Scout, a black labrador retriever

Lost dog, owner reunite after four weeks

Pet survives month on her own in northeast Boulder

By Jean Spencer, Camera Staff Writer

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Andrew Newman with his dog, Scout, on Wednesday. With the help of a cyclist, Newman, of Boulder, found his black Labrador mix after the dog had been lost and injured for four weeks.

BOULDER, Colo. — When Andrew Newman scratches the belly of his 3 ½-year-old dog, Scout, he no longer takes it for granted. His black Labrador mix — and best friend — went missing for four weeks and survived on her own in northeast Boulder.

Last week, Newman and Scout were reunited, and now the two can cuddle and play once again.

“I can’t believe I can hold my dog in my arms again,” Newman said.

Scout ran away early June 24 after being hit by a car. Newman’s father, Robert Newman, had taken her out for a late-night walk when a car “came out of nowhere” at about 30 mph and struck Scout. Her collar and tags were knocked off at impact. The car — and the terrified dog — fled the scene in opposite directions, Robert Newman said.

“I ran after her and tried to keep up with her,” he said. “But she went over a hill, and I lost sight of her.” He called his son, and the two searched the area with flashlights into the morning — the beginning of a four-week, “night-and-day” hunt for the missing dog.

Andrew Newman, who got Scout as a puppy, hung nearly 500 fliers throughout his northeast Boulder neighborhood, on nearby bike paths and up and down Pearl Street. He published “missing” ads in the Camera, the Denver Post and Craigslist. Even after Scout had been missing for 30 days, Newman said, he never lost hope.

“I couldn’t sit and watch TV or read a book without thinking that she was out there somewhere wanting to come home,” he said. Then, on Friday, Newman’s phone rang.

Tanya Kaplan, of Boulder, spotted Scout as she was biking on a trail about two blocks from Newman’s home, 5505 Valmont Road. She had seen a “missing” flier and thought the black, wandering dog resembled Scout. She called Newman.

Newman said he left work early, went to the area of the sighting and called Scout’s name for the umpteenth time, hoping she would finally come.

“And when I turned around, there she was, looking right at me and wagging her tail,” Newman said Wednesday, as Scout crawled under his chair to rest.

Newman said he almost didn’t recognize his dog when he first saw her. She had lost about 12 pounds, had bite marks along her body from possible coyote attacks, had a chipped tooth and a broken toe.

At the Arapahoe Animal Hospital, Dr. Greg Hayes amputated her broken toe — which had developed an infection — and stitched up her wounds. He said her survival was remarkable.

“With the amount of coyotes and mountain lions in that part of town, it is amazing she survived,” Hayes said. “It just shows you how strong some dogs are.” He said Scout had most likely been feeding on small rodents to stay alive.

To ensure Scout doesn’t go missing again, Newman has had an identification microchip embedded under her skin and ordered her a GPS collar, which can track the dog’s movements and send Newman e-mails, text messages or voice messages regarding her whereabouts.

Kaplan, who owns a Lab mix, said she was delighted to have helped reunite the friends, and she refused Newman’s $500 reward offer.

“I’ve lost a dog. I know what it feels like,” Kaplan said.

Source:

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jul/29/lost-dog-owner-reunite-after-four-weeks/

Ella, a Rottweiler

Lost dog's hoarding helps rescuer reunite her with owners
7:52 PM, July 31, 2009
Lindsay Barnett

A lot of humans could learn a thing or two about loyalty from a Rottweiler named Ella. Ella's human family, the Kelleys, were in a horrific car accident in Hickman County, Tenn., on July 1. Ella escaped the wreck in good shape physically, but the Kelleys weren't so lucky -- paramedics rushed all five family members (parents Joe and Michelle and their three children) to a nearby hospital.

Ella was left behind. She remained near the site of the accident for about two weeks, when she was found by a kind rescuer, Kathy Wilkes-Myers. "That's the last spot she saw her family and she was going to stay there," Wilkes-Myers told Nashville's News Channel 5. "She was starved and covered with ticks."

