Allie made it again home secure and sound. (Courtesy of Catherine Flannery)
Cathy and Bryan Flannery had solely had their new canine, Allie, for simply over every week when she escaped their absolutely fenced yard by, of their phrases, “using a large vertical woodpile as a staircase.”
The pair shortly sprang into motion, looking the neighborhood, alerting Marin Humane and posting flyers all over the place. Allie, a 6-month-old Aussiedoodle, was fairly skittish so that they nervous she may get spooked by folks approaching her. At the identical time, they have been determined for sightings of their misplaced canine. And there have been many. Allie was noticed in varied areas all through Corte Madera and Mill Valley. And she at all times seemed to be terrified.
The posted indicators requested for sightings and clearly warned folks to not strategy Allie since she was actually operating scared.
“I think there are a lot of people who want to help, who want to be the rescuer, and that’s wonderful. But the truth is, chasing after a loose dog can sometimes make things worse,” Cathy Flannery stated. “They can bolt into traffic and get hit by a car or can go even further away from home.”
Three days later, the Flannery household posted on Nextdoor with that very same message and much more sightings got here in. Support from the neighborhood was bountiful. It was from that put up that they realized a couple of lady out of San Diego who makes a speciality of serving to observe misplaced dogs.
Barbara “Babs” Fry runs the nonprofit A Way Home for Dogs and helps folks discover misplaced dogs, freed from cost. Fry says that almost all people depend on their instincts to search out dogs however what they need to be doing is counting on their canine’s instincts. This signifies that if in case you have a fearful, timid canine, they’re probably in “hunted mode” and can run away from anybody making an attempt to strategy them.
If the canine disappeared from the home, Fry suggests staying there and letting the canine come again to you by following your scent. Make that scent stronger by leaving lately worn gadgets of your clothes exterior your home.
Fry additionally suggests placing odorous meats in a sure spot primarily based on sightings. For instance, after a neighbor sees your canine operating up a hill, the meat could be placed on the foot of the hill.
For dogs like Allie, this was the very best strategy; map out the place she probably was, primarily based on sightings, then lure her with meals or an article of Cathy or Bryan Flannery’s clothes.
Marin Humane Animal Services stored in touch with the pair and lent them a humane lure and steerage on methods to use it. Humane traps should be monitored usually to make sure different pets or wildlife don’t get trapped and so they can’t be neglected in a single day.
The lure was set close to the final sighting with tempting items of sausage to lure Allie in. Cathy Flannery put in a path digital camera alongside the lure so she may monitor it from afar and the nervous pet mother and father waited with bated breath.
The following day, Cathy Flannery watched her beloved pup on the digital camera go into the lure! She raced over and was fortunately reunited with an exhausted Allie who’d been lacking for 16 days. She had giardia from consuming contaminated water and had misplaced loads of weight however was in any other case in good well being.
Dogs which are misplaced face risks from vehicles, predators and the weather so getting Allie again was really a Christmas miracle not only for Cathy and Bryan Flannery however for thus many in the neighborhood who have been rooting for her secure return.
To be taught extra about what to do if a pet goes lacking, go to marinhumane.org/get-help.
Lisa Bloch is the advertising and marketing and communications director for Marin Humane which contributes Tails of Marin articles and welcomes animal-related questions and tales concerning the folks and animals in our neighborhood. Go to marinhumane.org, discover us on social media @marinhumane, or electronic mail [email protected].
