"Foo Foo", Cocker Spaniel mix, Oakland - Found!

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Total Distance: 25.00 km (15.5 mi)
Total Time: 6:07:51
Moving Time: 3:45:25
Average Pace: 14.63 min/km (23.5 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 9.02 min/km (14.5 min/mi)
Min Pace: 3.86 min/km (6.2 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -51 m (-168 ft)
Max Elevation: 111 m (364 ft)
Elevation Gain: 945 m (3099 ft)
Max Grade: 3 %
Min Grade: -19 %
Recorded: Mon Jan 25 09:41:06 PDT 2010


Foo Foo (aka "Foo") is a microchipped and neutered, small, blond one and a half year old Cocker Spaniel mix. During a rain storm, Foo got out through a side gate in the yard that blew open. According to Foo's person, there was a possible sighting of Foo a few blocks from his house the following day of his disappearance. However, Foo's person was not convinced that the person who said they saw Foo actually saw him. We decided to start the search there to check it out.

According to both dogs, Foo's scent was in that area and it went down the street and continued for several miles through Oakland and into Alameda crossing one of the bridges. While we were in Alameda, Foo's person talked again to the man who said that he saw Foo the 24 hours after his initial disappearance, and he said that the dog on the flyer was definitely Foo and he was positive about the 24 hour time frame.

The track continued around parts of Alameda and then crossed back over another bridge back into Oakland. Just passed this last bridge is where Foo's person stopped the track. He had to go pick up his son at school. He said he would continue the search for Foo on his own.

Two days later I received an estatic call from Foo's person that a positive sighting had been made of Foo by a local food vendor near Fruitvale and 12th in Oakland a few blocks from where we stopped our search on the same day we did the search. He said it gave him hope to keep looking for Foo.

About two weeks later I received another call from Foo's owner, except this time he was extremely upset. He said that Foo had been found, however, he said that Foo had been picked up within only a couple of hours following his disappearance. He was very angry with me because he felt that the dogs and me had led him on an entirely false search, and he demanded his money back. I told him that the people who picked up Foo had to be not stating the correct time when they picked him up. I told him that I had seen that in the past with other people who said they incorrectly stated the wrong time that they picked up an animal. I said that I was 100% certain about the track my dogs followed, plus we had two completely independent people stating they said that they saw Foo. At this point Foo's person now stated that the two independent sightings were incorrect and that my dogs were not following the correct track. He insisted I return his money. I said that I had performed my job correctly, and that he needed to talk to the people who found Foo and ask them why they were telling him the incorrect time when they picked him up.