Penny lost and found

(We have been meaning to share our account of Penelope's recovery. Edward's wonderfully detailed story was a tough act to follow!)


We adopted Penelope on a Tuesday. On Thursday around 4:00 pm she got spooked by something and bolted from the house. She was so fast, and we lost track of her. It's not possible to describe how sick and worried we both felt. We were concerned that she would not have any instinct to try to find her way back home, since she hardly knew our house as home after only two days.


We immediately called the rescue group we'd adopted her through, as well as a friend who organizes searches for lost dogs. She and several other incredible folks volunteer their time to do this; their group is called AWOL Dogs. Thanks to their advice and assistance, within a few hours notices had been posted to our local listserve and Craigslist, a blog had been started, and flyers started going up around our neighborhood. The search for Penny over the following days included emails and phone calls to area vets, churches, schools, dog walkers, etc, more listserve postings, tons of flyering, and also the assistance of a professional dog tracker.


It was a cold weekend. It snowed and rained on Saturday, and I just told myself that Penelope was strong and smart, that she'd find a safe place to stay. On Sunday morning we got an email from Penny's most recent foster mom, who was tireless searching along with us. She said she'd had a dream that Penny was found. Maybe 30 minutes later the phone rang; I nearly fell over trying to grab it. A woman's voice said, 'We found Penelope and my neighbor is taking her to the animal hospital right now.' I was putting on my shoes, writing down an address, and crying all at once. My husband was already at the door, car keys in hand, saying, 'Tell me where to drive.'


We arrived at the animal hospital and met Edward and Dawn, Penny's guardian angels. The vet took us back to see Penny and confirm that it was her. I was nervous that she might not know us, but she did and immediately started licking our hands and faces. The sense of relief was overwhelming.


Now, three weeks later, Penelope is just about 100% healed. She has fully adjusted to seeing with one eye. She is playful, silly, intelligent, and loving. She is a true gift.

The recovery story, as told by the finders!

And here's my story of what happened Sunday, for posterity's sake. Or
we can Rashomon the rest.

Dawn and I were just getting up and about ready to make the bed. I was
dawdling, putting on slippers or something, so Dawn started opening
the curtains while she was waiting. She noticed a dog coming into our
driveway, which we share with our neighbor's Becky Morrison and Geoff
Jackson, and Dawn mentioned to me that the dog didn't seem to have an
accompanying human. I wanted to rush down right away to check it out,
but Dawn insisted on making the bed first.

By the time I got downstairs, the dog had wandered into Becky and
Geoff's back yard, digging in the dirt and leaves by the fence. I
called and made smooching noises, which seemed to make the dog wary of
me. She dashed to the back of the yard and behind the garage. There's
a smidgen of fence, though, behind the garage and between our two
yards, so the dog was now blocked in with nowhere else to escape.

By this time Geoff had noticed that I was wandering around his back
yard, so he came out and asked me what was the deal. I pointed out the
dog. It seemed to have mud splashed on its head and eye, or maybe the
eye was injured. We couldn't really tell.

We thought maybe we could coax it out with some food. Geoff went
inside to get some cat food, while I stood watch, the dog and I
watching each other from opposite sides of the garage. I knelt and
made soothing cooing and smooching noises while the dog looked at me
warily and shivered. I inched closer and closer and the dog let me
scratch its shoulder without biting me, so I scooped it up gently and
backed out of the small space.

Geoff was returning with a bowl of wet food as I was carrying the dog
to our back porch. The dog scurried to the opposite corner of the
porch from us and sat & shivered some more, but was hungry enough to
scarf up the whole bowl of food. Dawn came out from the kitchen, where
she had started to make breakfast, and took one look at the dog's eye
and declared we were going to the vet immediately. She got dressed
while Geoff and I watched over the dog, then I went and got dressed
when Dawn returned.

Dawn and Geoff discussed having seen fliers and a notice on the
listerv about a missing dog, so Geoff volunteered to do some research
to find the owners while Dawn and I drove to Friendship Animal
Hospital in Tenleytown, which we knew was an emergency hospital
because we had taken our cat Evie there once when our regular vet
Union Vet Clinic was closed for the night.

We were on our way there when you called us and suggested we go to
Rockville instead. Frankly, we were just the tiniest bit lost trying
to find Friendship, so we were not only relieved to be in touch with
the owners, and to find out her name is Penelope, but we were thankful
that you gave us actual directions to an actual hospital. Whew!

We got to the hospital and they took her back and then y'all arrived
and met Dawn and me, so you know the rest.

It all just happened to work out, I think. We were actually supposed
to have our nieces for the weekend, but that all got canceled because
of the snow. We probably wouldn't have been getting up and making the
bed at that time if we'd had the nieces, so it was lucky that Dawn
spotted Penelope when she did. And it just so happens that I went out
after we made the bed, at the same time Penelope was in the back yard
and the only place for her to run away was behind the garage, where
she was trapped and I was able to nab her. I'm glad it all worked out,
but it was just luck rather than any actual skill on our part.

Anyway, again, I'm glad Penelope is doing better and we hope to see
her soon. Take care.

Penelope is recovering well

Penelope's first night back at home went well. She was a bit woozy from the anesthesia so mostly slept but had plenty of interest in a little gentle dinner of chicken and soft toast. Today she is much more alert, though still not very active. She has not been too bothered by the flexible cone and is currently enjoying yet another cozy nap next to us on the couch.

Tomorrow she'll have a check up with the vet. We'll continue to post on her progress.

Thanks so much to everyone for your care, concern, and help.

