Shadow, a Belgian Sheepdog

This is one very cool story. I was poking around the Minneapolis Craigslist community (even though I live in Virginia) and I saw a posting that someone had found the lost dog she'd been looking for. The story is one of those rare stories where a third party that knows neither the person who lost the dog nor the person who found the dog, but happened to have seen postings for both the lost dog and the found dog, which were posted in completely different sections of Craigslist. My comments are in italics, most of the rest I pulled off of Craigslist follow-up postings. Enjoy the story.

Lisa's picture of Shadow that she would include in her weekly Craigslist postings, and then Shadow, shaved, after she was found.

Lisa, to whom Shadow belongs, tells the first part of the story. Then Sam, who found Shadow, tells her story. Then Lynn, who connected the two Craigslist postings and contacted Lisa, tells her story last.

On November 5, 2007 Shadow was scheduled to be picked up from my ex-husband's home and returned to me. When the dog transporter arrived at his house the front door was open and no one was home including Shadow. I was then notified that Shadow either ran away, was stolen or foul play was involved. Me and my girlfriend immediately printed thousands of posters and went door to door looking for Shadow. I never gave up looking for her, and always posted her on craigslist regularly. I have been posting Shadow on CL weekly since she disappeared. Below is how Shadow was finally returned to me thanks to Sam, Lynn and numerous emails....


I want to thank Lynn and Sam for bringing Shadow home to me again!!! I also want to thank my girlfriend Hollie, my family and friends for always helping look for her, and handing out missing Shadow posters. Please remember to always have an updated photo of your pets, and have them micro-chipped. The photos of Shadow I have saved her life!!! Never give up looking for your pets...they are out there somewhere. Miracles do happen....I am sooo happy now!!! Thanks again everyone!!!

Sam's story of finding Shadow is.... My sister, Sarah, and I were riding 4-wheeler down the road by my dad's house who lives in Henriette/Grasston area. We saw her laying on the side of the dirt road in front of an abandonded house. We didn't know if we should stop or not because we didn't know how she would react. So we kept going. When we were coming back she was still laying there. I was afraid she was hurt so we brought the 4-wheeler back to my dad's house and parked it. We walked back to the spot where we saw her and we found her walking around someone's dirtbike jumps. I knelt down and she saw me. I called her to me and she came running over. She would not leave me side the rest of the night. We walked up and down the road for a while and she wouldn't go more than 10 ft from me. My sister ran home and grabbed a leash and we went door to door for over an hour asking if anyone had seen her before. No one had except for that day.

We then tried to find a shelter for her, because my dad told us we couldn't keep her, considering we have 3 dogs already at his place :) I drove around for over an hour trying to find a shelter in the Grasston area and north. I called the lady we contract with through work for animals but she doesn't take animals from Pine County where we are, just Isanti and Anoka. So we went back to my dad's house and left her outside to see what would happen. I woke up the next morning and she was laying on the kitchen floor of the houes :) My dad had let her in to eat. I brought her home Easter Sunday and dropped her off at my sister's house because my mom and step-dad wouldn't let me bring her home to Andover. I posted the ad on Craigslist on Monday right before I went to work and that was the end.

Lynn's story is.... I had drivin home from Minneapolis yesterday (6-1/2 hours) and when I got home I didn't feel like doing anything .. so just turned on the computer and was flipping through the CL ads. (Sometimes I have something somebody can use...and I go to the Cities quite often so occasionally will take an item down there for somebody.) It sparked my curiousity when I saw a "found" ad in the "wanted" section. Had the circumstances been different...or if the ad would have been placed a day later or a day earlier...I probably wouldn't have seen it.

I'd like to commend Sam,(the person that actually found Shadow) for taking the time and using good sense to post a picture of the dog she found. Had it not been for that picture, Shadow would still be missing! I had seen Lisa's ad many many times over the months while she was looking for Shadow, and when I saw the picture of the "found" dog, I knew I had to locate Lisa's ad and call her immediately. Yes, Sam's picture of the dog she had found showed more hair, but those ears were so distinctive! I was able to reach Lisa immediately and help her locate Sam's ad. (Thank goodness it hadn't gotten flagged for being miscategorized!) I wish more people would take the time and effort to post pictures of lost and found pets. I really believe more would be located! This is a wonderful story with a very happy ending! Shadow is home with Lisa...right where she belongs. A series of coincidences in her being found???? I don't think so! Some things are just meant to be.

Source: Craigslist, Minneapolis (there only temporarily)