason) know. I never let him see me cry because he kept the faith and kept the hope."

"He would tell me all the time that Buck's coming home," she said of her son, who had had the dog since it was a puppy. "He actually thought he was going to walk home like in (the movie) 'Homeward Bound."'

It was about 27 degrees below zero early on Jan. 25, the day Jason Wanken spotted a stray dog on his family farm just north of Chester.

"We spotted this dog out here on the farm, just on and off, going through the creek and whatnot," Wanken said. "We just never had a prime opportunity to go over and get him." Later in the week, Wanken used a snowmobile to bring some food to the dog, which had taken up residence under a collapsed building. Wanken's mother had remembered the name of the golden retriever that had gone missing last summer and told Wanken to see if the dog would answer to the name Buck.

"The next day, I took the boys out with me and I had a full bag of food with me and I just rattled that bag," he said. "I started to feed it and could actually pet it then." Wanken and his wife were able to use food to lure the dog into a kennel. They then took the dog to Woods' house. "I thought it couldn't be this dog, though, it's been too long," Wanken said.

Woods called Halter on Saturday, Jan. 31. "She e-mailed me three pictures and when I was on the phone with her I received the pictures, and we both started crying and I said that was him," Halter said. Confirmation that the dog had an underbite sent the Halters on a 750-mile trip. "We drove all night," she said, arriving in Chester Sunday afternoon.

"When we got to the Wankens, he ran right up to us and it was absolutely without a doubt him," Halter said. "It was a miracle. He looked at us and we looked at him and we were all crying. It was beyond amazing."

No one seems to know where Buck had been between Aug. 13 and Jan. 25. "From the time he left us until the time Jason Wanken found him, there is no clue where he's been or what he's done," Halter said. "Only he knows. I almost feel like taking him to a pet psychic to see if they could tell me. Only he knows his secret and he's keeping it to himself.

Jason Halter of Bonney Lake, Wash., is seen with his dog Buck, on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009 in Chester, Mont. Buck who was spooked by a train and had been missing in north-central Montana for six months before being found by Chester residents.

"I tell ya one thing, he hasn't stopped smiling since he got home and neither have we."

Source - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,489508,00.html
Printer-friendly version here

Jamie, a lab mix

A lesson that this story illustrates is to check out pet adoption events if a few weeks pass and your lost dog hasn't been recovered. Thank goodness this family did that -- not as part of any organized plan to find their, but by sheer chance because they were in a shopping center where one of the stores was a PetSmart. Enjoy the story.

Good news: Family and dog reunited
By Maura Grunlund, Staten Island Advance
Monday, November 17, 2008

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A chance visit to PetSmart in Port Richmond on an adoption day reunited a family with their missing dog. Pat Battle of Tompkinsville e-mailed the Advance to let readers know of the joyous reunion.

The episode began in August when Jamie, a 9 year old female Labrador mix, escaped from the West Brighton yard of owners John Mulvey, wife Colleen and their children Bridget, 9, and Casey, 3. Mulvey is owner of Bridget's Public House, West Brighton, named for his daughter.

Jamie had been in the doghouse in the back yard when an rainstorm that wasn't forecast pelted Staten Island.

"The dog is afraid of thunder and lightning, she got scared and somehow slipped out from under the fence," Mulvey said.

The family searched for her far and wide and posted a notice on www.silive.com. Then several weeks later Mulvey's wife and daughters happened to be shopping near the PetSmart store. Bridget asked if she could look at the dogs available for adoption in case Jamie was one of them.

"Sure enough, there was Jamie sitting under the table," Mulvey said. "Pretty much it was my daughter Bridget that wound up finding her."

Meanwhile, Mrs. Battle and her husband Frank had lost a dog in August and happened to be checking dogs available for adoption at the same time. Mrs. Battle recalls Mrs. Mulvey calling out Jamie's name and the dog walking towards her owners.

The dog initially was found by a woman who discovered Jamie injured from having been hit by a car on Taylor Street in West Brighton. She told Mike Masera, who lives in the neighborhood and was a PLUTO volunteer, about finding the dog. The dog already had been taken by Animal Care and Control and put in a shelter in Brooklyn. Masera contacted Lisa Rooney, president of Pet Lovers United Together As One (PLUTO) rescue who arranged for the dog to recuperate in foster care with Joanne and Tony Raimondi of Grasmere.



Source - the Staten Island Avance
http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/122692771054410.xml&coll=1

Printer friendly version available at
http://www.silive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/122692771054410.xml&coll=1

Welcome to Lost Dogs Found

For years, I've been saving stories of dogs lost and eventually recovered. I will share these stories here - hopefully as often as daily unless something prevents it. I can also share videos, slide shows and hyper-links to other websites that may have help for those looking for a lost dog.

This should be a resource for those needing to learn how to go about recovering a lost dog, as must stories illustrate something worth learning about. It should be a source of hope for those running out of hope for the return of their lost dogs. Some stories will illustrate how much work it takes to search for a lost dog; other stories lack that detail and maybe even make it look easy. Some are written from the perspective of the dog's own people, some from the rescuer, some from third party or link in the chain. The stories come from every imaginable type of website, although the single largest source is newspaper stories published online. Some are short, some are long. Some are fascinating, some not so much. There's really only the one thing they have in common -- that they are stories of dogs that were lost, and then found.

I hope you enjoy them, and feel free to post comments. (Comments are preferred to email, especially if you have a story to share that you've found online -- the sharing is immediate!)

For now, I'll leave you with a little poetry, from a dog's perspective:

The gate was left open one bright sunny day

So I thought I would go, explore, run, and play.

Seeing new things, this is such fun!

But where do I go, now that I’m done?

Was it back this way, or maybe that?

Where is my home? I want to go back.

I have on my collar, it’s red, white and blue

But, I don’t have my tags to give someone a clue.

A man comes and gets me, puts me in his truck

He’s taking me home, Oh, what luck!

Wait a minute, this isn’t my home

I’m stuck in a cage, scared and alone.

People come see me, so I wag my tail

I love the attention I get in this jail.

The food is okay, and the bed is too

But I really miss home, yet what can I do?

I miss my yard, my bed, and my ball

But, I miss my master the most of all.

Where is my master? It must have been weeks

I know he will come. He really loves me.

Then someone takes me down a long hall

I’m confused and uncertain, I stare at the wall.

I feel a prick, things start to go dark

I think of my master and me in the park.

I’m going to sleep now with him on my mind

Little do I know, my fate has been signed.

I pray when I wake, he will be there

Holding me close, stroking my hair.

I’m sorry I strayed, who knew the cost?

But it doesn’t have to happen when dogs get lost.