Happy ending lost dog tales! Read stories about dogs that have gone missing and were later reunited with their families. Learn from the stories, and if you are missing your own dog right now, hopefully you will be encouraged by the successes of others before you. (If you just like happy ending stories, that's what you will find here.)
For recent stories, visit Lost Dogs Found on Facebook. (Sorry, I'm not posting stories here as much, and am posting a little more often to the Facebook page.)
Rusty home after desert ordeal
Conor Byrne
December 12th, 2011
Ned Johnson, 7, and brother Merv, 5, of Humpty Doo with Rusty.
A pet dog who disappeared off the back of a truck 1000km from home has survived seven months in the Territory Outback before being reunited with his owners.
Five-year-old Merv Johnson from Humpty Doo thought his beloved Rusty, 4, had died when he was suddenly gone.
The red heeler had unclipped his leash and jumped off the tray of the family truck near Ti Tree on the Stuart Hwy - 1088km from home - during the trip back from hunting in Alice Springs last Easter.
Unaware, the Johnson family continued their journey home.
Rusty survived the harsh conditions under a demountable at an unmanned power station just outside Ti Tree.
Power and Water worker Bill Blain from Alice Springs found Rusty at the start of November and took him to the dog ranger, who identified his address.
Merv's dad, Matthew, 35, couldn't believe his ears when he got a phone call to say Rusty was alive.
"We had written him off," the carpenter said.
Merv's grandparents in Tennant Creek drove down to collect Rusty when they heard the news and Merv was in for a surprise reunion when he thought he was just going to visit the relatives.
"As soon as Rusty was out of the shed he ran straight up to Merv," Mr Johnson said.
"Merv was blown away, at first he couldn't talk. It definitely pays to microchip."
Mr Johnson said Rusty may have jumped off the tray to chase another dog.
"He'll get out of any knot you can tie," he said.
Source: http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/12/12/277831_ntnews.html
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Boulder dog triumphantly returns home after 6-month sojourn to California
By John Aguilar, Boulder Daily Camera Staff Writer
06/03/2011
Buster Brown mysteriously disappeared from his home on Olde Stage Road in November
Was he curled up at the base of the Book Cliffs in western Colorado? Did he roam the back alleys of Salt Lake City after dark? Did he slake a fierce thirst on the shores of Lake Tahoe?
Samantha Squires and her son, Darian, with Buster Brown at their home before the dog's disappearance in November.
It will likely never be known how Buster Brown, a 7-year-old mutt that went missing in mid-November from his home near Boulder, ended up in Salinas, Calif., and exactly what he was up to along the way.
But any speculation as to the beagle/retriever/pit bull's whereabouts over the last six months yielded to elation Friday when Buster's owner, Samantha Squires, reunited with her "magical dog" at Denver International Airport amid a waterfall of tears and a vigorous, thigh-slapping tail.
"I never gave up on him and I thought about him every day," she said hours before Buster Brown landed at DIA on a Frontier flight from San Francisco. "It wouldn't be surprising to me that he was looking for us the whole time."
It was Nov. 19 and Squires was headed out to Boulder Reservoir for a run. When she returned to her Olde Stage Road home that afternoon, Buster Brown had simply vanished from the back yard. She noticed that a gate was slightly ajar.
The dog had wandered off on a couple of occasions before, so Squires didn't immediately panic. She knew Buster Brown was deeply bonded to her after she rescued him as an abandoned puppy from the Humane Society of Boulder Valley.
"He had massive separation anxiety," she said. "He could not be away from me ever. But once he followed his nose, he had a little trouble there."
The single mother admitted that as the months dragged on, she had tugs of doubt about her close companion, fearing that a mountain lion might have claimed the pooch in the foothills west of Boulder. She even adopted a new dog, named Toby, three weeks ago.
But despite her misgivings, she kept all of Buster Brown's toys, and as recently as last weekend, decided against taking his allergy report down from the kitchen wall.
"I have not thrown away one thing from Buster," she said.
'He looked tired'
On May 20, more than 1,200 miles away, Peter Ochoa noticed a strange dog sitting on the front porch of his home in Salinas, Calif., an agricultural community about 100 miles south of San Francisco.
The dog, which had no collar, moved to the back of the house and laid down under an old Ford truck.
"He looked like a big bear," Ochoa said. "He laid there staring at me like, 'Are you going to take me in?'"
Ochoa said he approached Buster Brown, told him to sit, and then shook his paw.
"He looked tired, we gave him water, and his tail was wagging," he said.
The family called animal control, and a police officer picked up the dog. Ochoa said he told the officer that if the local animal shelter couldn't find a home for the animal, he would provide one.
