When your dog goes missing...
By: Janet Currier
On the morning of New Year's Day I hooked Gio up to his harness which I felt was well fitted and secure. He also had on a collar. We drove about an 1/8 mile to a development behind my property we have walked in before. The area I live in is developed rural with properties averaging 5 acres each. It is a ranch type area. We had walked about a mile when a group of four joggers with their two dogs came around a bend towards us. I crossed the street, sensing Gio's fear.
He is a very skittish dog. By the time I got to the other side and turned around to assure him we were okay, he backed out of his harness. He bolted away from me at a speed I have never seen him exhibit before. He was in flight mode. One of the joggers took off after him even though I was yelling not to chase. He was able to follow Gio for about 2 miles out of the development and down a busy roadway. My husband and I looked for Gio for several hours in that area. The young jogger was able to tell me where he had last seen Gio. We focused on that area heavily. I had called one of his trainers and she arrived with one of her trained police dogs who Gio is friendly and familiar with. Gio was seen at 5:00 that evening at the entrance where we drove in to park that morning. He had been seen three different times that day in the same area running up and down the street. We gave up searching the first night at 9:00. We were hoping he would find somewhere safe and hopefully show himself the next morning around sunrise.
There were no sightings at all for the next two days. The area is thick with coyotes, mountain lions and bobcats. I was desperate to find him because of what I knew about the area. I consulted a lost pet psychic - I am a bit unsure how I still feel about these powers - however, she was actually able to give me a location she felt he was in that was actually right where I had lost him. She told me that she wasn't getting a lot of energy from him and that he may be injured. I hired a search and rescue handler and her dog that specialize in finding lost pets. She took her dog out yesterday and was able to track Gio in the area where I lost him also. She provided me with huge boards that we placed his pictures and my phone number on. We posted those everywhere we had posted flyers with Gio's information.
Yesterday afternoon we received a call from a man who said he had seen Gio a few days earlier on his property but wasn't sure it was him since he did resemble a small coyote. Gio showed up on his patio though yesterday and ran off. The man got his binoculars and felt pretty confident that it was him. I immediately went to the man's property and he pointed out to me where Gio was. With the binoculars I was able to confirm that it was him. I will be forever grateful to the search handler and my trainers who told me what to do and how to approach him were he to be found. INVALUABLE INFORMATION. The handler had told me that after three nights and four days Gio would be in survival/feral mode and would most likely not come to me. I slowly walked toward the area Gio was hiding in. I sat down about 150 feet from where he was. I had eye contact with him. I very calmly and quietly called his name. After a few minutes he got up and started walking very slowly towards me. As he got closer I got up and started walking away from him. My husband was on a higher level of the property and let me know that he was still following me. When he told me he was right behind me I sat down again. I kept talking calmly to him and he came right to me. He just became hysterical with his screaming and licking me.
I don't know that I have ever experienced a feeling like I had once he was in my arms. The odds of him surviving those conditions was very unlikely, especially after that many days. I immediately took him to my vet. He looked a little worse for the wear but didn't appear to be seriously injured. He had a scrap with something. He has puncture wounds on his neck/jugular area and on his right flank. The vet feels they are superficial and is amazed that he survived his ordeal. Whatever it was that got him, he was able to get away from it. He got a few shots of antibiotics and is on meds for 14 days just as a safeguard. He lost two pounds. He will be okay though with lots of rest and TLC.
The most important lesson I learned from this experience : DO NOT LEAVE THE AREA WHERE YOU LAST SAW YOUR PET OR YOUR PET SAW YOU. Gio was seen numerous times in the area, surely looking for me that same afternoon. I did not know that dogs will travel back the same path they came from. THEY WILL COME BACK.
POST FLYERS IMMEDIATELY. The flyers we posted are the reason I have Gio back.
DO NOT APPROACH YOUR DOG. No matter how strong a bond you have with your dog, they become different animals when in a survival mode and it is rare they will come to you. I can't emphasize how important this advice is. STAY CALM.
Use every resource you can. Fortunately I have a huge group of friends through the day school/training facility that Gio attends. People are truly good and want to help. The lady that spent all day driving around putting up the flyers is probably just has happy as I am that I have him back. She gave unselfishly to help. The man that sighted him refuses to take my reward. He feels that just seeing Gio back with me is reward enough. I am forever grateful to him.
I apologize for the long post but if my experience helps save even one more dog then I am happy. As for the psychic - she was relatively close in her prediction where he was and correct that he was injured, even though not seriously. Never discount anything, you just never know. The scent dog did not track the area where Gio was, we could only use her for 2 hours and the area is just so vast and the terrain difficult here. However, it was worth every penny for me to get the insightful information from the handler.
We all know how the Klee Kai can be skittish and fearful. Gio is at the top level of those characteristics. The handler and my trainer say that that is why he survived. He is alert, quick and cautious. Also, the handler said they have a much higher recovery rate with very small dogs like Gio because they are fast and can hide in small places. Thank you for reading this. I hope none of you ever have to go through what I did. Just tuck this information in the back of your brain, you never know when you might need it.