Wilkes-Myers knew something terrible must have happened to Ella for her to be found without her family. She searched the nearby area and returned home with Ella and a plastic bag full of items the dog had hoarded in a little nest -- the family's toothbrushes, a hairbrush and other personal items. Among the personal effects Wilkes-Myers found was contact information for the Kelleys' insurance agent.
Wilkes-Myers got in touch with the agent, April Bowers, who immediately knew the lost Rottweiler was the Kelleys' missing Ella. The dog and her family were reunited at last, and -- we confess -- the happy reunion was enough to bring a tear to even our hardened eye. Bonus good news: The Kelleys are all expected to fully recover from their injuries.
Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/07/lost-dogs-hoarding-helps-rescuer-reunite-her-with-owners.html
Another version of the story here: http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?s=10784761&clienttype=printable
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ke8BOOJjmw
Video from late September: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXvy2S1X1S4&feature=player_embedded

Daizy, a Blue Lacy

Clear Lake family finds missing dog 10 months after Hurricane Ike

01:23 PM CDT on Monday, July 27, 2009

By Kevin Reece / 11 News

HOUSTON—Daizy, a 4-year-old Blue Lacy, is a survivor. For 10 months after Hurricane Ike, she was missing. Now, she's home again with the Bauer family in Clear Lake.



The hurricane blew down Joe and Kathy Bauer’s back fence, so they took Daizy and her Blue Lacy companion, Hank, to the Pet Palace in Webster for boarding until they could get the fence repaired.

“We ended up getting a call at 10 a.m. saying the dogs were gone. Both of ‘em,” said Joe Bauer.
They found Hank that same day wandering in a wooded area behind the boarding kennel, but Daizy was gone.

“The kids would ask when it was freezing cold, when we had the snow, when we had thunderstorms, they would say, 'Where is Daizy? What do you think she’s doing? Is she OK?'” said Bauer.

The family, with the help of their friends and an extended network of Blue Lacy advocates they found online, printed fliers, offered a reward and plastered neighborhoods with yard signs bearing Daizy’s picture.

“I couldn’t bear the thought of her thinking we abandoned her,” said Kathy Bauer. “I just couldn’t live with that.”

They traveled throughout the Clear Lake, Webster and Pasadena areas responding to reports of possible sightings. But for 10 months, Daizy stayed missing.

Last week, the family received the news they had been waiting for. Two of the Bauers' friends said they were positive they’d seen Daizy wandering in a wooded area along a power line easement in Webster, less than a mile away from the kennel where she was last seen, back in September.

With Hank leading the way, Joe went searching for Daizy and found her, just as their friends had promised. But after months on her own, apparently fending for herself, she was too skittish and nervously ran away.

Last Thursday night, Kathy made the trip with them. Neighbors reported seeing the dog emerge late at night from the wooded area through a break in a fence at the end of a cul-de-sac. Neighbors had become accustomed to leaving food out for her. She would make her rounds then disappear back into the woods at daybreak.

This time, Kathy called to Daizy and gave their familiar family whistle. The dog bolted right toward her.

“She sat and lifted her paw for a handshake like she always would. Then she started whimpering,” said Kathy, who admitted she was whimpering a bit, too.

“I was in the middle of the street at 11:45 at night crying and thanking the Lord. It was a wonderful, wonderful reunion.”

The Blue Lacy is the official state dog breed of Texas. The breed was developed in the Texas Hill Country and is reportedly a mix of Greyhound, scent hound and coyote. It's a breed that dog experts predict would be able to fend well for itself if lost or abandoned. And now, although still at times a bit shy and nervous around strangers after her 10 month solo ordeal, Daizy is back at home with the rest of the Bauer pack.

“When you have a bond with an animal like that and you know how strong-willed she is, you just don’t give up,” said Kathy.

And apparently neither does a little dog named Daizy.

Source: http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou090726_nlc_clear-lake-dog-reunion.7c6d6a26.html

Another version of the story here

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)