"Chili," Chihuahua/JRT mix, White with Brown, Napa

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"Kona," German Shephard, White, Felton - Found!

 Details to come

"Flower," English Bulldog, White, Hercules - Found!

Flower is a four year old, unspayed, all white, extremely friendly English Bulldog. When she went missing she was not wearing a collar and she was not microchipped. There were no sightings of Flower after she went missing by escaping through a broken board in the backyard fence.

As I was arriving to their home early Friday morning, I met Flower's mom down at the bottom of the hill leading into the neighborhood. She was talking to a woman, and she flagged me down as I made a left up the hill. This woman had seen Flower early Monday morning at a park down the street, about a half mile away. She said that Flower approached her in a friendly manner, and approached several people in the same way. Since this woman said she was afraid of dogs, she did not attempt to catch Flower, but walked away. 

We decided we could start the search from the park after we went back to the house and got the scent items and then drove back down the hill. As I was getting myself ready in my car, Flower's person ran up to me and said she had just received a call from a man who lived near the park and had Flower. We jumped into my car and drove to the house. Flower came running out of the garage to greet her person.

This man said he had picked up Flower at the same park, right around the same time that the other woman said she saw Flower in the park, early Monday morning, the day she escaped from the yard. He said that he attempted to find her home by having her scanned for a microchip and looking for flyers in the area and checking the newspaper for ads, but none were at the park or in the surrounding area since Flower's person did not think Flower would travel that far. He did not contact the animal shelter and he did not check Craigslist and he did not contact police department, all of the things that Flower's person had done. He told us that the way he found Flower's home information is because the same person we saw that morning about a half hour before, showed him the flyer just that same morning that we talked to her. That is why he called Flower's person almost the same time we were starting. 

The moral of the story is to do everything under the sun to find your dog and don't leave any stone unturned. The person who may have seen the dog or may have the dog, may do the same things until you find them. This person had Flower for five days before she got returned home, and they lived within less than a mile of each other. 

"Rosie," Yorkie mix, Red/Brown, Santa Cruz - Found!

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February 18, 2013

I received the following email today:

"Dear Jackie,

Just a note to let you know that Rosie has been found!  I got a call today (eight days after she went missing) from employees at a construction materials company called Granite Rock about two miles from our house (My follow up notes: on Coral and Harvey West Boulevard, right across the street from COSTCO.)  They found her hiding under a pallet, and one of the men had to put on gloves to get her out.  She was very scared and trying to bite him.  They were able to get her collar off and then called me.  She would have had to cross a very busy road to get there, it's a miracle she wasn't hit by a car.  She was very dirty, thirsty and hungry, but home safe now.  

I did get one call from a high school student who was pretty sure she had seen her on Friday downtown next to Loudon Nelson Center,  near one of the streets we walked down (Chestnut).

It's great to have good news to tell.

Sincerely,
Ann"

My follow up notes:

Since Santa Cruz is pretty much an isolated area with the coast on the west and mountains in every direction, except for a small area leading south, I suggested to continue to look for Rosie in the large vicinity of the city of Santa Cruz. Based on the four hour search we did that one day, she was bouncing around the area due to the unique location. This is similar to San Francisco, which has water on three sides, and, unless the animal finds the southerly direction out of the area, they will end up bouncing around the city. 

________________________________________________________________

Rosie is an adult, reddish brown, nine pound Yorkie/Chihuahua mix. When she went missing she was wearing a collar with ID tags and she was microchipped. She is described as very shy and fearful of humans. 

Her people were away for a few days and there was person coming by to feed Rosie and take out the garbage. When this person came by, she did not see Rosie, which is normal, but she noticed that food was missing from the bowl, so she assumed Rosie was hiding somewhere in the bedroom. Rosie had access to the yard through a dog door in the sliding glass door. This person went to the garage to put out the garbage cans, and had the back gate open for a few minutes. It is not known how or when Rosie escaped from the yard, but we did find another very small hole in a side gate that was unknown previously where Rosie could also have escaped from the yard. 

There were no sightings of Rosie after she went missing. 

Her people returned that afternoon, Monday, at around 4 PM and could not find Rosie. The person came by at 7 AM earlier that day to feed her, so it is unknown when she left the house. I came by that following Thursday. Her people were convinced that Rosie was hiding somewhere in the neighborhood, but just could not find her. 

The track we found led away from the area and started to roam around Santa Cruz, including visiting a lighthouse and walking along the very long and wide San Lorenzo Creek. The search was stopped at the four hour mark since Rosie's person had to return to work. I pointed out that the track was leading back to the vicinity of their neighborhood, so I suggested to keep the flyers up in that area in case Rosie returned to the house or the neighborhood, which does happen. 

They said they would keep looking for Rosie and they would let me know when they found her. 

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Created by My Tracks on Android.

Name: Rosie Santa Cruz
Activity type: -
Description: -
Total distance: 14.42 km (9.0 mi)
Total time: 3:43:52
Moving time: 2:18:25
Average speed: 3.86 km/h (2.4 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 6.25 km/h (3.9 mi/h)
Max speed: 12.59 km/h (7.8 mi/h)
Average pace: 15.52 min/km (25.0 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 9.60 min/km (15.4 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 4.76 min/km (7.7 min/mi)
Max elevation: 35 m (115 ft)
Min elevation: -12 m (-39 ft)
Elevation gain: 415 m (1363 ft)
Max grade: 21 %
Min grade: -35 %
Recorded: 2/14/2013 10:48am

"Fluffy," Maltese/Poodle mix, White, San Jose

Still Missing as of May 21, 2013

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Fluffy is a 10 month old, unneutered, friendly, all white Maltese mix. When he went missing he was not wearing a collar and he is not microchipped. 

