Scout, Shetland sheepdog

Grieving man's dog found
By Lisa O'donnell
March 16, 2012

Still grieving over his mother's death in a house fire, Steve Morris spent much of Wednesday and Thursday dealing with another heartbreak — the disappearance of his beloved dog, Scout.

The story ended on a happy note Thursday evening when Scout, a Shetland sheepdog, and Morris were reunited.

Scout had provided Morris some comfort during what had been a painful week. Morris' mother, Sue Morris, and her dog, Sarge, were killed in an apartment fire in Kernersville last week.

On Saturday, Morris and other family members scattered his mother's ashes from an overlook at Pilot Mountain.

"She was never specific about where she wanted her ashes scattered. She just told us, 'Take them somewhere pretty.' She liked Pilot Mountain. We used to take her there," Morris said.

Still on bereavement leave, Morris decided to return to Pilot Mountain with Scout on Wednesday to get some fresh air and enjoy a beautiful day.

"I've taken him backpacking and hiking quite a bit," said Morris, who has had Scout for three years. "We've been to Cold Mountain and other places in the Appalachians."

Traveling north on US 52 near the Liberty Street exit, Morris came to a halt because of traffic in the work zone. His car was hit from behind, pushing it into a concrete median, which caused it to flip over. Scout, who had been lying on a blanket in the back of Morris' car, scampered out of a broken window and bolted down US 52.

Morris, who sustained a few minor cuts but was not seriously injured, wanted to run after Scout but was stopped by police, who needed him to answer questions about the wreck.

After more than an hour with police, Morris scoured the area to no avail. Later, his wife and some of her friends joined the search. Some people in the area reported seeing Scout near the KFC on Liberty Street.

The driver of the other car, Ashley Payne of Winston-Salem, was charged with failure to reduce speed and driving with a revoked license, according to a report from Winston-Salem police.

Morris, the regional service director of the Boys & Girls Club of America, lives in Trinity. He was too sore from the wreck to help search for Scout on Thursday.

Wendy Rivers, his wife, was back in the area around 7 am with a group of friends, posting flyers and talking with business owners and residents.

Thursday afternoon, an employee with Brown's Car Wash on Patterson Avenue, flagged Rivers down, saying he had spotted Scout in a fenced-in area next to the business.

"It was an area where we had been looking. We must have looked there 10 times but he never came out. He must have been in hiding," Rivers said.

The fenced-in area was locked for the day. Rivers, with the help of a ladder, climbed over the fence, grabbed Scout, who weighs about 25 pounds and handed him to the car wash employee, who was waiting on a ladder on the other side.

"I knew I probably should have called the owners of the property to let us in but Scout was so excited to see me," Rivers said.

Scout has a slight limp but Morris expects the two will soon be back on the trail.

Source: http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2012/mar/15/2/grieving-man-hopes-to-find-missing-dog-ar-2048126/
Printer-friendly version here

Charlee, Queensland heeler

Missing dog reunited with Elk Grove family after month-long search
10:03 AM, Dec 12, 2011

ELK GROVE, CA - About a month ago, dog owner John Robinson, lost his 8-year-old Queensland Heeler, Charlee, in the Sierras. For the following four weeks, John shared the search for Charlee on Supertopo.com, an online rock climbing forum.

John had written on the site that he had last seen his dog at "2 p.m. at the base of the Great Wall of China, Owens River Gorge." He let the forum know the collar she was wearing had her name and his contact information. A week went by and no word or sign of Charlee. John wrote on November 22, 2011, "Still no Charlee. Don't want to give up hope but it's been over a week now." Any pet owner can relate to his post and feel the angst of searching for a lost companion.

Then the unbelievable happened; Charlee was found and he immediately shared it to the forum.

Dec 9: "Unbelievable but true. Charlee has been found. She was found yesterday by Ben Logan, found near where we last saw her near China Wall in the Owens River Gorge. She is in a hospital in Mammoth and the doctor thinks she will be okay.

She lost 11 pounds, is dehydrated, has a fever and congested. Ben had to carry her out. She is on IV and antibiotics. We are leaving now to pick her up. Ben called me from where he lives in Mammoth and said he saw a dog that looked like Charlee lying near the river, out of view, and when he got up the trail to the parking area he saw my sign and figured that might be my dog.When he called I had him look at the picture here in Supertopo, and he said the pic looked just like the dog he saw. Even though it was getting late, Ben Logan drove all the way back to Owens and hiked down to the bottom of the gorge and found her and brought her back to his house and called me with news. He then took her to the vet where she was admitted. Ben is a great guy. .. more later."

A flood of supporters posted to the forum, giving out their congratulations and good thoughts to Charlee's recovery.

And on that same day, Ben posted to the forum.

Dec 9: "I wish Charlee a speedy recovery. Credit for her rescue is also due to Will Tarantino, my house mate and climbing partner yesterday when I spotted her. Will carried her most of the way out of the Gorge over his shoulders in the dark. Let me know how she gets on."

Charlee is still at the Alpen Veterinary Hospital and recovering. Her status is considered "guarded" meaning she has some big problems to overcome, mainly due to the cold weather which has given her high sodium levels, high kidney values and infections. John continues to post regular updates on the status of Charlee and he receives lots of encouraging posts on Supertopo.com.

Source: http://www.news10.net/news/article/167587/2/Missing-dog-reunited-with-family-after-month-long-search

Supertopo message thread starts at: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1669177&tn=0

Hurley, Bernese Mountain Dog

Family 'whole again' after reunion with lost dog
Darcy Wintonyk, ctvbc.ca
Fri. Apr. 8 2011 5:44 PM ET

A North Vancouver, B.C., family says they are whole again after being reunited with their missing dog, who spent more than two weeks wandering the North Shore mountains lost and hungry.

Hurley, an 18-month-old Bernese Mountain Dog, was saved by search crews in a dramatic long line helicopter rescue just south of Capilano Lake on Thursday.

The dog was spotted by a fellow Bernese owner, who was among the hundreds of volunteers and community members who have given their time to search for the beloved pet.

"We couldn't be happier, our family really wasn't complete without Hurley and we were feeling that, all of us," Darwin Schandor told CTV News from his home just hours after he brought the dog home to his family.

"We now know what he means to us, our family. He's one of us," his wife Tracie said.

It has been an emotional two weeks for the Schandor family.

The couple and their two children, Hudson and Kiana, were on vacation in Maui for spring break when their pet sitting service called on March 24 to say that Hurley had wandered away during an outing on the Baden Powell Trail. The dog was supposed to be outfitted with a GPS collar, but the agency, Embark Dog Centre, decided not to use it because they felt the dog was well behaved.

That was the last time Hurley would be seen for two weeks.

The family spent up to 15 hours a day searching the rugged terrain near their home for any clues, but to no avail. A Facebook group, now 600 members strong, was launched for community members to report any possible sightings, and to tell others where they were searching.

"What kept us going was how many people volunteered their personal time to help find this member of our family. Even complete strangers," Darwin said.

"We may live in a big city but this is a small community."

The family even commissioned a helicopter to scour the area by air as a last-ditch effort. Tracie said her children, aged eight and 10, cried every day that Hurley was missing.

"We did start preparing them, and telling them there's a possibility he might not come home and those are some pretty tough conversations to have," she said.

The dramatic rescue

Members of North Shore Rescue quickly launched into action Thursday afternoon after receiving word the dog was spotted on a trail near Mosquito Creek.