"If you're going to put him down, I'll take him," he remembered saying.
Staff at the Salinas Animal Shelter found a microchip in Buster Brown and tried calling the numbers that came up. But they were no good, said shelter manager Cindy Burnham.
She said the shelter sent a certified letter to the last known address associated with the microchip.
Heart started 'racing'
On Tuesday, Squires went out to retrieve her mail. She saw the letter from California, read it, and her heart started "racing."
"It said 'If you don't call us by (Tuesday) May 31, Buster will become the property of California,'" she said.
Which meant adoption at best, Squires said, and euthanasia at worst.
She desperately called the shelter several times and was finally able to confirm that Buster Brown was indeed there, 13 pounds heavier than when he had left Boulder.
"That could be because he was eating pizza out of a Dumpster," Squires said.
Squires immediately started trying to put together plans to get her dog back to Colorado. As a single mother with a 4-year-old son, she wasn't able to make the drive to the West Coast. And she couldn't afford to fly him back.
Squires scrolled through her list of Facebook contacts and attempted to set up a relay of sorts, with friends driving Buster Brown east through several legs of the 1,200-mile journey.
That's when Frontier offered to fly the dog for free.
"It was an act of kindness," Squires said, referring not only the airline's generosity, but to everyone else who played a role in getting her dog back home.
She also noted how critical it was that Buster Brown had a microchip implanted for identification.
"The chip is big," she said. "Everyone should chip their dog."
Adventure remains a mystery
Squires said she'll probably never know what happened to her "first child" during the six months he was on the road.
She guesses that he didn't travel the full distance from Colorado to California by foot, but got an unsolicited ride along the way.
"I think someone fell in love with him and took him and couldn't take care of him and that's when the journey began," Squires said. "My guess is he lived in a couple of homes and was a stray toward the end. People would take care of him -- he's just a doggy you want to love."
Source: http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_18198413
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Another version of the story, and video, at http://www.ksbw.com/r/28115054/detail.html
Reunion video found at http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/06/03/boulder-dog-found-in-california-reunited-with-family/
Gertie the dog found safe after a winter on the run
Written by Brian J. Howard
May 1, 2011
CORTLANDT — Claire Albahae had just about given up hope of ever finding Gertie, the mixed breed, black-and-white hound dog she lost nearly seven months ago.
Gertie the dog is safe at home with owner Claire Albahae in Brewster, nearly seven months after she first went missing from Clarence Fahnestock State Park in Putnam Valley, 15 miles away.
But Gertie turned up Tuesday, 15 miles from where she'd been lost. By Friday night, trackers had snared the emaciated pup. Now she's safe at home, if a bit scrawnier than before.
"Physically, she's not quite skin and bones," a relieved Albahae, 62, said.
"I had almost given up hope but not quite," the Brewster resident said. "I had many, many sightings."
Albahae was hiking with her three dogs in Clarence Fahnestock State Park in Putnam Valley Oct. 9 when Gertie, her youngest, broke free and ran. Albahae searched for her until 4 a.m.
Sightings poured in all fall and winter as Albahae posted hundreds of signs and followed up on every lead.
Gertie, who is between 7 and 8 years old, weighed 38 pounds when she went missing. At Brewster Veterinary Hospital on Saturday, she weighed in at 28 pounds.
Several feet of snow fell between Christmas and early February. And when it wasn't snowing, it was cold.
Gertie's ID tags and collars were still on, so Albahae thinks she was fed by strangers but never caught.
Trackers Chuck and Kricket Dyckman of Dyckman Wildlife Control in Carmel advised her to post signs and try to establish where Gertie was roaming.
That proved difficult until the call from a worker at Hudson Valley Charter Service in Cortlandt who'd spotted Gertie. Albahae went there and laid out food to lure the dog and an infrared camera to make sure it was indeed Gertie.
When she saw that it was, she called the Dyckmans.
A trap they set Friday morning safely captured her by midnight. Albahae had her home by 1 a.m., in need of a bath and tick removal, but safe and in good spirits.
"I'm so happy. Life has never been the same since I lost her," Albahae said. "There was a blank spot where her bed used to be, and I would just stare at it."
She found Gertie at PetFinder.com in early 2010, rescued by ASPCA of Ohio from an abusive home. She also has a beagle, another mixed breed and three cats, one she found while looking for Gertie.
This isn't the first local dog to survive a winter in the suburban wilds. In February 2010, a black Labrador named Apollo roamed the woods of Croton-on-Hudson for six weeks before the Dyckmans found him.
"There's always hope," said Kricket Dyckman, who has tracked dogs lost as long as three years. "Dogs are hardy animals; they really are. They can travel a good distance and they're smart."
