Over the past few weeks, I found myself following posts detailing the stories of two lost dogs – and the extraordinary lengths that people went to in order to find them. Yes! They were both found, and, weirdly, both were found on Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! I don’t know what the odds are for all lost dogs being found, but I don’t think they are great, so these stories both made me very happy, and also, provided a great opportunity to share some pointers on what to do and what not to do when searching for a lost dog.

The first case was an 11-year-old Lab-mix named Lexi. The dog belongs to Brandi Solomon, a resident of Fairfield, Connecticut. Brandi and Lexi were visiting a friend’s farm in nearby Wilton, Connecticut, on December 7. As they walked around the farm, Lexi happened to touch her nose to an electric fence wire, and the shock made her bolt in fear. She ran quickly away and disappeared into the woods.

Since she doesn’t live in Wilton, and the dog was in unfamiliar territory, Solomon began to post “lost dog” notices on every social media site possible, trying to enlist people in the area around Wilton to keep an eye out for her dog. Fortunately, many communities today have any number of “lost and found pets” pages on Facebook, and Nextdoor.com, and for whatever reason, many people in the area got caught up in the search for Lexi. A number of Wilton residents banded together and offered their assistance to Solomon – including Pilar King, the wife of one of our publisher’s executives! King, an ardent dog owner herself and a long-time resident of Wilton, helped organize a small army of volunteers who put up “lost dog” fliers and went door to door, asking if people had seen the dog.

And many people had seen Lexi! There were numerous sightings of the dog, but every time she was spotted and people tried to call her or approach her, she would take off in a panicked run and disappear into the freezing, snowy weather again.

Finally, a group called CT Dog Gone Recovery Volunteer Network offered their help, and essentially told Solomon that while it was great she had so much engagement from the community, the people who were trying to catch the dog were going about it all wrong. Solomon was told to instruct people who wanted to help that they should not try to approach or call out to Lexi, but to take photos of the dog (if they could) so that Solomon could determine if the dog was Lexi, and try to keep the dog within sight while contacting Solomon, who would come very quickly.

They also recommended that if someone saw Lexi in a yard or near a house, to put a can of tuna or dog food or other pungent food for her outdoors and to retreat indoors. It was hoped that once Lexi realized that a particular location was a safe place to eat, she would return.

One Saturday, January 16, Jorge Velazquez, a resident of Stamford, Connecticut, was shopping when he took a flier from Robin Harrington, a volunteer from the CT Dog Gone Recovery Network, who was searching for Lexi there. Velazquez had lost his own dog for a few hours back in November and remembered how upset he was; he couldn’t imagine losing his dog for six weeks. He prayed for the dog’s return – and when he got home from the supermarket, there was Lexi in his backyard. He did what the flier told him to do; he backed away slowly and contacted Harrington and Solomon with a description of the dog. Because Lexi had been spotted nearby, traps had already been set up in Velazquez’s neighborhood. They came and set up a trap in his yard, and they baited it with a prime rib bone. Trail cameras were used to monitor that trap and the others.

On January 18, after 42 days on the run and over 100 miles traveled, Lexi entered the trap in Velazquez’s yard and began to bark in alarm. Thanks to the trail cameras, Harrington and Solomon learned of Lexi’s capture as quickly as Velazquez heard Lexi barking. Solomon came as quickly as possible – and said that Lexi recognized her within seconds and they had a joyful reunion. Lexi had lost a little weight and had some scrapes, but seemed otherwise unharmed.

After Lexi was found, Solomon asked for donations to CT Dog Gone Recovery Volunteer Network, as thanks for all their help and loan of trail cameras and traps. More than $6,000 has been donated to the volunteer group already.

Another crazy/lucky story

Here in Oroville, California, for the past week, I had been following another lost dog story. Lucy is a white German Shepherd Dog who had been burned in September’s Bear Fire. She had been found with burns all over her body in the fire zone by search and rescue volunteers, who took her straight to a veterinary clinic. She stayed at the clinic for months, recovering from the burns. Her owners had been found, but their home and property had been burned completely. When Lucy was well enough to be released from veterinary care, she had to spend a few weeks at a local animal shelter, as her owners were still working on making a secure place for Lucy and their other dog and temporary housing on their property for themselves.

The shelter staff saw that Lucy was responding poorly to spending time in the shelter; she was getting stressed and her condition started declining. The shelter asked the community whether someone could foster Lucy for a few more weeks, until her owners were ready and able to bring her back to their property. Chelsea Bornheim stepped up to volunteer, and was soon posting social media photos of a happy, relaxed Lucy reclining on her sofa.