Tim Jones said he had a hunch the dog would be near the water.

"When you can't find a person in a ridgeline or a trail system, they're in the creek," he said. "We felt the best way to get it out safely was through a long line rescue."

Two members were flown into the area by chopper, slowly lowered down into the rocky gully by a 200 foot long cable.

Rescuer Jeff Yarnold said Hurley wasn't thrilled to see searchers -- at first.

"He's a big dog. Once the leash was on him he was like ‘take me home,' and then he was thrilled," he said.

Hurley survived for two weeks with minimal food but lots of water. The dog is 20 pounds lighter, but otherwise okay, according to a veterinary assessment after his rescue.

Back at their North Vancouver home, Hudson and Kiana described the elation they felt when they saw their missing dog.

"It was so amazing. I just couldn't wait to pet his fur," Hudson said.

"I missed him a lot. It was really sad, but it turned out happy like him too," Kiana added.

Tracie said Hurley has free run of their home now -- and that their family has learned a valuable lesson.

"He's a bigger part of our family that we ever knew he was," she said.


Hudson added: "Never, never, never give up."


Accountability

Meanwhile, Embark Dog Centre said this is the first time it has lost a dog in its care.

Paul Riley, who spent many hours alongside the family searching for Hurley, describes the employee that was with the dog when he disappeared as one of their most experienced.

Riley said staff spent a lot of time assessing Hurley before they deemed it okay to let him walk off-leash.

"A Bernese Mountain Dog is not a flight risk. So for something like this to happen it makes you rethink everything," he said.

A sign posted on the door of the centre Friday said the business would focus on more training in the future.

Riley said they are rethinking their business model after what happened.

"With animals, you can read body language, but accidents like this can happen," he said, adding that he's just grateful the Schandors found their missing pet.

"If I have a business that's great, but if I don't, the kids have a dog and that's the main thing."

The Schandors say Embark has offered to pay a portion of the rescue costs.

Source (includes video): http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110408/bc_hurley_home_110408/20110408?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
Printer-friendly version here

Titan, great dane

Dog reunited with Ashland family after dramatic rescue
Titan survived days of cold weather before the persistence of his worried owners finally paid off
By Sanne Specht for the Tidings
January 21, 2011

Titan and his owner, Merri Walters-Woo, share a moment together Wednesday in their Ashland home after Titan was rescued from a muddy ravine in Portland.

Titan the Great Dane is soaking up all the love Merri Walters-Woo has to offer while he recovers from a real-life cliffhanger.

Walters-Woo, 44, of Ashland, had nearly lost faith that the 4-year-old dog would be found alive after he ran away from her brother's Portland area home on Dec. 29.

While outside on a potty break, Titan suddenly bolted into the night, chasing after a passing car he likely mistook for Walters-Woo's vehicle, she said.

"He was doing really great," she said. "Then a car drove by that looked exactly like mine and he just took off. My brother felt so terrible."

A flurry of "Lost Dog" fliers, Craigslist postings and offers of a $1,000 reward had alerted the dog-friendly Vancouver Lake neighborhood to keep a sharp eye out for Titan. The next night there was a reported sighting in a nearby park. But Titan was not to be found.

"How can you miss a Great Dane?" Walters-Woo said.

As the days turned into weeks, Walters-Woo and her husband continued to drive to Portland to join Andy Walters and his fiancée, Amanda Giese, as they searched ravines, parks and along railroad tracks. But there were no further sightings.

Meanwhile, Portland was experiencing the worst weather possible, she said.

"It snowed, it rained, it was freezing," Walters-Woo said. "He's not an independent type of dog. He's super clingy. He wants to be in the house 24/7."

By Jan. 14, the harlequin Dane had been missing for 16 days.

"I thought for sure Titan was dead," she said. "I sat and prayed. He may not come back."

Then the phone rang. Titan was alive. But just barely.

"He was in really, really bad shape," Walters-Woo said. "My brother warned me he might not make it."

Rachel Gissel and her young children were spending Friday afternoon looking for frogs at a nearby pond when they spotted a dog stranded on a ledge 50 feet down a muddy ravine. Gissel immediately recognized Titan from the fliers. She called Walters. He and Giese raced to the rescue, Walters-Woo said.

It was Giese, 28, who scrambled down the vertical face of the washed-out ravine.

Sliding down blackberry bushes, grasping for handholds, Giese traversed the landslides and crawled over muddy debris to reach Titan.

"He was really excited to see me," Giese said. "I said, 'Are you ready to go home? Let's go!' "

But getting Titan out of the ravine was not going to be easy. Starvation and dehydration had taken their toll. Titan had lost 50 pounds off his normally 150-pound frame. The dog also had seriously injured his front leg.

"I thought the infection had gone to the bone. I thought for sure, if we could even get him out of there, if he survived, he'd lose the leg," she said.

Giese barely weighs 100 pounds herself. But she was the only one the frightened dog would allow near him.

"He likes two people, Merri and me. I told (everyone else) to stand back," Giese said, adding Titan was biting and snapping at others' rescue attempts.

Standing precariously on a rotten stump, Giese quickly realized an outcropping over the area where Titan was trapped meant she had to persuade the dog to take a literal and lateral leap of faith.

"One leap was what I really needed," Giese said, as she continued to coax the dog.

"I finally said 'Titan! You need to jump to me now!' "

Titan jumped, and landed on Giese's legs, then crawled up onto her body. From that point on, the pair endured a gut-busting scramble to the top of the embankment. Giese would push the dog ahead of her, drag him behind her, whatever it took to gain ground, she said.

"Every step I took, I'd step and slide backwards," Giese said.

When they finally popped over the edge, Giese's adrenaline was so kicked in she simply picked Titan up and carried him to the car. The dog's feet were almost dragging on the ground, she said.

"He's so big. And I'm not. I don't know how I did it, really. I just knew that when he took that leap there was no way I was going to leave him behind in that ravine," Giese said.

Portland veterinarians examined Titan and determined that while he was emaciated and suffering from a serious leg infection and other lesser injuries, the dog had no broken bones, Walters-Woo said.

"When I first saw my brother, I just cried," she said. "But I felt such relief knowing Titan wasn't going to die out there by himself."

Life has never been easy for Titan. He was the last of his litter to be adopted, his four-legged mother rejected him after biting a hole in his ear, and he was isolated in a pen until he was adopted by Walters-Woo at 5 months old. At the time he had a cut on his eye, staples in his ears and his tail had been docked, she said.

"He was always an accident-proned little guy," Walters-Woo said.

Walters-Woo was able to bring Titan home Monday from DoveLewis, a nonprofit emergency veterinary clinic in Portland. There may be surgeries in his future, depending on how well his leg heals. But for now their days will revolve around wound care, doses of medicine — and lots and lots of snuggling.

"His recovery is going to be long," Walters-Woo said. "His wound is seven inches long and three inches wide."

Gissel, the frog-hunting woman who found Titan, refused to accept the $1,000 reward, Walters-Woo said.

"She said to put it toward Titan's medical bills," Walters-Woo said. "I am so grateful to her, and to Amanda, and to everyone. It's really a miracle. I am so blessed."

Source: http://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110121/NEWS02/101210307
Printer-friendly version here

Mazi, boxer

Burkhardt Couple Reunited With Lost Dog After Eight-Day Search
By Micheal Foley
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
 
Mazi, a two-year-old female boxer, spent more than a week outdoors in frigid winter air without food or water.