FOUND

Penelope was found this morning in a neighbor's yard, at 37th and Kennedy. It appears as though she may have been circle back to her adopters' home. The folks who found Penelope knew to call the adopters because they had both seen a flyer at the local park and because they'd read a posting about Penelope on the neighborhood listserve.

Penelope suffered an eye injury--most likely as a result of being hit by a car. The eye has been removed, and we're happy that only her eye was hurt, and not more. Not many dogs survive the impact of a car!

Penelope will be home with her adopters tonight and will have company from them both Monday and Tuesday, to ease her adjustment to being back at home.

Thanks, all, for your help and support!

Still need more outreach!

Thank you to all who have helped flyer and distribute business cards!

There have been no sightings so far, either because Penelope is hibernating somewhere, or because we haven't covered enough of the territory and she's somewhere our flyers are not.

We've already placed reports with both the PG and DC shelters and PG was visited in person today. All area schools and churches were emailed the flyer, neighborhood listserves have been contacted, an ad is in the local paper, and area businesses have been sent the flyer. We have more than 500 flyers up.

We desperately need assistance on the ground. We need help expanding the area flyered and handing out business cards to individuals, flyering cars at area grocery stores with the business cards, and distributing cards to folks at the three area metro stations (College Park, PG Plaza, and West Hyattsville), as well as in the park system.

Please come out to help bring Penelope back to safety. If you can join us, please leave a comment.

Thanks, all!

Tracking update

Sam came out to track Penelope yesterday and discovered what we think is a spot where Penelope spent Thursday night. We're hoping she returns to this spot regularly!

Here's the map of the track. (Click on the picture to see the full page version.)














The track was accompanied by Penelope’s adopters, Karma and Raphi; Penelope's foster mom; and the rescue (Homeward Trails) adoption coordinator. Penelope's harness was used as the scent article.

The track started at the location where Raphi had lost sight of Penelope, which was the Rite Aid. The scent that Salsa picked up went along Queensbury pretty much straight along, and it looks like Penelope did wander in and out of some front yards, and also down a few side-streets off Queensbury. There was a pretty strong scent in the yard of a house on 41st Place at the intersection with Roanoke St, and no one was home but a card was left at the house and the streets were fliered during the track. That house will get a visit tomorrow to see if anyone is around to talk to and make sure they got the card.

The scent crossed Queens Chapel Rd and went through the grounds of a church and either a school or a second church because kids were in the playground. Fliers were left with folks inside of both buildings.
After crossing East-West Highway using a crosswalk, the track began a large counter-clockwise loop which went back around on Belcrest. The strongest scent of the track was at a house on that road, around and just inside of a crawl space tucked back from the side walk, and partially hidden from view by a holly tree. It was easy to see how this space would be attractive as an overnight spot or just a general hiding place, so a feeding station was set up there right away, leaving food, treats, and a shirt of the foster's (since Penelope had been with Elizabeth longest of any of us, she is probably most likely to respond to her scent).

At this point Sam felt it was time to end the track, since it appeared that the scent would continue to follow the same loop. Fliers were put up along the track route, though more fliering is needed.

Can't get out to Hyattsville, but want to help?

We need assistance reaching out to area businesses and would love research help! If you can't get out to help with the search on site, there is still a lot you can do to help from a distance!

Please leave a comment if you'd like to join the research and outreach team, working to bring Penelope home!

Fliering Push for Saturday, and Missing Pet Tracker Today

Sam and Salsa with Pure Gold Pet Trackers are coming out today to get an idea of where Penelope may be hanging out. This will give us a better idea of where to flier. So, we are continuing the flyering effort and need all the help we can get, so please join us for fliering tomorrow!

Where: 5800 43rd Avenue, Hyattsville, MD 20781

When: Saturday, December 5, 2009, at 11:00 AM

What: Flier the area and search for Penelope; hand out business cards

What to bring:
- 50 copies of the flier (download at right)
- 50 plastic sheet covers (to protect the fliers from rain),
- 50 thumbtacks to hang your fliers, tape
- Penelope's business cards (download at right), to hand out to folks you meet while flyering
- Stinky treats, like hot dogs or cat food
- A leash
- Water and a snack for you

What to wear: Wear comfortable walking clothing and a red shirt or jacket so we can easily identify you as part of the search team.

Leave a comment if you can join us!

Background on Penelope

Penelope was forced to live chained outside without anyone to love her on a daily basis. She has been saved from that horrible life and is thriving in her foster home despite the presence of two grumpy dogs and friendly cats. She is fine with the cats. She does not chase them and actually licked the kitty's face. She lives with 2 children who pick her up and drag her around. Penelope loves to snuggle. Pehelope is a little thief and will steal clothing items and collect them in her crate. She does not chew them though just a collector!!! Are you someone who will allow Penelope to steal your heart? Please contact us and we will introduce you to Penelope right away.

Breed Estimate: Chi & JRT mix
Gender: Female
Approximate weight: 22 pounds
Approximate age: 1-2 years
Location: Foster Home
Cratetrained: yes
Coat Type: Short

Penelope is Lost!!!

Penelope, a chihuahua mix, was lost on Thursday, December 3 from her new adoptive home. She apparently escaped from her new backyard on 43rd Avenue in Hyattsville MD, and hasn't been seen since about 4 pm. If you find or see a chihuhua mix, please do not chase her. Please call 202-258-7133 as soon as possible with any sightings.

Here's a photo of Penelope:

If you can help join the search, please leave a comment (which will be emailed to us). We have already notified the shelter, placed Craigslist ads in both the Lost & Found and Pets sections, and the Cheverly Dog blog.