Sophie's Back!

Sophie's Return

Tried to post earlier, but I was trying to do this from my new Mac and I'm still learning the Mac world. We got Sophie back on Jan. 13th, in a rescue that was very tense and dramatic and involved a greyhound stake-out. We figured Sophie was hiding in the foothills or foothill communities during the day and coming down the hill at night looking for food and to stay warm. The night of Jan. 13th was our second stake-out and close to 7 p.m. (we'd sit from 6:30 to 9 or 9:30 p.m.) I got a call from a neighbor up on Paseo Redondo saying he saw Sophie and she was heading downhill toward Elmwood (she'd been sighted there before). I was parked at Allen and Mountain so I sped down the couple blocks to Elmwood and had no sooner parked and got Charlotte out of the Pathfinder when I saw Sophie coming down the street, trotting, head down. I called to her in what I hoped was a relaxed, positive voice and she stopped to look at me, but then kept trotting. I kept talking to her and she stopped again, this time in the middle of the intersection of Elmwood and Sunset Canyon, which cars slowing down to drive around her. Still, she continued trotting onward. By this time everyone in the greyhound network knew that was her and Deb Ward and a neighbor who lives on Sunset followed her slowly in their vehicles. Deb said she wasn't going to take her eye off of her for a minute. By that time Sophie was too far away for Charlotte and I to catch up. Someone had called Joe and he raced over and picked up Charlotte and I. We drove in the direction where people said she was (the neighbor who also followed her gave me a play by play). When we got close to her I got out of the car with Charlotte and called to her again. Joe called to her and again, she stopped and looked like she knew this person or this sound was familiar. Again, she kept moving, not running, just trotting. Joe drove on up ahead to intercept her and got out of the car with her collar and leash. This time, she slowed down when he talked to her, really looking at him. It seemed as if she'd be trotting past him again, but something made her stop. Joe held out the collar and leash like he does when we take Sophie and Charlotte for a walk.  Sophie walked toward him then held her face up like she does when we're going to put the collar on her to go walk. Joe slipped the collar over her face onto her neck. I didn't see this moment as I was on foot about to cross the street to where he was and Deb's car was in between me and Joe. However, seconds after he got the collar on her he stood with her leash in hand, yelling "I've got her!" There were lots of tears. Jan. 13 was two weeks to the day that Sophie had been missing.

We took her to the emergency vet that night and her health seemed pretty good in spite of some dehydration and malnourishment. She lost 15 lbs. during her adventure. We're now fattening her up and she's getting her strength back, within the safe, warm fold of the family where she's glad to be once again.