But three days later, a new disaster: As Bornheim walked Lucy down her rural driveway to get the mail, two large stray dogs, escaped from a neighbor’s property, bolted out of the woods and attacked Lucy, who was wearing a collar and a harness. The foster person had Lucy’s leash attached to a fanny pack containing her phone and wallet. In the melee, as she fought off the attacking dogs (getting severely bitten on both arms), she released the leash and Lucy ran away in a panic, dragging the fanny pack and the leash behind her.

Animal control officers were summoned and the attacking dogs were found. (It turns out that they had a previous record of attacks and were supposed to have been in a locked enclosure. Following this attack, they were seized by animal control.) But Lucy was nowhere to be found. Anguished and injured, Bornheim immediately spread the word about Lucy’s escape on social media, and, as in Lexi’s case, over the following days, many people joined the search.

After someone boating on Lake Oroville spotted a white German Shepherd on the banks of the lake, a request was made for anyone with a boat who could help search miles of lake-front in the area. A local marina owner offered the use of his rental boats, for free, and a number of volunteers. Another area person who uses drones for search and rescue joined the search and spent days scrutinizing the area where Lucy had last been seen from the air. A helicopter pilot volunteered his time and craft for the search. Lucy was spotted a number of times, but in each case, she ran when she realized someone was trying to call or approach her.

Bornheim spent all day on MLK Day searching the woods and lake shore with other volunteers, and went home that night discouraged and exhausted. She took a shower – and when she emerged, she saw Lucy at her back door. Eight days after she had been attacked and had run away, she had found her way back to her foster person’s home! Bornheim feels it’s a miracle that the dog did this, considering she had been in Bornheim’s home for only three days before the attack. (Fortunately, Bornheim had left her yard gates open, in hopes that Lucy might find her way home.)

Like Lexi, Lucy had lost some weight and one of her bite wounds from the attack was infected, but she’s been seen by the veterinary clinic that nursed her burns and they think, with some antibiotics on board, she’s going to be fine. Lucy’s foster provider and her owners are all completely over the moon.

Tips for finding a lost dog

• Spread the word fast and wide. Get as many people you can get to help spread the word, too. Use fliers, and posters, but also, harness the great power of social media. Ask people to share your posts on every “lost dog” page in every online forum they know of. Give a good description of the dog and use a large, clear photo. Check the posts frequently as some people will ask questions or post news, rather than calling the search organizer. Put up new posts at least every few days, to let people know of any new sightings, so they keep looking.
• Ask people if they know of volunteer organizations who can help, too. Scout groups may be willing to help distribute fliers; church groups or youth athletic groups may want to help, too.
• Instruct people to not try to catch the dog. Many lost dogs are terrified and respond to the sight of a stranger trying to approach them as yet another threat. Some will begin to flee as soon as they see someone notice them. Tell people to not call the dog or approach it with intent, but to try to get photos or video of the dog (to confirm it’s the right dog).
• If the dog is lost in an urban or suburban area, ask people in the community to check their Ring or other security cameras for sightings.
• If the dog has been spotted and its identity can be confirmed, try to place baited traps in that area – with the caveat that someone must be near enough to quickly remove the inevitable raccoons, skunks, and other critters who may be caught in the trap before the dog is, and reset the trap.
• Don’t give up! Dogs are sometimes lost for weeks and months before they are found. There were many people who were dubious about an 11-year-old indoor dog surviving for long in a cold New England winter, but Lexi was gone for six weeks and hadn’t lost a dangerous amount of weight!

Like most dog owners, I absolutely love taking pictures of my dogs and my dogs’ friends (my friends’ dogs, lol). Most of us are carrying around our mobile phones and snapping pictures of our dogs every time we are somewhere particularly beautiful, aren’t we? Or any time they are being particularly cute?

I publish some of these on WDJ’s Instagram page, @DogsOfWholeDogJournal. It takes an effort to not publish all the heavily filtered versions of some of my favorite photos that I create with a super fun app called Prisma. If you, like me, are addicted to taking your dog’s picture and you don’t already have this app, download it now! It’s free, and has about a dozen or so filters that you can play with to create artworks of your dog. If you get really excited about it, you can pay for an upgraded version that has many more filters that you can apply.