Owners Shaina Johannsen and Charlie Beer stopped by the Hillcrest Animal Hospital on Thursday, Feb. 10, to spend some time with Mazi. They were able to take her home the following day.

Thanks to the help of family, friends, neighbors, concerned community members and an anonymous donor, a Burkhardt couple has been reunited with their 2-year-old boxer dog named Mazi.

Mazi ran away from the couple's home the evening of Monday, Jan. 31. Owners Shaina Johannsen and Charlie Beer immediately started a search. Johannsen was babysitting at the time and couldn't leave, so she called Beer who left work in Bloomington, MN, to start the search.

On his way home, Beer called his parents. Beer's father, who was out snowmobiling at the time called his brother and the search was on. Beer's mother and brother were quickly enlisted, as well as a few neighbors.

One of the searchers spotted Mazi's tracks leading to County Road A, but falling snow made further tracking impossible that night.

"We did as much as we could that night," Beer said. "We searched until about 10:30 that night and didn't find any more traces."

Beer took off of work the next day to dedicate his time to finding Mazi.

"I went door-to-door in the neighborhood to ask if anybody had seen her," Beer said. "On that day we put signs up on the stop signs and took signs to some of the local businesses. I called the vets and the humane society and filed a missing dog report with them."

One of the people they contacted was Brenda Daubenspeck. Also a boxer owner, Daubenspeck took the search to the Internet. She posted pictures of Mazi on every missing animal website and local forum she could find, including Craigslist and the Hudson Patch Facebook page. Beer also regularly monitored Craigslist in case anyone was trying to sell the dog.

"By the third day I was starting to think she was stolen," Beer said. "The snow was so deep around here that she didn't have that many places to go."

Meanwhile, the temperature was dropping and Johannsen was getting worried.

"She's our life, like our child," Johannsen said. "Every day I would break down. Every day that went by you just lose that much more hope. It didn't feel right to do anything without her. You don't realize how much of your life involves a dog until it's not there anymore."

Online forums advised the couple to have strong-smelling food outside along with clothes they had worn in case Mazi picked up the scent and wandered back home.

At about 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb 8, the couple got word from Pam Hofer, who lived about a half mile away, heard a dog crying in the woods earlier that day. When Hofer ventured into the woods to check, the animal stopped making noise.

At about 5:30, when Hofer's neighbor Michelle Schoeder heard the story, she called her daughter Emily Pelton and told her to take the family's golden retriever Bennie into the woods to look for a whimpering dog—but Emily and Bennie didn't find the dog.

After another failed attempt an hour later, the search party had grown. Michelle's husband Steve, and their neighbor Nancy Martel joined Pam and Emily for another search. This time they looked under trees and bushes and found Mazi curled up in an icy bed she had made for herself.

Mazi wasn't receptive to Steve handling her, so Emily put her coat over the dog and laid down next to her to warm her with her body heat while Pam called the owners.

After the discovery, it became obvious that Mazi was in desperate need of medical care. She had painful sores on her hind legs, broken teeth and, most noticeably, she had lost quite a bit of weight.

"She lost 11 pounds, and she only weighed 55 to begin with," Beer said. "She was very dehydrated and very hungry."

The couple brought her to the Animal Emergency Clinic in Oakdale, MN, where Dr. Jeff Bush cared for the ailing pooch.

"They said she looked pretty good given the situation; they started her immediately on fluids and tried to get some food in her," Beer said. "They were really worried about the sores on her back legs. They thought it might have been frostbite. After checking her out they said it wasn't frostbite, but a sore, like a bed sore, from laying on the ice, or she got hit by something."

In addition, Mazi had two broken teeth that were embedded in her gums.

When checking out of the Animal Emergency Clinic, the couple was informed that $500 of their vet bill was paid for by an anonymous donor. Mazi spent the next day and night at the couple's local vet Hillcrest Animal Hospital in Hudson under the care of Dr. Chris Cole.

Charlie and Shaina brought Mazi home on Friday, Feb. 11, a week and a half after she ran away.

"We just really want to stress how thankful we are for everybody who supported us through this and helped with the search," Johannsen said. "We are so thankful for what Pam, Michelle, Steve, Emily, and Nancy did for us. Also, we are so appreciative of the $500 donation. There are some great people out there."

Source: http://hudson-wi.patch.com/articles/burkhardt-couple-reunited-with-lost-dog-after-eight-day-search

Sophie, sheltie

As hope almost lost, dog was found
By Susan Weich - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
April 17, 2010

Overland, Mo. — Bob and Tammy Young of Overland started a high-tech search when their sheltie Sophie ran away in December, but an old-fashioned dog tag is what reunited them nearly three months later.

See the story here

The 2-year-old dog darted out the front door in December when the Youngs and other family members were decorating for Christmas. The timid dog apparently didn’t like all the commotion, and she ran outside when the Youngs’ adult son was leaving. After he chased Sophie for four blocks, she was out of sight.

Bob Young, 48, said he was beside himself. “I love my dogs; they’re my world, and Sophie was my baby,” he said.

The Youngs posted signs, checked regularly with local animal shelters and handed out fliers, but they also posted ads on the Internet and used an online service to send out 2,500 automated phone calls to people living in the area.

They contacted the Overland Business Association, and officials sent out a mass e-mail to members, asking them to pass the information along to everyone in their computer address books. They used Facebook to alert their friends about their plight.

The Youngs bundled up and went out looking for Sophie at all hours of the night, and they worried every time it snowed, sleeted or the temperature dipped near zero. Sophie had a microchip identification implant, so at first the Youngs were confident someone would find her and a vet or animal control office would scan the chip and notify them.

“As the weeks went by, we thought she was either dead someplace or somebody had found her and decided to keep her or take her to breed her,” said Young.

Then on Feb. 28, a man called to ask if they owned a dog named Sophie. He said he was putting out his trash cans when he noticed her, collapsed in his driveway and called the number listed on her heart-shaped dog tag.

The man lived in Olivette, just three miles from the Youngs, but it was across busy Page Avenue and Olive Street and a set of active railroad tracks from their home. The caller told them to hurry because Sophie was in bad shape.

Young and his son got her and sped to an animal hospital in Bridgeton. “I knew she was alive because she was breathing shallowly, but I was scared to death that we found her only for her to die in our arms,” he said. “As time went on, we prayed; we prayed a lot.”

Sophie got basic care there and then was referred to a 24-hour animal hospital for hypothermia and malnutrition. While there she also got a transfusion with blood donated by a Great Dane.

Sophie had weighed 27 pounds when she ran away, but now her weight was just 11 pounds.

Dr. Anne Wood, a veterinarian who coordinates the emergency clinic at Midwest Veterinary Referral Center in Chesterfield, said, “Initially, I gave her a 50-50 chance of surviving, but I’ve never seen a dog as emaciated as she was survive.”

Niki Prunty, a vet technician at the clinic, said said Sophie’s prognosis now is very good she is back up to 20 pounds and she should have no lasting side effects from her time on the street.

Young is grateful for all the care Sophie got, and recently he and his wife went back to the animal hospital and donated blankets, towels and toys for the other dogs.

“There were a couple of weeks after we found her that I couldn’t even talk about her or look at her without crying,” Young said. “I would tell people in similar circumstances to never give up because there’s always hope.”

