Lost Dogs Found: Bailey, a small white dog

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Bailey, a small white dog

Don't try this at home, only because you can't. This is extremely unusual, if this dog really did walk home. The story doesn't mention if the dog had a tag, but if he did and if the tag has the home address, this dog may have been picked up and dropped off. But we'll go with he figured out the way and walked home. Oh and I just have to say, there's no way this dog is a bichon frise, at least he's not a purebred bichon.

Dog logs 7 miles in trek home in North Huntingdon
By Paul Peirce, TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

He may be tiny, but Bailey, a bichon frise, trudged more than seven miles to come home.

Bailey's hike from Darragh to North Huntingdon covered seven miles over three days. "You could tell he is still a little sore, but he's so happy to be home. He jumped the whole way up into my arms when I went out to the front to see if it was him," said his owner, Janet Staigvil.

Janet Staigvil, of North Huntingdon, was so upset over her missing pet that when she heard a dog crying on her front stoop Tuesday, she thought she was hearing things.

After three days of frantically searching for her pet, Staigvil didn't want to answer the door for fear of being disappointed again.

But Staigvil and her husband, Lou, soon discovered their 10-year-old dog -- who was lost more than seven miles away -- had managed to find his way back to his owners near the village of Rillton.

"I was starting to worry we'd never see him again. You know when you have a pet this long, it's really part of your family, and when you lose it, that's all you can think about day and night," Janet Staigvil said.

"We're so happy. And we're really amazed he was able to find his own way home," she said.

The dog's odyssey began Saturday when Lou decided to take Bailey along on a wood-splitting trip near his sister's home. Frieda Bogec and her husband, Bill, live near Madison Cemetery in Darragh, Hempfield Township.

"I thought he should take Bailey along so he could play with their golden retriever while they split wood," Staigvil said.

About 9 a.m. Saturday, the Bogecs' dog came running out of the woods. Bailey was nowhere to be found.
A daylong search by the Staigvils and the Bogecs proved fruitless. On Sunday, they continued the hunt and tacked up wanted posters. They placed an advertisement in the Tribune-Review seeking help to find the dog.

"We found out that there were sightings, but nothing substantial when we went out. There was even a sighting in Crabapple Park in Herminie (Sewickley Township)," Janet Staigvil said. Bailey's return stunned Janet's sister, Shirley Biancheria of North Huntingdon.

"Bailey's no bigger than a white powder puff. That's a lot of walking on those tiny little legs," Biancheria said. Bailey's journey ended about 8:15 a.m. yesterday.

"He was crying, and you could tell he is still a little sore, but he's so happy to be home. He jumped the whole way up into my arms when I went out to the front to see if it was him," Janet Staigvil said.