By Allison Espiritu, Snoqualmie Valley Record Reporter
Feb 19 2010
Codi, a 16-month-old Cocker spaniel-poodle mix, was reunited this past Monday with his Seattle owners after wandering alone on Snoqualmie Ridge for nearly two weeks. The dog was found trapped in a Ridge construction site.
Lost on Snoqualmie Ridge, a spaniel-poodle mix dog named Codi searched for a friendly face for for 11 days and 10 nights before being reunited with his owners.
Owners Ken and Veronica Williams of Seattle dropped off the 16-month-old "cockapoo" at the Ridge home of Ken's sister Laureen Williams on Friday, Feb. 5. Codi's owners were headed to Florida to attend a birthday celebration, and didn't have a worry in the world that their dog would go missing.
But when Ken called his sister during a layover in Dallas that afternoon, his brother-in-law, Hector, told him that Codi had bolted and was missing.
Hopping on the next flight to Seattle, Ken made it back by midnight and began an 11-day search for the dog. Ken believes the dog was searching for him at the same time.
"When he left, he didn't leave for spite, " Ken said. "He left because he was looking for me."
Bicycling around the neighborhood, Ken spotted Codi several times on the Ridge. However, Codi always ran away from Ken, making him realize how elusive and scared the dog was.
"I figured I could get him, but he just wouldn't come," Ken said.
Hanging flyers and talking to residents, Ken was surprised at the number of calls he received from Ridge residents who had seen the traveling cockapoo and tipped him off to where Codi was last seen.
"People were so good. That's what really amazed me about the community up there," Ken said. "What they have is something they don't want to lose."
Ridge neighbor Cindy Deibler assisted Ken throughout the nearly two-week search.
"Cindy was there from day one," Veronica Williams said. "She never gave up hope and afforded both Ken and I with much-needed encouragement."
Finding Codi
Last Monday, Ken and Veronica were heading back to Seattle — Ken hadn't been home since the Ridge search began — when they decided to go back one more time and wait until 4 p.m. that afternoon. If Codi wasn't found, they would let him go.
"We got out there around noon, and said if we came home with him, that day we'd believe in miracles," Ken said.
After buying some teriyaki and camping out where Cody was last seen, the Williams got the call they had been waiting on for days. Codi was found trapped in a construction site in a Ridge resident's backyard, adjacent to a golf course where Codi had been seen various times.
"They had a sunken backyard with a concrete fence that was too high to jump over," Veronica said. "They sweetly called Codi's name. After he came they took him inside and called us."
Ken assumes Codi was familiar with the hammer and saw sounds of construction, since he had traveled with their family as they built a home in Eastern Washington.
"That's the only thing he really knew in that area," Ken said. "He couldn't find his way back because it wasn't his home."
Overjoyed, Ken and Veronica reconnected with their dog, now five pounds lighter.
Upset that he had put Codi in a situation that he was not capable of handling, Ken said this has been a learning experience. He now realizes Codi is a dog with serious stamina.
"He's still a little shocked within himself, because he's still in that fleeing, survival mode," Ken said. "It will take a little while to get him back to normal, but all in all, he's healthy and still wants to play."
Until you nearly lose a pet, "you don't realize how much you love your dog," Ken added. "This dog is a prince of a dog. It shows by his survival. He's a special dog, and has got the strong blood to survive. We got lucky with this one."
Ken is thankful to the Ridge community.
"I didn't know there was that much goodness in that percentage in such a small area," he said.
Source: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/svr/lifestyle/84817937.html
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