By Carrie Ann Knauer, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Cheryl Naugle, left, holds her chihuahua Harley as her daughter Paige, right, with her dog Bandit, looks on at their Taneytown home Monday evening. Harley was found at the Maryland Wine Festival Saturday after going missing in Westminster for more than a week.
When Cheryl Naugle found out that her dog Harley had run away from her mother's house on Sept. 8, she took the next four days off work to look for him.
It was all the vacation time she had, but she was desperate to find the 2-year-old teacup chihuahua that was so important to her, she said.
Saturday afternoon at the Carroll County Farm Museum, amongst the excitement going on for The Maryland Wine Festival, a little boy assisted by a few adults found Harley and turned him over to Naugle's sister, who was working at the festival.
After 11 days of being on the loose and spotted all around the Center Street-Washington Road area, Harley is back home with his family and recovering from his adventure.
When Harley was dropped off with Naugle's mother for an overnight stay, they forgot to bring his collar, Naugle said. Her mother tried to use the leash only when she took him outside, but Harley wiggled his way out and escaped.
After he first went missing, Naugle's daughter Paige made posters and put them all over the Center Street area in Westminster, where Harley had gotten loose. On Sept. 9, Naugle got a call from a security guard at Carroll Hospital Center who said he had seen Harley sleeping near some construction trailers. The guard offered him a blanket and a bowl of water, but Harley growled and the security guard gave him some space. He was gone within an hour, before Naugle could get to him.
Encouraged by the sighting, Naugle and her husband Todd spent Sept. 10 through 12 camping out around the hospital and Carroll Springs School, walking all over the neighborhood, handing out fliers and asking residents if they had seen Harley. They went to the Farm Museum and talked to people at the Mason-Dixon Historical Society's Steam & Gas Round-Up, hoping Harley would show up there looking for food.
"We were walking railroad tracks, we were walking through the Farm Museum woods, we were everywhere," she said. "We were sleeping in our vehicles, searching up and down."
Sept. 13, Naugle decided to make more fliers and added that Harley had been seen at the hospital. While giving fliers out in the Cranberry Square Shopping Center, a stylist at Great Clips told Naugle she had seen a Chihuahua on the evening Sept. 11 at the intersection of Md. 97 and Hook Road. Naugle redirected her search to the neighborhood around Westminster High School and Carroll Community College.
Naugle got a call the afternoon of Sept. 13 that children had seen a Chihuahua at recess at Friendship Valley Elementary School on Gist Road. Unfortunately, no one had called the Humane Society, she said, and he had gotten away again. Three hours behind him on the trail, Naugle couldn't find him, but talked to neighbors along Gist Road, asking them to keep an eye out for him.
The next morning, Naugle was back in the neighborhood, looking all over. Todd Naugle went out to the neighborhood at 4:30 a.m. each morning before going to work, hoping to find him.
On Wednesday, Naugle had to return to work, having exhausted her vacation days. By the end of the week, she said they were getting nervous because there hadn't been any calls or sightings since Sept. 13. She was beginning to give up hope.
Friday, Naugle was supposed to be heading down to Ocean City for Bike Week. She was reluctant to go, but decided to make one more round of fliers about Harley. She sent one to her sister, Heather Plank, who works for the county government and was going to be working at the wine festival over the weekend, which is held at the Farm Museum.
"I said ‘can you print these new ones off and place them up there and ask anybody if they've seen him?' I figured he was probably working his way back from the elementary school," Naugle said.
And sure enough, Saturday afternoon, a little boy was playing around the Farm Museum pond and noticed Harley in a drainage pipe, which Naugle said she believes he was using as a hiding place. The boy and some adults worked to lure him out with food, using a rope from one of the festival's tents to fashion a temporary leash for him to keep him from getting away again.
Word about the dog was passed along to the Farm Museum staff, and when it was mentioned that the dog was a Chihuahua, someone went to find Plank to see if she would recognize the dog.
"Thank God my sister was working," Naugle said.
Naugle said she pulled over her bike and was standing on the side of U.S. 50 when she got her sister's call, and she was filled with joy and relief.
"I've never shed so many tears, my husband and I," Naugle said.
Naugle's mother-in-law came to the Farm Museum to pick Harley up, and Harley recognized her and was happy to go home with her. Naugle arrived back in Westminster Sunday and was reunited with the exhausted, hungry dog.
Starting at only 5 pounds, Harley had visibly lost weight, she said, and was very excited to be back home and eating his normal food again. He is technically under quarantine now because he bit one of the people who had helped rescue him, Naugle said, but he is going to the veterinarian Wednesday for a check-up.
"He's eating, he's just really thin," Naugle said. "He's better this morning. He just follows me around, and he's getting back to normal."
Harley's disappearance has had a bigger effect on the family as well.
"[Todd and I] have been separated for 11 months, and this dog kind of brought us back together," Naugle said. "That dog is our baby."
Source: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/local/article_aa0a3e04-c530-11df-98cc-001cc4c03286.html
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