Once the app is loaded, you can take any photo on your phone and apply any filter that you like. Some apply wild colors or textures to the photo. Some turn the photo into a pencil sketch, or a heavily pixilated, almost abstract artwork. I love the ones that make the most vibrant colors in the photo even more dramatic. But you can also apply a very soft effect, just barely altering photos in a way that makes it harder to determine whether a piece of art is a photo or has been painted. (I actually used the app to create the image of Otto that has appeared in WDJ’s masthead for the past few years!)

Once the filter is applied, you can edit it, toning down the effects or magnifying them as you see fit. There are sliders for adjusting the overall exposure, contrast, brightness, saturation, vibrance, color “temperature,” and more. And you can save as many versions of the photo that you create as you like! I have no affiliation or link or interest in the company that makes this app, I’m just an appreciative user. If you are, too, go to WDJ’s FB page and look for a post about Prisma, and share an edited photo of your dog there!

I’ve written three previous posts (links are here, here, and here) about my most recent foster dog, Coco – a young mixed-breed with spinal dysraphism. I started fostering Coco in September, after she and her littermates were relinquished by an owner who had evacuated from a devastating fire we had in this area.

I doubt this will be the last time I’ll mention Coco, who came this close to being a permanent member of my family – but I’m writing this to tell you about her new family.

When I write about my foster dogs and puppies, people will often comment that they would like to be considered as potential adopters of those dogs or puppies – more often, people will say things like, “I would take her if I could!” or “I want her!” Nearly all the time, people are not actually serious. If there are not yet any prospective local adopters, and the letter writers sound like they really mean it, and they are close enough geographically to regard their proposition as practical, I will write them back and say, tell me more about your interest in this dog!” Usually, I don’t hear back.

After the last post I wrote about Coco was published, I saw a comment from someone who was interested in the funny little brown dog:

“Your video of Coco once again opened my heart and brain to the thought of adopting a special-needs dog. After all, I was adopted and adopted my special-needs foster child too. I would be honored to be considered as her forever home mom. I feel this is meant to be.”

The person added a second comment, as an afterthought to the first comment:

“I forgot to add that my 30 year old daughter has spina bifida too, but she uses a wheelchair and doesn’t get to hop.”

I was intrigued by the idea that there is someone with a family member with a disability, who would be experienced with the adaptations needed for negotiating life with a mobility challenge, who was specifically drawn to help a dog with similar challenges. I wrote back to the person, thanking them for their interest in Coco and asking for more information: What is her life like, does she have space and energy for a young, active (though not fully able) dog?

As it happens, a few days later, I was hiking with my husband in an area where I had no mobile phone reception. When we reached the peak of the mountain we were hiking, all of a sudden my phone started blipping with incoming messages and emails. We sat down to eat some snacks we had brought along and I scanned my email. Then I saw a reply to the email I had sent to the prospective adopter. I opened it and started to read.

A minute later I had tears streaming down my face, startling my husband, who didn’t know what I was reading. The writer explained that she was familiar with where I live, because she went to college in this area and got a degree in nursing. She became a nurse, married, and moved to Idaho.

“We became foster parents to Elizabeth, an adorable 3-year-old with spina bifida in 1993 and got to adopt her in 2000. My husband died very unexpectedly almost two years ago. Elizabeth’s wish was to get a Golden Retriever and name her Molly, so we did! Molly is now almost 11 months old and we taking her to advanced dog classes. The best part of our week is going to class and being with the classmates we have been together with since beginner class. We are hoping she can become Elizabeth’s service dog. 

“I think the yard is a quarter-acre and is fenced.  My great niece is a CNA and masseuse and would love to help Coco.  We have a wheelchair van with a ramp. Our lives have been about the three of us for awhile now, and Elizabeth and I have big hearts and open arms. Molly is such a lover, gives big hugs, and would love a best friend. Please consider us to be a forever home for Coco. We can easily drive down to Oroville and meet all of you.”

This wasn’t the usual “I wish I could have that dog!” type of letter. This person has medical training, has accommodations in place for supporting a family member, has an appropriate and secure home, and a plan for coming here to meet the dog. Wow!

I forwarded the letter to the adoption coordinator for my local shelter, Coco’s legal owner. She said, “If you think it’s a good placement and they want to come here to meet Coco, I don’t see why we shouldn’t adopt to them.”

Long story short: Melanie and I exchanged quite a few more emails over the next few weeks. I shared with her an in-depth report from the veterinary physical therapist I consulted about Coco (we had an hour-long assessment and the therapist recommended specific exercises for Coco). Among other good news: She shared that she has a heated swim/spa that would be perfect for swim therapy for Coco. Anyone that is willing to have a dog in their spa is okay with me!

