DB Dog Blog @ DogDeeds.com

This is the story of Kallie who was lost in the Great North Woods of New Hampshire.

We have a log cabin on Stewartstown, NH. My Brother-in-law Bill was coming up for a weekend and I encouraged him to bring his dog Kallie. She’d help our 2 dogs learn to adjust and accept other dogs who might come up with friends. I’d be great fun.

Kallie at Cape Cod

Bill and Kallie live on Cape Cod. They made the long journey and arrived before us. It snowed that day so Bill had played with Kallie in the snow and shoveled a spot for us, ready when we arrived later that evening. The dogs all met and things were going well. We all settled in for a nice night ready to share adventure and good times over the weekend.

Bill rose before we did and decided to go out for bagels at a local shop. The town is less that 9 minutes from us, he shouldn’t be gone long. Well he was gone long, too long for a quick run into town. We began to worry. Cell coverage is not great up there so we would have no way to know if anything happened to him. He was well over due and as our worries mounted enough for us to think about how to locate him, he pulled down the long driveway.

Kallie took off!

When he came in, he told us that he lost Kallie. I immediately started grabbing gear for us to go out and search for her. Since it had snowed last night, we might be able to track her and bring her home.

Beaver Brook Falls

Bill told us that he went to Beaver Brook Falls to scout a location for snow shoeing later on. He parked his car and got out. Kallie was with him. He didn’t have a chance to put a leash on her when a series of events took place. I’m not certain exactly what happened but somehow Kallie had gotten scared or even clipped by a passing pickup truck. She took off running. The pickup truck driver realized that something happened and came back to check with Bill. Bill was now running after her, calling and calling for her.

It’s really hard to tell from the photos but Kallie did not run up towards the Falls, she ran up the other side of the road way. Those woods are thick, there is no path and the climb is very steep.

View from top of Beaver Brook Falls

Getting Help

Bill had searched for her but realized he needed more help. He left the woods to come get us.

I threw these things is a day pack:

• Dog First Aid Kit
• GPS
• Leashes
• Water bowl
• Bottles of water
• Her treats

We piled into the car and headed to the Falls. We climbed into the woods following her tracks. We came to an old logging road/snowmobile trail and continued. Her trail went off and around like she was following the scent of an animal. We continued to call for her and then we lost the trail. While trying to decide what to do, we thought we could hear barking coming from the Falls area. It had to be Kallie.

We bushwhacked our way back down to the roadway, practically sliding off the hill and landing on the road. As we approached the parking lot, the man from the pick up truck and his wife were there. We all talked and they felt bad about what happened. They then helped us search since they were very familiar with the area. We now headed up the other side towards the Falls and into those woods.

Kallie had definitely been there, we found her tracks in the fresh snow. We were so close. We heard her barking again. Hours had gone by now. It was getting dark. We still couldn’t find her.

We Can’t Find Her

We needed to regroup, rest, eat something and plan for finding Kallie. We drove around the roadways up there seaching for her and talking to everyone we saw. All the people we spoke to through out this ordeal were very kind and kept a constant watch for her. Later that evening, we drove around again with a searchlight looking for Kallie. We left a food bowl and blanket at the picnic area by the Falls hoping she would return and stay in that area. The local drug store had school supplies so we bought poster board for signs and made those up that evening. Needless to say, we were all very depressed.

We posted signs the next morning at various locations around the area. The sign read, “LOST DOG “Kallie” Shepard Mix 70 lbs Tan – No Tail Lost Sat 1-8-05 246-#### Wearing a purple harness.”

Bill was able to change his work schedule and remained at the cabin for the next couple of days, searching for her. No luck, no Kallie.

I submitted an ad in the local paper about Kallie including a picture of her. I studied the map of the area where she was lost. We went up every weekend looking for her. Driving around searching, stopping in at the police department, posting signs in the local stores, visiting the humane society, everyplace we could think of.

Weeks Have Gone By, -15 Degree Night Temps

Weeks had gone by, still no sign of Kallie until one day I got a call from a man up there. He was certain he saw her especially when we showed him Kallie’s picture. We took our dogs, packed some gear and walked the area calling for her and knocking on the door of every house handing out flyers. Some folks we met were carrying dog biscuits in their pockets in case they saw her. People can be so nice.

By now we were very concerned. When Kallie was first lost, we had “warm” winter weather. The brooks and streams were not frozen, no heavy snowfall. She would be able to find water at least. By week three, the temperature at night could drop to -15 easy and the wind would pick up. There was an additional threat of wild animals particularly coyotes and packs of “coy dogs” as the locals refer to them. Kallie was in danger, we knew that. The only good thing she had going for her was that the area has many structures, sheds, barns, etc that she could use for shelter.

The Search Continues

Going to the cabin would never be any fun anymore if we couldn’t find Kallie. I never gave up hope and continued to search for her either by driving around or posting her information on the web and retrieving phone messages from the cabin. I did everything I could think of. The ads continued to run in the local paper. Some one would see her.

As a side note, if you ever leave a message about a sighting please remember at the very least to leave your phone number. We got a message from someone clear on the other side of town reporting a sighting but never left enough detail in the message for a follow up. That message almost shifted our search to an area where Kallie was nowhere near.

At this point, seriously depressed about her loss, I realized that Kallie would need to seek out help from humans on her own or we would never find her.

Kallie is Found

That’s exactly what she did! Four weeks and 1 day had passed since she was last seen at Beaver Brook Falls when the phone rang around 8:30PM. A man said he was pretty sure he had our dog. We arranged to meet him at an intersection within the half hour.

I almost cried when I first saw her.

Kallie 2 days after being found.

She was so thin, she was definitely starved. I didn’t cry though, I was too happy to finally have her back. I couldn’t believe we found her again. We called Bill to let him know and the second call was to my friend Greg in Atlanta GA who helped me throughout the search. We were all so happy!

We brought Kallie home, she stayed with us a couple of days to recover some until Bill could come up from the Cape. She had a couple of small wounds on her snout and one on her front paw but that was it. We brought her to the Animal Hospital to have her checked out and they thought she looked good for the ordeal she had been through. No special care was needed. They said plenty of rest, water and many small portions of food thoughout the day would have her back to normal in no time.

Updating Those Who Were Looking For Her

I posted my final ad in the local paper, telling everyone who was looking for her that she had been found and would recover from her ordeal.

We also updated the signs we posted.

We updated our sign. Kallie was found.

I did get a couple more calls from people afterwards. They had seen the signs and wanted to tell me they were glad we found her.

Kallie Looked for Help

So Kallie finally gave up and headed to a trailer where she knew humans were at. She scratched on their door and they opened it. I can imagine their surprise – then shock – when they saw her skinny starved body. They said she walked in and then layed down. They offered her some food which she ate. It was at least 15 below zero that night.

The men were at their trailer for the weekend getting ready for snowmobiling season. They remembered seeing a sign and jumped in their car to get the phone number. Once they found a place where their cell service got a signal they called us. We were so thankful. We offered them the reward which they would not take. We never did get their names but if you should happen to read this story, thank you again.

Kallie resting at home.

That’s the story of Kallie. One lost dog found.

Kallie still lives on the Cape and is fully recovered. I can’t imagine how she survived but she did.

I don’t think she’ll ever leave Bill again.