Source: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/apr/17/hope-almost-lost-dog-was-found/
Printer-friendly version here; video here

Harry, bull mastiff

Harry's Big Adventure
Silver Oaks Ranch
August 2007

Big Trees

It all started on Saturday morning, August 11, 2007 at 9am in the morning. It was a glorious day in the California Sierra Nevada; the air was crisp and clean and the scent of pine and sequoia trees was wafting through the air. We were just starting a brief holiday in the serene Big Trees area. We were staying with close friends at their hideaway mountain home which is situated on one of the corners of the Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Harry (our bull mastiff) bounded out the door and into the forest after his breakfast that morning. That was the last we saw of him till Tuesday, August 14, 2007.

Flyer for missing Harry

Lost

Harry got lost in the forest. We searched for two and a half days for Harry. We called day and night for Harry to come home. We slept little and the whole weekend seemed like a bad dream that we wished we could wake up from. We traversed the roads and covered the area in flyers. We even ventured deep into the forest in hopes of locating him. But all that we tried did not reveal Harry’s location to us. It was a difficult time and we were all starting to lose hope that we would ever see Harry again.

To Lake Tahoe

On Monday, August 13, 2007 we left Big Trees and proceed up to Tahoe. We had previously planned to meet friends in Lake Tahoe. We tried to put on a good face but we were all miserable. However, all was not lost.

During dinner that night, I glanced down at my cell phone and noted that I had a message waiting for me. The message was from our friends in Big Trees. I went outside the restaurant to pick up the message. I was hoping that it was good news, but I was also trying to prepare myself for the worst. I dialed their number and waited.

Kathy answered the phone and told me the good news; Harry was found alive and was with them! I was so relieved that my knees wobbled and I had to sit down.

Harry Found

The next day we headed back to Big Tree and to our reunion with Harry. What a joyous reunion it was. The story of how Harry was found is better than fiction. He was found on the North Fork of the Stanislaus River about 10-15 miles away from our friend’s mountain home. The red “x” on the map is where we were staying and the red circled area was where Harry was found.

The Rescue Story

A man named Bruce and his nephew were fishing three miles beyond the end of the trail of the North Fork of the Stanislaus River. Not many people go out that far and it is quite remote. They heard an animal howling in desperation. The howling was coming from the other side of the Stanislaus River, which is quite deep and has a strong current. Bruce braved the river and swam across it navigating around submerged boulders to reach the other side and investigate the noise. He climbed over the rocks by the bank to find a rather large dog trapped in a crevasse. He had to climb in and lift the dog out which was not an easy task, since Harry weighs about 140 lbs.

Harry was dehydrated and physically exhausted. He drank heavily from the river and tried to follow Bruce and his nephew out but Harry was so worn-out that Bruce had to carry him a good portion of the way back up the ridge to his vehicle (about a 3 mile trek). He took Harry to the Park Ranger who had heard about the missing dog from the flyers and our efforts to talk to as many people as possible in the Calaveras Big Trees State Park. The ranger called our wonderful friends and they picked Harry up from the Ranger’s station. Our friends thanked Bruce for his heroic deed and told him about the $1,000 reward for Harry’s return.

Bruce is one of those rare, good-hearted people. He did not want the reward and was just happy to help out. Needless to say we insisted that he take the reward. He decided that he would donate the reward to a charity of his choice.

We are very lucky that we have such good friends and that Bruce and his nephew discovered our dog. It is wonderful to know such quality people.

Source (and lots of great pictures at): http://silveroakranch.com/gpage2.html

Koozie, Rhodesian Ridgeback/chow mix

Dog missing for days rescued on Lake Erie
By S Alexander Gerould
March 17, 2010

WESTFIELD When Nate Myers, his mother Dixie, and sister Amanda decided to take a walk along Lake Erie near Bourne's Beach, they had no idea it wouldn't be just a usual trek along the shore.

Nate, a fisherman, was checking on the conditions of the mouth of a creek which runs into the lake. Meanwhile, his mother and sister were busy taking photographs of the natural wonders lining the lake's shore.

But, out in the lake, something didn't seem right.

"They were taking pictures of the lake, and I happened to look out and saw a dark spot. I thought, 'What is that?'" Nate said. "I noticed it started moving. We have a pretty good camera, so we zoomed in on it and realized there was a dog out there."

HOLDING OUT HOPE

Phil Frost lives near Evangola State Park and Farnham, about 30 miles away from Westfield. It was around mid-morning on Thursday, March 11, when he noticed his dog, Koozie, a Rhodesian Ridgeback and Chow mix, had gone missing. Frost filed a pet Amber alert online, plastered his friends' Facebook pages with messages asking if they had seen his dog and put about 200 fliers at area businesses around his home.

"I was searching the woods since Thursday afternoon for some time, every day getting out of the woods well after dark," Frost said. "I would get out there first thing in the morning."

Then, on Tuesday, he got a call from a friend about a dog which was stuck on the Lake Erie ice near Barcelona.

"My buddy called and said his mother saw the news and there was a dog (stuck on the ice)," Frost said. "So, I jumped on and I was watching it (the news). It was dark, but you could see the thermal image of the dog. I looked at it, and I knew right away it was her. I could tell from the silhouette, the way she moved. They said the dog had actually bit one of the rescuers and I said, 'Wow, that sounds like Koozie to me.'"

Frost then called the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office, who put him in touch with the Westfield Volunteer Fire Department.

"I called them and gave them a description. They called back and said they think they found my dog and sent me a picture," Frost said. "All I could care about was please let it be her. I must have said that about a million times. All I could think about was getting her home."

THE RESCUE

At first, Nate said he and his family were unsure of what to do, as they thought the dog's owner may have walked out onto the ice or was nearby. After a while, they decided to call the Westfield Police, who put them in touch with the fire department.

Soon, a rescue effort was under way, with Westfield firefighters donning wet suits and using a ice sled, while an Erie County Sheriff's helicopter and a rescue boat from Dewittville headed to the scene.

"It took a while to finally decide what to do," said Randy Edwards, assistant Westfield Volunteer Fire Department Chief. "We got our ice team out there and our ice sled. We had guys get their wet suits on, go out and try to capture the dog to get him back in. We just tried and tried and tried for about two hours."

After attempts by the Erie County Sheriff's helicopter to get close enough to the dog to scare it towards the firefighters and others, rescuers decided to call the rescue off for the night around 10:15 p.m.

"We went home and decided to come back today," Edwards said. 'We didn't want to do that (leave Monday night), but we didn't have much choice."

Around 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, the rescuers returned to the dog, and, using the helicopter, lowered an individual to the ice using a lift. They were then able to capture the animal, but not before it ran off and rescue personnel had to chase it down. The dog was taken to a local veterinarian's office to be checked out.

"He was basically okay, a couple of minor problems," Edwards said. "The dog is in good shape and the owner is happy."

'A HAPPY ENDING'

To everyone involved in the rescue, it couldn't have gone any better. They were able to rescue the dog and reunite someone with his best friend.

"To me, it was very rewarding," Edwards said. "Everybody said it's only a dog, but, to me, it's part of somebody's family. I was very, very happy that today we were able to finish the job off and have a happy ending out of it."

Frost was quick to express his gratitude for the work all the rescuers had done.

"I have so much appreciation for what these guys have done," he said, "all these guys risking their lives going out there on the ice and doing what comes natural to them."

He was also clearly overjoyed at having his dog back.

"It's a huge relief," Frost said. "I've been heartbroken since Thursday. I've had her for eight years since she was a 10 month-old pup. She's my baby. There's nothing better right now in the world for me."

