But this story isn't exactly about my dog but if not for her this story would have never happened. You see Mya wasn't just any dog not just any pet, any show dog. Mya was one of a small number of dogs that are becoming increasingly important in our society. Mya was a theapy dog. Mya brought joy and comfort to nursing home residents in my home town. She was the replacement for her grandmother who was a beloved visitor to the home who, due to age, had to retire. On July 11th WALA FOX 10 Mobile AL aired a heart wrenching story on Mya's dissapearance and the efforts I had gone to to find her. The evening Mya's story aired a tornado went through my area. I thought because of the damage Mya's story would not be aired that night but it was. Mya's story aired on the 5, 6 & 10 pm newscasts and the 5 am newscast the next day. At around 7:30 am the next day, July 12, I recieved a phone call. A sod farm owner said he thought he had found Mya. She was laying down beside his office building out on County Rd 12 which is for the most part the middle of nowhere. We drove out immedately. Once I saw the dog I knew it wasn't Mya at a distance. This dog was not a young dark brown mahogany sable Shetland Sheepdog (Mya weighed slightly less than 20 lbs and stood 14 inches tall at the shoulder and we were calling her a toy collie, mini collie, mini lassie dog anything to help people look for the right dog) this was a Collie a very old Collie. She was lying down, her coat was filthy, she had been recently shaved, her eyes were glazed over, she was panting but her mouth was dry. I knew this dog was in trouble. I had no idea of how she got there or if she was injured. The sod farm workers said they had never seen this dog before and they were dissapointed that this wasn't Mya. I couldn't leave her there. I knew she would die if I did. So with the help of my Husband we managed to get her up and half carry all 85 lbs of her to the truck. We drove straight to our veterinarian's office. Once there we had her checked out scanned her for a chip (she had on a red collar but had no tags) and we were told we couldn't leave her there as their kennel was full. I knew I couldn't take her to the pound. Due to her age and condition they would put her down quickly and our pound like many is always full.
I took her home cleaned her up and there she slept. For days she seemed confused, I soon discovered that she was deaf and mostly blind The vet estimated her age at about 12 years. I knew this had to be someone's pet who had escaped in the storm but from where? I put ads in the papers, a flier at every vet's office, I put her on the Internet too. A month went by and much to my surprise not one phone call. At her age I didn't consider her to be adoptable so we named her Molly at the suggestion from a friend who knew of another old Collie with that name. Molly joined Mya's 15 year old grandmother in my home. She spent the rest of the summer in my airconditioned home on her own memory foam dog bed. It soon became obvious that we had some medical problems to deal with. She was incontent so I got her medication for that; she had hip dysplaisa so I got her pain medication for that. Molly begain to thrive. I got some of the weight off of her (down to a slim 56 lbs) and she no longer needed pain meds except for really bad days. Molly seemed to adapt quite well and I became fond of her. However, I couldn't help but wonder how she ended up where she did and why no one looked for her...........or was there someone looking for her? Afterall I know better than most how it feels to lose a beloved pet. More time passed summer into fall, fall into winter. Before long it was New Years, Molly was doing better but she still slept alot (I attributed that to her age) and her hair just wasn't growing back. When no one claimed her after a month I had taken her back to the veterinarian and updated all her shots and other medical work. In January 2008 I took Molly to a friend's husband who is a veteirarian, he had helped me before with a Sheltie who had a thyroid problem. He ran a check on Molly's thyroid and sure enough it was low. Within a month of being on thyroid medication Molly was a whole new dog. Her coat was growing back; she was more active and bright eyed. Things were looking up for Molly.
When Mya was stolen I had stoped going to dog shows. My heart was just to heavy; it hurt too much to go on without Mya. But the local spring shows were here andI had people to help (I groom dogs). I worked showing and grooming dogs during our winter/spring circut. I was so tired when it was over. It was the end of Febuary. That Monday I ordered a pizza I didn't feel like cooking supper that night. The pizza delivery driver drove up and my husband as usal went out to meet the driver. Unknown to me the driver noticed the Sheltie rescue signs on our vehicles and she mentioned to my husband that her dog was missing and believed to be dead. The whole neighborhood had gone looking for her but she was never seen again after she escaped from their backyard the night of July 11th 2007. Their dog was scared of storms; the storm came up so fast. They didn't make it home in time. They put up fliers in their neighborhood and called every veteirarian's office in the county but no one had seen their dog. My husband asked her what breed of dog she lost and she said a Collie. Amber was an old girl she was 14 years old when she went missing. He asked her where she lived......near County Rd 12.
David came in and got me and said you are never going to believe this but I think I just found the Collies owner. In disbelief I went outside and asked her a few questions. Then I came back in and got Molly. Sure enough Molly was Amber. We all cried, the pizza got cold. She couldn't believe that Amber was alive and well. The next day the entire family came over to bring Amber home. They just couldn't believe they were bringing Amber home and how good she looked. I told them about the thyroid problem, sent them home with a month's supply of pills, and food, her dog bed and a new collar.
This story couldn't have a happier ending. And it is proof no matter how much time has passed to never give up looking. Eight months after her escape Amber is back home with her family. This is also an example of why a microchip, tattoo, or even a tag is so important. If Amber had on some form of ID I would have had a way to find her owner immedately. Sevral years prior Amber's owner had asked the vet about a microchip and he told her it was a waste of time. However, Amber is now microhiped (Mya is also microchiped). Amber's owner made another mistake she called all the vet's offices. Had she gone into one office in person she would have seen my found fliers on the bulliten boards. Don't trust office staff to check those boards when you are looking for your lost dog, go in person if you can. Even sadder is the fact that Amber's owner and I go to the same veteriarian. Amber's owner was very upset to learn that Amber had been in his office twice and no one had recgonized her. She had been taking Amber to him fequently because of her hip pain and I had taken her to him for the same reason. It is a big mistake to think that your veteriarian will recognize your dog. They see way too many dogs and cats to remember who is who.
Even though Amber was old she still traveled a mile or more to where she was found. I never thought such an old dog would go so far and neither did Amber's search party. Had either of us thought such an old dog would go so far perhaps we would have all run into eachother. I wish I had thought to check in that neighborhood down the road. I bet Amber's owners had wished they had checked at that sod farm.
I hope this story brings hope to pet owners like me who are still missing their pets. I hope the lessions learned from this story will help owners of missing pets and those who find a missing pet to connect. As for myself, I will see Amber again soon because I will be grooming her from now on. If not for Mya and the WALA FOX 10 story Amber would have died back in July and her owners would have never known what happened to her. The search for Mya and all the publicity surrounding her situation has saved more dogs than just Amber. About a dozen Collies and Shelties in 3 states have been saved because people thought they had found Mya or wanted to give me their dog that they didn't want anymore because I had lost mine. Please give your dog a hug and say a prayer for me and Mya that we might be reunited one day.
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