A happy ending lost dog story

[Steve Foss]

Prepare yourself. This is long.

So my mate, Lisa, and I, traveling in separate vehicles (long story; she had four dogs in hers) back to Ely from closing down the Bemidji area lake cabin for the season, came upon a pit bull looking dog walking slowly toward us on the line separating the main northbound lane from a turnout lane on Hwy. 71 a bit north of Hines.

A bit of background. Lisa is a longtime animal rescuer, and I have a very soft spot in my heart for dogs.

So I'm in the lead, and I recognize that it's a dog and immediately slow down and pull over after passing the dog. Lisa pulls over as well (yeah, like she'd ever drive by a stray looking dog without stopping).

I back up toward the dog, and Lisa gets out of the vehicle (all four dogs -- three that are ours and one we're dogsitting -- are of course clamoring. Turns out this dog is a beautiful old brindle female pit bull (turned out to be a pit bull/bulldog cross). She is very mellow, quite friendly, but obviously footsore and on her own.

We ponder a bit, and I pull the camera gear out of the front seat of the pickup so I can put the cutie in the pickup with me. Not gonna put her in the other vehicle with all the dogs. She can't get up, and turns back looking at us, so I pick her up (she is 60 pounds easy) and put her in the front seat. I give her some doggie treats, which she scarfs right up gratefully.

We turn off on a side road and knock on the first door we see. Nope, owner says, don't recognize that dog. Doesn't belong to any of the neighbors.

So we stop in Blackduck and inquire. Nope, not familiar. Drive to the Blackduck law enforcement center. It's a Sunday afternoon, so of course no one is in residence. Call the number, get a machine. Oh well. Now what? So I called 911 and told the Beltrami County dispatcher that it's not an emergency, and gave her all the info. Then we called Beltrami County animal control and left the same message. Same message also left with the Bemidji animal shelter/humane society.

And then we drive back to Ely.

Lisa mentions Facebook, and it become an instant no-brainer. While I cared for the cute old girlie on the trip back, and when we got home and through the night (REALLY hungry and thirsty, very footsore and quite cold), Lisa posted it on Facebook with a pic, and I shared her status with my friends. We asked everyone to share it along. One of our FB friends got on Petfinder and actually found a lost dog notification that matched our found dog. So Lisa called them last night, and e-mailed them a photo.

Absolutely!

Turns out she's about 9 years old, this cool dog, and has been the guardian of a little girl. The girl, her mom and her grandma reported her lost eight days ago, and were about to give her up as gone before Lisa called them.

We met them in Effie today half way (sort of) between Ely and Bemidji, and as soon as the dog heard their voices she stared wiggling and wagging her tail madly.

I'll tell you, there were tears from all three generations of those gals.

Turns out not only had she been on her own for three days, but she had escaped from near Pinewood, which is quite a shot west of the Hines area.

Traveling girl reunited with her fam. We LOVE a happy ending. Not looking for any kudos, cause it's just what we do, but thought it would be cool the share a nice story.

[CAMAN]

:cheers: That's awesome! Great job and story!

[upnorth]

Top notch Steve! Too many people these days just can't be bothered. Good to hear there are still good people in the world that have time to help others.

[vermilionfox]

That's a great ending for the brindle girl Steve! Great job!

[Ufatz]

Happy ending! But makes me wonder why the dog was out there in the first place? Did it just wander away? Run away from some place it was visiting? There's a piece missing from the puzzle.

But I AM glad the dogs is back where it is warm and comfortable.

[TooTallTom]

Hey Steve, thanks for helping out where you could.

[Steve Foss]

There are pieces missing from every puzzle. We actually know how the dog escaped, but it wasn't an important part of the good news story, and we do not judge. A dog can get away from anyone.

Bet that pooch is one happy dog right now!

[Ufatz]

Hey! Steve...I wasn't trying to infer anybody did anything wrong, and you are right, the best part of the story was the dog back home. But you gotta forgive an old fashioned news guys constant need to know the WHOLE story. Ha! There's always more. I wasn't judging anybody.

[muc33]

Who doesn't love a good homecoming! Great story and even better ending!

[Duffman]

Nice work Steve!

[Steve Foss]

But you gotta forgive an old fashioned news guys constant need to know the WHOLE story. Ha! There's always more.

Yeah, that describes me, too. I dug until I got the truth, because it's in my nature and part of my training as a longtime newsie. But I don't share EVERYTHING I know.