Source: http://www.observertoday.com/page/content.detail/id/537401.html
Printer-friendly version here

Codi, spaniel-poodle mix

Finding Codi: Family reunited after 11-day Ridge search for missing dog
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

Bella, chow-GSD mix

Rescued dog reunited with her owners
Associated Press
March 9, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Days after being pulled from an ice-covered lake, a 10-year-old dog missing for two weeks is back in the warmth of her owner's home.

Bella the wayward Chow-German shepherd mix was reunited Friday with her family, three days after her rescue from Lake Lemon. She found her water bowl and food dish where they have always been, even though owner Hannah Shuler feared her 50-pound mutt might be dead.

"I didn't have the heart to put it away after she was gone," Shuler said.

Bella was rescued Tuesday from ice and mud about 200 feet from shore on Lake Lemon near Bloomington. Monroe County animal control officials used a boat to pull her to safety after the dog spent about 10 hours in the lake's icy waters. The canine was taken to a veterinarian for treatment of hypothermia.

When her photograph appeared on the front page of Friday's editions of The Herald-Times, Shuler's partner, Boyd McGinnis, spotted Bella's familiar brown muzzle. The dog had an intravenous line in her foreleg and an apprehensive look on her face.

While Shuler had given up on seeing Bella again, her daughter, Ramona, had remained optimistic.

"She believed that people might have found her and that she was saved," Shuler said. "And as it turns out, Ramona was right."

When Shuler and her daughter arrived home Friday, Bella was waiting inside by the door.

"She seems disoriented, and is kind of pacing around back and forth," Shuler said.

She said Bella had vanished two weeks ago after being let outside following a trip to the vet for breathing problems. She feared Bella might have gone off to die because Bella didn't seem much better after receiving some medicine.

Source: http://pets.kansascity.com/article/4656&pt=Rescued-dog-reunited-with-her-owners

Spikey, german shepherd

Dog saved from river returns home

By Wire Services

Feb 4, 2010

DOWNEY — The German shepherd that was rescued from the rushing Los Angeles River in Vernon during last month’s heavy rains went home to his Maywood family Tuesday.

Spikey was plucked from the river by a Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter crew Jan. 22 in a rescue that was carried live by television stations and was later broadcast nationwide.

The dog bit the thumb of Joe St Georges, the firefighter who was lowered by a hoist into the river and captured the frightened dog. St Georges said he sympathized with the frightened animal and understood why he bit him.

“He didn’t actually break through the glove,” St Georges said of his injury. “He just was able to get hold of it and bite down hard enough he broke the tip of the bone.

“I’m doing fine. I’m off duty. I’ll be returning to light duty. We’re not really sure how long I’ll be on light duty. It’ll depend on the healing process of the thumb. I’m guessing at least a month.”

After spending the last 10 days in quarantine at the Southeast Area Animal Control Agency facility in Downey, Spikey was released to his owner, 70-year-old Maria Medina, and her family.

Medina’s son, Ramon, told reporters Spikey was a “good dog.”

“He takes care of … the house. When somebody’s around, he’s always alert,” he said.

Ramon Medina said he was glad firefighters went to such effort to save the family pet.

“It’s unbelievable. … Some people have told me why do all this work for a dog?” he said. “And many people have told me ... the job that was done, it was worth it ... for saving the dog’s life.”

Spikey and the family’s other dog, a yellow Labrador named Polo, escaped from the family’s yard through a gate that was apparently left open by a young child. Polo was found the next day in the same area as Spikey’s rescue.

Officials at SEAACA said a Medina family member contacted them Jan. 25 to claim the dog — who had been dubbed “Vernon” by firefighters. SEAACA workers went to the Medina home to confirm the dog’s ownership.

Spikey wore a muzzle as he was handed back to his family. Ramon Medina conceded that the dog was nervous, having been through such an ordeal.

The firefighters involved in the rescue, meanwhile, were awarded a “Knights of Katrina award by the MuttShack Animal Rescue Foundation.

Source: http://www.wavenewspapers.com/news/local/herald-american/83574227.html
Printer-friendly version here

Indy, Shiba Inu

Kids rescue dog in woods
Published: November 13, 2006

A local Carmel dog is lucky to be alive after spending five weeks alone trapped in the woods, its leash stuck around a tree.

Hari Palta was walking Indy, a 4-year-old Shiba Inu, on Sept. 22 when Palta slipped, fell and let go of the leash. Indy, who had just been adopted by Palta’s son Rahul, 24, ran away.

The Paltas and Cindy Mahaffey, the assistant fund-raising coordinator for Midwest Shiba Inu, started an exhaustive, monthlong search. They searched the woods near Hari Palta’s home, posted 1,000 fliers around the neighborhood and surrounding businesses and placed messages on various Internet Web boards.

They received several responses, but each proved to be a dead end. After more than a month of fruitless searching, Rahul feared he would never see his dog again.

“We got several sightings, but they all turned out to be another dog or a fox,” Mahaffey said.

On Oct. 29, three local girls, Kaitlyn Kaminskas, 9, Ashley Yuska, 8, and her sister Rachel Yuska, 10, were walking in the woods when they heard howling and found a small, malnourished dog. They fed the ravenous pooch some bread and cheese, but couldn’t untangle the leash from the tree.

The girls didn’t know what to do about the dog, so they told their friends Joe Shelly, 9, and Natalie Broton, 11. Shelly told his parents and his dad Stacy cut Indy free. Stacy Shelly said the dog was extremely weak from his ordeal and needed to be carried home. Stacy Shelly found Indy’s tag and called Rahul. In a matter of hours, the dog and his owner were reunited.

Indy was a little worse for wear, but alive, Rahul said. He lost about a third of his body weight while he was trapped in the woods. The Paltas believe Indy managed to survive eating grubs and grass and drinking pooled rainwater. Indy’s veterinarian said the dog would have died in a few more days had he not been rescued.

Before Rahul adopted Indy, Mahaffey said, two families had already rejected him because he seemed too shy and timid. He liked to hide from people and hated to make eye contact with humans or other animals. Noises and sudden movements frightened him.

He also seemed to have a fear of open spaces, preferring to lie in the corner of a room, she said. Indy also didn’t eat or drink much; he would take a single piece of food from his bowl to a corner where he would nibble on it until it was finished. Mahaffey blames Indy’s antisocial behavior on his upbringing as a breeder dog.

“He didn’t seem interested in being a normal pet,” Mahaffey said. But Rahul didn’t mind Indy’s shyness. He was convinced with a lot of love and attention, he would be able to turn Indy around.

“He’s one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever seen,” Rahul said. “He’s had a rough life, but I thought I could give him a fresh start and treat him like the great dog that he is.”

Mahaffey describes Shiba Inus as “the cats of the dog world,” as they are fairly aloof and clean. The smallest of the Japanese dog breeds, they resemble Siberian huskies and Akitas. Shibas typically reach about 24 pounds and 16 inches tall. Shiba Inu means “lawn dog” in Japanese.

Indy has regained nearly 2 pounds and seems to be less shy around people, Rahul said. He is more willing to go up to people now and is starting to enjoy attention more. Hari believes Indy is more trusting now because he knows how hard they looked for him and how much Rahul cares for him.

To thank the children for finding Indy, Mahaffey persuaded local businesses, such as Regal Cinemas and Dick’s Sporting Goods, to donate gift certificates. The Shellys have grown so attached to Indy, they’ve offered to dog sit for him whenever Rahul leaves town.

