By Paul Leighton, Staff writer
November 9, 2010
BEVERLY — A Beverly couple learned a valuable lesson in the art of retrieving a lost dog last weekend.
Three days after he had bolted, an adopted golden retriever/Great Pyrenees named Mackie came home Sunday night only after his owners heeded the advice of an expert and employed an amazing amount of patience.
"We learned a lot," said Mary Misencik, referring to herself and her fiance, Mike Allen. "It was a crash course."
Misencik and Allen had just adopted the 21/2-year-old Mackie on Friday when Mackie got loose as he was being loaded into the back of their SUV for a trip to the beach.
Mackie was spotted several times over the next three days in the couple's neighborhood on Independence Circle, but would run away whenever someone approached him. He was also seen in the woods off Boyles Street, on Hart and Haskell streets in Beverly Farms, and in front of an estate in Prides Crossing.
Through Facebook and old-fashioned posters, word spread quickly about Mackie's disappearance. Misencik estimated that nearly 100 people were involved in the search.
But it was the advice of a woman in Mansfield that finally turned the search in their favor. Misencik had been put in touch with Debbie Scarpellini, who runs a volunteer website called lostdogsearch.com.
Scarpellini told Misencik and Allen that Mackie, who was not familiar with the area, was most likely being scared by all the well-meaning searchers. Dogs interpret chasing as an aggressive action and are likely to take off, Scarpellini said.
When Mackie showed up on a hill across from Misencik's house on Sunday morning, Scarpellini advised patience.
For the next 12 hours, Misencik and Miller tried to entice Mackie into their house using food and their other dog, McKinley, as the bait. Scarpellini advised Miller to tie a string to the door and stay out of sight, to make it less intimidating for Mackie to walk through the door.
Finally, around midnight, Misencik lured Mackie into the house, and Miller pulled the door shut with the string.
"It was an unbelievable journey," Misencik said. "The whole neighborhood was united. It bonded so many people. We didn't know there were that many dog lovers out there."
Source: http://www.salemnews.com/local/x104131227/Patience-helps-lost-dogs-return#
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