Albahae plans to offer the worker who found Gertie a cash reward. A message left at the business was not immediately returned.
Source: http://www.lohud.com/article/20110501/NEWS02/105010363/Gertie-dog-found-safe-after-winter-run?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News
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Canine Coaching Services Helps Reunite 20 Year Old Dog with Owners!!!
In July 2010, Canine Coaching Services was involved in the reunion of a 20 year old missing dog with her worried owners. We were contacted when the Ard family thought they recognized a picture or their missing dog, Katie, on a local animal rescue website. CCS Owner, Valerie Broadway, often volunteers for CARE and was able to determine who was fostering the dog on the website. A meeting was arranged for the next morning at the Canine Coaching Services facility. Valerie took pictures of the reunion and submitted an article (see below), which was published in several local newspapers. An area tv news station also picked up the story and ran a segment on the evening news.
Katie’s Miracle Journey
Pittsboro, NC: Chatham Animal Rescue and Education (CARE) in Chatham County recently experienced something that has never happened in its over 20 year history, and many feel is a miracle.
Foster mom, Melissa, Katie, and her relieved owner,
Pam Ard. A joyous and tearful reunion for all.
Katie disappeared from the Ard family home on Christmas night 2009. The family searched for Katie around the many acres of farm and forest around their home to no avail. Due to Katie’s age they thought maybe she has wondered off to die. But the family was haunted by thoughts of what could have happened to Katie.
In early January, volunteer CARE foster caregiver, Melissa Taylor, was called by Chatham County Animal Shelter’s personnel. It was the last day the Shelter could hold an older Chihuahua mix that had been turned into them as a stray. They knew Melissa had a soft spot for fostering older dogs. Melissa picked up Katie from the shelter and has fostered her in her home ever since. Katie was examined by a vet and estimated to be about 9 years old. Additionally, she had an irregular heartbeat. Potential adopters were interested in Katie, but ultimately the people didn’t want to take on the commitment of adopting a dog with heath issues. Melissa and her family were prepared to keep Katie in the event she was never adopted.
After getting home from work and receiving Pam’s message, Melissa arranged to meet with the Ard family first thing the next morning. It was the moment of truth. Was Sasha indeed Katie? Katie didn’t offer a lot of emotion at the reunion, so there were a few minutes of comparing pictures the Ard’s brought, and scars and bumps on Katie. The family also had their Katie’s littermate, Missy, with them. It didn’t take long to determine that Sasha was indeed Katie. And the biggest shocker, Katie is 20 years old! The reunion was emotional to say the least - everyone was in tears. Pam called her son to let him know Katie was found. The family is thrilled to have Katie back and is extremely appreciative for all CARE and especially Melissa did for her. Pam says, “Melissa was truly Katie's Guardian Angel! I have no doubt that Divine Intervention brought Katie back home to us. Katie isn't our pet; she and Missy are our family. A lot of love and joy has been received from those two little four-legged blessings during their twenty years!”
Once they were back home, Katie immediately visited each of her favorite places to lay and then she and Missy snuggled up in the dog bed together and sniffed and licked each other. They were a little slow to recognize each other when first reunited, but it was all coming back now.
CARE had Katie micro chipped, as is routine with fosters. The Ard family plans to have all of their pets micro chipped and will no longer allow the dogs to go outside unattended.
How is this for an amazing adventure: a runaway dog is home after seven months in which he managed to find TWO new homes, get neutered, and get renamed.
Happy -- also known as Radar during his seven month adventure -- ran away from his Illinois farm home in April. He had been with his family for more than two years, after human mom Misty Bowman picked him out from a friend's litter. Human dad Rob named the dog Happy because he looked like he was always smiling.
When Happy left for his wild vacation, the Bowmans looked all over for him. They drove around the farm, put up ads, and went door to door asking neighbors if they had seen the dog. After the search was fruitless, they assumed he had been hit by a car.
Happy was actually taken in by another family who named him Radar for his ability to get around. His interim family had Radar neutered. (Hooray for responsible pet ownership!) But the interim family wasn't sure they would be able to keep Radar in the end. While the family was on vacation, Radar used his talent for finding things to find his way back to the vet's office! The vet decided -- with the family's blessing -- to keep Radar around as an office pet.
A local newspaper featured a story about veterinarian Steve Walstad and his new office resident -- and that's where the Bowman family finally found their missing Happy.
The Bowmans offered to let the vet keep his new friend, before they broke the news to their children. Walstad graciously returned Happy to his first family.
Misty Bowman said that when she brought Happy back to the farm, he started to get excited as they got close to the house. She took that as a sign that he was indeed happy to be home again.