Source: http://www.goodnewsblog.com/2006/11/13/kids-rescue-dog-in-woods

Mojo

Dog survives plunge into frozen pond, reunited with lost owner
Fox59.com
January 7, 2010


INDIANAPOLIS - No one would blame Shannon Burkett if she had given up hope she'd ever get reunited with her lost dog Mojo. The little dog is more than lucky. In fact, his survival story defies belief.

His name is Mojo and he's resting at home after having beaten the odds by not only surviving a life-threatening scare, but by being reunited with his relieved owner.

A passerby saw Mojo struggling to stay a float in a nearly frozen pond at the Quail Creek subdivision in Lawrence. Somehow, the dog had stayed alive in near zero degree temperatures long enough for firefighters to pull him out and put him on oxygen. He was transported by ambulance to a nearby animal hospital.

"We could not get his temperature to register on the thermometer for an hour and a half and we'd already started the warm-up process," said Randall Grosser of the Post Pet Hospital

But Mojo's luck didn't end there. A friend of Shannon's saw the rescue on Fox59 and called her. Mojo had wandered away from Shannon's home more than a month ago and hadn't been seen since.

"I was with a friend who's very familiar with Mojo and he said, 'it's him,'" said Burkett.

Shannon's faint hopes came true. His vet says Mojo will recover from pneumonia back at home. Something his owner could have never imagined.

"My gosh, they pulled him out of the water for 30 minutes. I was so upset. I just want to thank the firefighters, the rescue team that did that for him," said Burkett.

Shannon also says she hopes everyone remembers Mojo the next time they see a stray.

"Just because they see a dog walking and it's a stray and they think somebody doesn't care about them, that's not true. Nine times out of ten there's a story behind it," she added.

His vet also says Mojo must have been taken care of by someone who found him after he wandered from home.

Source: http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-one-lucky-dog-010709,0,1363436.story

Polly, chow mix

Dog rescued from icy creek reunited with owner
By Trent Faris
Jan 05, 2010

YORK COUNTY, SC (WBTV) - A dog in Fort Mill who was rescued from an icy creek earlier this week has been reunited with its owner.

A 13-year-old female chow named Polly was trapped in the frigid water in Sugar Creek for 24 hours. The conditions were so bad, most humans would have barely survived.

When Chris Bennett walked down to the creek behind his home on Sunday, he thought he heard an injured dog in the woods.

"I started walking up the cliff, I looked over and saw the dog buried in the mud," said Bennett.  He got into the water and attempted to remove Polly from the water.

"It was absolutely like liquid ice," said Bennett. While trying to lift her out, Bennett almost got stuck in the mud himself. So, he ran back to his house and dialed 911.

For more than two hours, crews with Fort Mill Rescue pried Polly from the creek.

Animal control officers said Polly ran away from her home in Lancaster County because she was frightened by fireworks on New Year's Eve.

Neighbor David Yarns caught the rescue on video. The dog's hair was so badly matted, it was waterlogged and frozen.

Since Polly did not have an identification tag or microchip, the staff at Palmetto Veterinary Medicine in McConnell's temporarily named her "Jane Dog."

"I don't think in my 21 years of practice I've seen one this badly matted," said Dr. Karen Stallings.

It took veterinarian technician Kristi Sutton two and a half hours to shave Polly down. Without the extra hair, the dog weighed 73 pounds and the pile of shaved hair weighed 36 pounds. Altogether, Jane Dog weighed close to 110 pounds.

Dr. Stallings said Polly weighed 150 pounds soaking wet. Stallings says it's hard to classify Polly as abused due to the matted hair because she was well fed.

"It should never get to this extreme," said Dr. Stallings.

The hair could have been a blessing because it probably kept Polly warm enough until she was rescued.

According to York County Animal Shelter Director Chris Peninger, Polly belongs to a senior citizen in Lancaster County. Peninger said the woman loves the dog, but she was unable to lift Polly to take her to the vet or groomer.

The woman was reportedly beside herself when a family member said they heard on the news the dog was found.

The woman was brought to the shelter Tuesday morning and paid to have Polly microchipped, her shots updated, and groomed. She even made arrangements to have Polly taken to a vet in Lancaster County for further observation.

"When you have an animal that old who has been with someone that long, it's always a great feeling so they can go home," said Peninger.

The animal control says pet owners should check to make sure their pets have a collar or microchip. They say its very important to have both to ensure an owner is reunited with their lost pet quickly.

Source: http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11767402
Printer-friendly version here

Another version of the story:

Rescued Dog Reunited With Owner
A dog that nearly froze to death in an icy creek over the weekend is back in a warm house with a very happy owner.

Lavinia Harper, 75, of Lancaster County came to York County animal control Tuesday morning, and picked up her lost and very lucky chow, "Polly."

Through tears she told Eyewitness News how grateful she is.

"We’ve been together for a long time, and I thought she was gone forever," Harper said.

Eyewitness News learned Tuesday that "Polly" is 13 years old, blind and deaf. Harper last saw her Friday, before she wandered away from home, and ended up nearly submerged in Sugar Creek in Fort Mill, three miles away.

The dog's old age and lack of hearing and sight led rescuers to believe that she fell down an embankment, and couldn't get out of the frigid water.

She became stuck in thick mud. Volunteers from the Fort Mill rescue squad worked for an hour to free her, after a neighbor heard a yelping sound from his backyard and called 911.

The dog's fur was so heavily matted with mud and weighed down with water, she couldn't get out of the creek.

"That is one lucky dog," animal control director Chris Penninger said. After being taken to a local vet, "Polly" was found in good health.

"There was no frost bite, no hypothermia, no injuries. She's doing great," she said.

Harper heard the story on local newscasts and came to animal control Tuesday morning. She has had "Polly" since the dog was a puppy.

Penninger said it was clear the lost dog had found its true owner.

"She described her dog to a 't' right down to the sty in her eye, right down to a small clip in one ear, so there's no doubt in my mind that this is her dog," she said.

Harper is legally blind herself, and her granddaughter drove her to York to pick "Polly" up. She jokes that she and her dog share some of the same infirmities.

"She’s just like me," Harper laughed. “She’s gonna stay home in the house now."

Harper is grateful to the alert neighbors who helped, and the volunteer rescue teams that braved terrible weather and icy water to save her dog's life.

"I’m thankful for every single one of them. May God bless them," she said.

Source: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/22142821/detail.html
Printer-friendly story here

Millie, Australian shepherd

Dog trapped for 3 weeks reunited with owner
Pat Reavy, Deseret News
Monday, Dec. 7, 2009

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Family members say it was a remarkable reunion Sunday when their dog — who police believe survived being trapped in a storm drain for three weeks — was discovered and rescued.

Sue Garr holds her dog, Millie, who went missing for three weeks and was found in a storm drain on Sunday.

When Susan Garr got home from work on Nov. 13 she discovered her dog was missing from the backyard.

Millie, a 2-year-old Australian shepherd, had a bad habit of jumping over their 6-foot fence, Garr said. She thought Millie had gotten out and likely was picked up by officers from Animal Control, which wouldn't be open until Monday.

"I assumed she was in doggie jail," Garr said.

But on that Monday, Garr learned none of the local animal shelters had picked up her dog. She called the Cottonwood Heights Animal Control officer assigned to her case constantly, doing everything she could to find her dog.  Three weeks went by, however, and there was no sign of Millie.

"We thought she was going to be dead," Garr said.