Fluffy got out of the front door of the apartment by accident, and it was not noticed he was missing for about four hours. This was early on a Sunday morning. He was not noticed missing until after noon. His person went out looking for him, but nobody seemed to have seen him. There were no sightings of Fluffy after he went missing. 

Per his person, in the past when Fluffy has gotten out the front door by accident,  he has "always returned," but this time he did not return on his own. 

Per the track we found, there were a couple of scenarios of what happened. Either Fluffy got scared by something that happened inside the apartment complex and ran off and eventually got picked up, or Fluffy got picked up while inside the large apartment complex and was carried away. At the end of the track he was definitely being carried by a human, and there were a couple of places along the way where that could have happened, if he was not picked up within the complex. 

Fluffy's person stopped the search at the four hour mark since she had a class to get to that evening. She said she would keep looking for Fluffy and let me know when they find him. 

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Created by My Tracks on Android.

Name: Fluffy San Jose
Activity type: -
Description: -
Total distance: 13.14 km (8.2 mi)
Total time: 3:27:02
Moving time: 2:22:58
Average speed: 3.81 km/h (2.4 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 5.52 km/h (3.4 mi/h)
Max speed: 12.78 km/h (7.9 mi/h)
Average pace: 15.75 min/km (25.3 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 10.88 min/km (17.5 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 4.70 min/km (7.6 min/mi)
Max elevation: 48 m (158 ft)
Min elevation: 10 m (34 ft)
Elevation gain: 344 m (1128 ft)
Max grade: 3 %
Min grade: -6 %
Recorded: 2/13/2013 10:11am

"Sam," Shiz Tzu mix, Black, Fremont

Still Missing as of August 24, 2013

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Sam is a four year old Shih Tzu/Yorkie mix. When he went missing he was not wearing a collar and he was not microchipped. 

He escaped from the fenced yard when a gardener left the side gate open. There were two sightings of Sam both within a half mile of his home. We started the search from the last one. 

We picked up the track leading away from the area and all the way into Hayward. It was clearly a track of a dog running loose. 

Sam's person stopped the search at the four hour mark and said he would continue to look for Sam and let me know when he was found. 

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Created by My Tracks on Android.

Name: Sam Fremont
Activity type: -
Description: -
Total distance: 13.88 km (8.6 mi)
Total time: 4:04:01
Moving time: 3:08:37
Average speed: 3.41 km/h (2.1 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 4.42 km/h (2.7 mi/h)
Max speed: 10.19 km/h (6.3 mi/h)
Average pace: 17.58 min/km (28.3 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 13.59 min/km (21.9 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 5.89 min/km (9.5 min/mi)
Max elevation: 49 m (160 ft)
Min elevation: -19 m (-63 ft)
Elevation gain: 420 m (1380 ft)
Max grade: 4 %
Min grade: -6 %
Recorded: 2/7/2013 9:47am

"Cole," Labrador, Black, Orinda - Found!

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Cole is a three year old, all black, 50 pound Labrador. When he went missing he was wearing two collars with ID tags and dragging a leash. He was also microchipped. 

He took off from one of his people from their driveway after coming back from a walk at 4 PM. His people had recently adopted him about five weeks prior from a shelter in Grass Valley where he stayed for four months. Cole is very shy and afraid of people.

There were three sightings of Cole in the area within the first 48 hours, including by one of his people as he ran directly past his home, but Cole would not stopped even though she called him repeatedly. 

He was missing for a week when I was called. His people were convinced that Cole was hiding in the nearby canyon. 

We found the track leading away from the house that eventually went through a large open space and out onto Moraga Way and all the way into Moraga and eventually to a very large fenced in cattle field surrounded by barbed wire. At this point we had already tracked several hours and it was almost dark. We decided to stop the search and they said they would continue to search for Cole and let me know when he was found. 

Three days after the search, I received the following email:

"Jackie-

Cole was caught at Campolindo High School this morning and is now at the vet getting hydrated etc. He had chewed through his leash at some point but is in pretty good shape considering!  Craigs list postings this morning brought the news to me from the school!  Amazing! Thank you for all your help!"

While on the search, we went past the high school on Moraga Way, so Cole returned to the area. 

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Created by My Tracks on Android.

Name: Cole Orinda
Activity type: -
Description: -
Total distance: 9.89 km (6.1 mi)
Total time: 3:30:04
Moving time: 2:14:42
Average speed: 2.82 km/h (1.8 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 4.40 km/h (2.7 mi/h)
Max speed: 8.89 km/h (5.5 mi/h)
Average pace: 21.24 min/km (34.2 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 13.62 min/km (21.9 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 6.75 min/km (10.9 min/mi)
Max elevation: 310 m (1018 ft)
Min elevation: 134 m (438 ft)
Elevation gain: 276 m (905 ft)
Max grade: 0 %
Min grade: 0 %
Recorded: 2/1/2013 12:51pm