Last week, Melanie and Elizabeth and Molly the dog drove all day to Oroville, and stayed in a hotel in town. We met the next morning, and Melanie joined my friend Leonora and me and our dogs Otto, Woody, Samson, and of course Coco on a short off-leash walk, so she could meet Coco in a low-pressure environment and also see Coco move. I wanted her to see how gracefully and joyously she can run across open fields – and how she sometimes uses us humans and other dogs as backstops when she is running so fast she can’t stop, and she crashes into your legs. I wanted her to see how Coco sometimes loses control and falls and rolls, but also how she can leap over ditches and climb hills.

Then Melanie, Elizabeth, and I went back to the hotel and introduced Coco and Molly. In less than a minute, the two dogs, who are approximately the same age, were rolling around playing as hard as Coco and Woody ever did. We talked about training, and I was happy to see that both women were equipped with treat bags loaded with training treats. Elizabeth told me about some training challenges she’d been having with Molly and we discussed some tactics for dealing with those.

We drove in separate vehicles to the shelter, where Melanie filled out the adoption paperwork for Coco and paid her adoption fee while Elizabeth and I continued to work with Molly. Then we all drove over to a dog park – in this town, hardly anyone uses it, and sure enough, there was a single person with a single dog when we arrived, and they were just leaving. Perfect! We spent another hour with the dogs there, letting them explore and play while we talked more about training and I kept apologizing for trying to shove several months’ worth of training and behavior lectures and demonstrations down their throats. They both were very patient with me, even when, every few hours, I started crying at the thought of Coco leaving.

Late that afternoon, we went back to the hotel, and I lead Coco to their room, but left her there with them so I could go home and take a nap; I had just finished production of the February issue of WDJ and was terribly sleep-deprived – which I also used as an excuse for why I kept starting to cry.

I went back to the hotel in the evening, to see how they were all doing. Elizabeth answered the door, and I was relieved to see Coco relaxed and happily laying in Melanie’s lap on the bed, getting a massage. She was glad to see me, but expressed her excitement by initiating yet another raucous play session with Molly. The women seemed amused and quite tolerant of the dogs’ shenanigans. I have a good feeling about all this.

I asked if Leonora and I could have one last bit of time with Coco before she left with them the next morning, and happily, they agreed. I took Coco to spend one last night with Leonora, who had cared for Coco for at least a third of the time I was officially fostering her. And then, very early the next morning, Leonora and I took Coco and our dogs for one last off-leash romp together on our favorite trails. The dogs had a blast, and we tried not to be sad, because we are genuinely happy for Coco. We think she’s going to have a great life with her new family and friend Molly. It’s just that we had gotten so attached to the relentlessly happy little dog who never, ever seemed discouraged or defeated by her wonky body. We also marveled at her transformation from a haunted-looking, unsocialized, terrified pup with almost zero muscle tone, to a fit, toned, confident dog. Granted, she is still wary of new people, but when she’s introduced properly, after a few treats, she recovers her moxie and will sit and lay down on cue for food from anyone.

After our walk, we met Melanie and Elizabeth at the hotel at 9 am. Their van was packed and Molly had been walked and they were ready to head back to Idaho. Of course, Leonora and I both started to cry as we put Coco and all her things – special toys, favorite bed, harnesses, collars, life jacket, slow-feeder bowl, and some extra treats – into the van. Last kisses for Coco, and masked and careful hugs for Melanie and Elizabeth (how could we not?!), and we all parted.

Elizabeth sent updates and photos from the road: Coco curled up in her bed in the van, Coco laying across Molly in the van – and then a report that they had gotten home, where it was snowing, and the dogs were in the backyard racing around joyously. An hour later: Dogs still outdoors racing around wildly, and having to be coerced to come inside and race around there, instead. An hour later, at nearly the start of the next day, Elizabeth reported that her mom had called Coco into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. After the tedium of a very long drive that day, the two young dogs had to be separated to go to sleep that night. And both women thanked me for facilitating the adoption; they already love the little brown dog, and Molly is beyond grateful to have a canine playmate. We also discussed setting up some Zoom dog-training sessions.

Leonora and I told Melanie and Elizabeth that if for any reason, Coco proved to be too much work, or if somehow she and Molly weren’t getting along, we would be happy to drive to Idaho and bring Coco back – but I don’t think it’s going to be necessary. Melanie has mentioned that they may even take a road trip back here to visit later this year, hopefully, after we’ve all been vaccinated for COVID-19, and we can dispense with the masks and keeping our distance from each other.

I’m so looking forward to that visit.