That changed, however, when a 15-year-old was walking home from the store near 2600 East and Ft. Union Blvd. The girl heard the dog barking and called 911.

Police and fire crews opened up the drain and the dog jumped out. Right away, animal control officers knew it was Millie.

"We really do think she had been down there three and a half weeks," Garr said. "She was dirty and very, very happy to see us. She's a tough little girl."

The Garrs live near 3000 East and 7200 South. Neither they nor police were exactly sure Monday how Millie got into the storm drain.

Millie had lost 13 pounds but is otherwise OK. Garr believes she was able to survive by drinking water in the storm drain and eating a diet of garbage and mice. Because she was six feet underground in the pipes, Millie was protected from the recent winter weather and cold temperatures.

Monday, Garr said Millie was home and "smells good again."

Garr and her husband called the young girl who found Millie and thanked her. They also noted that Millie would now be kept indoors when they weren't at home.

Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705349898/Trapped-dog-reunited-with-owner.html

Printer-friendly version here

Boomer, JRT

Hunter returns missing dog to family
Michael A. Sawyers, Cumberland Times-News
December 24, 2009

FROSTBURG — For the Dolchan family, Christmas came early, on Dec. 22, when their blind, 14-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Boomer, was returned to them after spending five nights on Big Savage Mountain, surviving one of the worst snow storms in anybody’s memory.

Fourteen-year-old Boomer, a Jack Russell terrier, is pictured with his family, Tyler, Liam, Katie, Bill, and Madison Dolchan Wednesday evening after he was found after being lost during last weekend’s snowstorm. The dog is blind.

“We let him out to pee like we always do,” said Katie Dolchan. “It was 5:15 p.m. Dec. 17.”

Katie’s husband, Bill, said Boomer’s routine is to do his business, return to the garage and bark, whereupon the door to warmth and love is opened and Boomer re-enters for pets from the Dolchan kids, Tyler, Madison and Liam.

This time there was no barking. This time there was no Boomer. Bill readily admits that this time there was panic.

“Tyler and I started looking and couldn’t find a trace of him. For three hours we searched, driving around using a spotlight. I’m sure people thought we were trying to spotlight deer.”

Katie, who was summoned from one of her children’s activities, figured a coyote had gotten the Jack Russell. “We could hear coyotes on the mountain as we searched,” she said.

As the days wore on, Katie said Liam, 4, would say his regular prayers at night and then add “Please, God, watch over my lost doggie, Boomer.” A prayer request went forth from Emmanuel United Methodist Church, the Dolchan’s house of worship on Pocahontas Road. The prayer was realistic, according to Katie, asking anybody who had knowledge of Boomer, either dead or alive, to contact the family.

Bill said he figured that Boomer, with the family since puppyhood, was a goner.

“A lot of people have told me that old dogs wander away to die,” Bill said. “And maybe they are right, but I didn’t want that for Boomer. I want him to die in my arms when the time comes, not out on a cold mountain.”

That option remains open.

When Santa arrived at the Dolchan residence on Frostburg Road on Tuesday, it wasn’t Kris Kringle in a sled but Donnie Shingler in his pickup truck.

“They sure were happy to get their dog back,” Shingler said later in an understatement that vies for world-record status.

On Tuesday, Shingler was using his muzzleloader to hunt deer about three-quarters of a mile and uphill from the Dolchan residence.

“It’s a place I’ve hunted all my life,” said the Eckhart resident. “It was about 4 p.m. and I hadn’t even seen any tracks so I was walking out when I looked off to the side and saw something stick its head up out of the snow.”

That something was Boomer.

Shingler said he walked 25 feet through the deep snow and could see that Boomer had been in that one spot throughout the major weekend snowstorm. “He moved a little when I got to him, but it was easy to pick him up.

Shortly thereafter, Boomer was in Shingler’s pickup truck and was eating a deer bologna sandwich. “He wolfed it down,” Shingler said. Shingler, by the way, has a Jack Russell terrier of his own, a 6-year-old male named Hubble.

Shingler took Boomer to Eckhart and called his friend Dan Cutter.

Voila. Cutter happened to be a member of Emmanuel United Methodist Church and had heard the prayer request for a lost and blind family pet.

Bill Dolchan remembers his drive home Tuesday. “When I got to our driveway Tyler was running toward me carrying Boomer’s blanket and he told me Boomer was on the way home,” Bill said.

Boomer is home now. He has a little frostbite injury on his nose. He has even been allowed up on the couch, a former no-no. And, so much for privacy, he never gets to pee alone.

Source:  http://www.times-news.com/local/local_story_358140156.html
Printer-friendly version here

Alex, a dalmatian

Dog Rescued After Four Days in Storm Drain
Two Days of Digging Pay Off for Alex, the Dalmatian
Reporter: Bill Murray
Aug 19, 2007

SUNDAY AFTERNOON STORY (original) Sunday afternoon emergency crews in Genoa, Wayne County got an unusual call for help. Larry Thompson told first responders that his dog, Alex was trapped 15 feet underground in an old storm drain. He had been missing since Friday. Family members started hearing sounds of a dog whimpering coming from the storm drain Sunday morning. The drain pipe is in their driveway and is more than 30 years old. As of 2:30 Sunday afternoon, the dog is still stuck. Family members say Larry has crawled down in the hole to comfort his dog and try to help with the rescue. SWAZI has a crew on the scene and will update this story as details come in.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Sunday afternoon the search was called off for a Dalmatian trapped 20 feet underground in a storm drain in Wayne County. Sunday evening family members decided to keep digging. They say they have spent Sunday evening talking to Alex and praying for him.

Earlier Sunday, Larry Thompson tried to rescue his Dalmatian named Alex. He says the dog climbed down into a storm drain to cool off. The dog got stuck and efforts to rescue him became dangerous. At one point Larry crawled down into the storm drain to try to help free his dog but a wall of dirt started falling in on him. Larry climbed out and had to leave his family pet behind. A friend with a backhoe helped dig Sunday afternoon. The family has called for an excavation crew to come in Monday morning and resume the search for Alex. As of 10 Sunday night the family says they can still hear Alex but have not been able to do any more digging. Rescue efforts will continue Monday morning.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Triumph over tragedy in Wayne County Monday afternoon. After days of digging, a family found their buried dog alive. Larry Thompson first noticed his 14 year old dalmatian was missing on Thursday night. Over the weekend, he heard noises and realized the dog, Alex, had fallen in a storm drain. Family, friends and a back hoe, that dug another hole 30 feet deep helped in a rescue fueled by hope.

Larry Thompson says, "A lot of people wouldn't give it a time of day or even attempt to get the animal out. I wanted to get him out alive or dead, either one. The effort was worth it both ways."

After four days underground, Alex was rushed to a vet in Huntington to be checked out.

The Thompson family is grateful for all the messages of support, received from around the region, on Alex's rescue.

Source: http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/9247576.html
Printer-friendly version here

Marmite, a Jack Russell Terrier

Animal psychic reunites owner with pet a week after dog goes missing
The Daily Mail
12 May 2008

A dog trapped shivering underground in a tiny hole has been rescued by his frantic owner - after a psychic pinpointed where he was.

Ruff trip: Marmite the Jack Russell had been missing for a week before her owner enlisted the help of an animal psychic

Marmite the Jack Russell had been missing for a week when Nikki Newcombe decided to turn to a medium for help. Sales manager Nikki, 35, had been desperately hunting for the ten-year-old pet around her home in Brownhills, Walsall after he disappeared last Tuesday.

At one point during the week-long search she had even hired hi-tech gadgetry to see if he had become trapped in a rabbit hole. But despite days of effort she had failed to uncover any clues to the Marmite's whereabouts - or whether he was even still alive.

Ms Newcombe said: "We had thermal imaging equipment brought out in an effort to find him, we were that worried.

"We even dug holes out that we had found in case he was there - just searching high and low for him."

Nikki, who lives on a farm with her partner and baby daughter Erin, said Marmite had gone missing after he had been let out in the morning. She looked high and low for him but failed to find him so decided to use other unconventional methods to track her pet down. It was then she phoned animal psychic Pea Horsley, who says she is able to telepathically talk to any species.

As Nikki spoke to the 35-year-old medium, who is based 100 miles away in London, she was told that Marmite was wedged in a man made hole with water at the bottom and concrete around it. The mum-of-one carefully pieced together the information in her head and started along the route from the house Pea had described to her. Arriving at the locks of a nearby disused canal a mile from her home, she looked around and instantly realised where her dog was trapped.

Nikki said: "She explained to us the route he had taken from my house and detailed landmarks he had passed on the way.

"She said that Marmite was trapped in a hole, but was very careful to say it definitely wasn't a rabbit hole.

"The medium said the hole was man made and my dog had got stuck in there.

"She then said that his paws were wet and there was water down there. When she described that to me I knew where Marmite was.

"I just followed the trail she had given me and I was there within an hour after a whole week of fruitless searching.

"The place where he was trapped looked like the entrance to a mine shaft, but very narrow.

"It only went about a foot horizontally inside before it comes to a deep drop down."

In deep: Firefighters managed to rescue Marmite from this tiny underground hole

Peering over the edge and straining to look in the darkness, Nikki realised she could see Marmite at the bottom, scratching at the sides trying to get out.

She said: "The dog was jumping up and down, really excited to see us, hopping and barking - obviously keen to get out.

"He had lost quite a bit of weight because of the lack of food, but there was water down there so he was lucky in a way."

A rescue attempt began in earnest as West Midlands Fire Bridgade was called to try and free the trapped animal. Firefighters managed to lower Marmite's basket into the chamber inside the canal sluice gate and coax the dog into getting inside. He was then lifted to safety and reunited with his owner.

Pea, who is one of just 20 animal communicators in the UK, said tracing animals was just one aspect of her job. She said people would send her pictures of their pet and she would look into their eyes to connect with them and intuitively find out where they were.

She said: "Just by connecting with Marmite I could get a sense that that he was still alive, but he was trapped somewhere.

"I knew he wasn't down a rabbit hole, but instead some kind of man made structure.

"He felt cold, it was dark and he felt quite exhausted.

"I know it certainly helped Nikki to find him quickly, it is probably one of the quickest I have ever found."

And Nikki admitted her brush with the psychic world had convinced her all astral and telepathic was a reality. She added: "I was really getting to my wits' end with worrying about where Marmite could have been.

"We did all the logical things to track him down, so we decided to resort to other means.

"I definitely believe in the psychic world now - it was incredible the way he was found."

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-565965/Animal-psychic-reunites-owner-pet-week-dog-goes-missing.html#

Printer-friendly version here

Max, a lab

City workers free trapped dog from sewer pipe
Scared, sickly mutt named Max safely returned to his Minnesota owner
Wed July 11, 2007

MANKATO, Minn. - The sound of barking underneath a street Tuesday led a team of city workers to a dog trapped in a narrow culvert — and you might say they used a backward approach to rescue the mutt.

Max, a 13-year-old Labrador retriever, gets a little attention from his owners, John and Kathy Kachelmyer of rural Mankato, Minn., Wednesday after his recsue.

The sickly, scared dog was about 50 feet from the nearest entry point, but since the culvert was just 15 inches in diameter, the workers couldn't fit into it themselves. Not even offers of food could draw out the dog.

"He was exhausted," said Tony Talamantez, a public works foreman.

Then Talamantez and his colleagues had an idea. They rigged up a long video camera used to inspect drain pipes, and approached the dog from the back. They used the camera to nudge the dog forward until he reached an entry point big enough for a person to pull him out.

The camera recorded the rescue, showing the dog scampering ahead in fits and starts as the camera pokes him in the rear end.

Found after missing for a day

The dog wore no tags, only a worn collar. But Julia Gosen, animal control officer for the city, said the dog's owner saw accounts of the rescue in local media and claimed him Wednesday morning.

The owner "had no idea" how the dog ended up in the drain, Gosen said. "He said he'd gone missing from their house about a day earlier."

City workers weren't sure how the dog, a 13-year-old lab named Max, got into the sewer. They said cats, raccoons and ducks often end up in storm sewers, but Talamantez said it was the first time he'd helped rescue a dog in his 25 years with the city.

"Max got very excited when he saw his owner," Gosen said.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19719350/#story

Angie, shih tzu

City dog, lost on Staten Island for over a month, reunited with owner
Contributed by Stephanie Slepian
October 09, 2008

Angie's a city dog, but she has the instincts of a country hound. The 11-pound, silky-furred Shih Tzu from an East Village pad persevered in the wilds of Clay Pit Pond State Park Preserve for 32 days. And despite the lice and the ticks, Angie is back to being Angie. Not bad for the runt of the litter.

Angie with her owner, Paul O'Neill and his sister, Doris O'Neil Cabrera.

Angie, an 11-pound Shih Tzu, was able to survive on her own for 32 days in Clay Pit Pond State Park.

"She's so bony and skinny, I don't know how she survived out there," said Paul O'Neill, her Manhattanite owner, who had dropped Angie off for dog-sitting at his sister's Rossville home before a vacation to Puerto Rico.

O'Neill spent a few days with his sister, Doris O'Neill Cabrera, before saying his goodbyes to Angie, and her mother and father, Amy and Archie, on Sept. 2.

That evening, Mrs. O'Neill Cabrera took the dogs, along with her own, into the backyard, where Angie manifested a new trick: She could go underneath the deck and come out the other end. That also might have been the means for her great escape.

"She lives in a small Manhattan apartment," Mrs. O'Neill Cabrera said. "She doesn't get outside much. Her only freedom is in my backyard. I had them in the grass in the backyard. She was so happy."

Mrs. O'Neill Cabrera went inside for about 10 minutes, and when she returned, Angie was gone.

Her brother raced back from Manhattan and 25 neighbors banded together with flashlights, searching the neighborhood and its woods. Over the next few days, they put up posters on utility poles, in supermarket windows. The entire community became invested in finding the lost dog. But there was no trace of Angie.

Heartbroken, O'Neill went on vacation, convinced he would get a call that "his baby" had been found. He returned home, but Angie didn't.

He never lost hope -- and on Friday, his phone rang.

"This is your Angie," said the voice on the other end. Three men -- who recognized the dog from the missing posters -- had pulled her out of a thorn-filled ditch in Clay Pit Pond State Park and brought her to the Animal Care and Control shelter in Charleston.

She lost about 3 pounds, her coat had to be shaved to remove the ticks and lice and she was running a fever, but she knew O'Neill in an instant.

"When she saw me, she got really excited," he said. "When I started calling her name, she came right to me."
If only she could tell him how she did it.

"That would be something," O'Neill said. "If she could just point out where she went and where she stayed."

Either way, she answers to a new name now: Angie Angel.

Source: http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/city_dog_lost_on_staten_island.html