Editor's note: First shared on Dec. 27, 2012, a Patch reader shared that a family visiting Maple Grove from Ohio over Christmas lost 8-year-old Sheltie named Sunny. On Christmas Eve, Sonny bolted out the door and went missing from the 9000 block of Nathan Lane in Maple Grove. The announcement posted by a Patch user below journeys how after 96 days, Sunny was found.
Hi Everyone...This is long...I apologize...but it's been a long journey for Sunny, his family and the rest of us. This is a story worth telling. Thank you all for EVERYTHING you have done to help this precious boy. A lot of hard work by all...but so very rewarding. Grab some coffee and enjoy. And please share this also, as I'm sure through the 96 days that Sunny was gone, there were a lot of people who have seen your likes & shares. Thank you...from the bottom of my heart.
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The Story:
On March 20th, Sunny's owner called to tell us he got a call from a lady who had seen Sunny. Her name is Patti and she lives in Vadnais Heights. Patti feeds stray cats and she and her husband Dave, have a live feed video camera near the bowls. They started to see a Sheltie come around about 11 p.m., he had been eating at the bowls at least eight times in the last week and a half. Patti checked craigslist and was sure that dog was Sunny. We were cautiously optimistic. Almost 23 miles (via I694) from where Sunny went missing on Christmas Eve. If this was Sunny...he was heading for Ohio.
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Minnesota Sheltie Rescue volunteers brought a live trap over that night. Patti had a huge bowl of cut up hot dogs,
another big bowl of chicken, along with cat kibble and a heated bowl for milk. We set up the trap with the chicken and hot dogs inside. We left the kibble and milk outside - usually we don't want to leave food outside the trap but a big tomcat was watching the whole time and we figured we would probably catch him multiple times if we didn't leave something out for him.
The first night, Patti's husband stayed up til 2a.m. watching the video...no dog! We set up a motion-activated
camera. We thought if we at least saw him come around again, then we would put the word out for flyers in the area. But the dog stopped coming by (at least not on camera or when anyone was watching the live feed). More days passed and no dog. We started thinking it must have
been a neighbor dog who was sometimes let out to stroll late at night. It started to seem like nothing was going to
happen here.
March 28th - Patti called to say they caught a racoon in the trap! Not good, but there's always the thought that you have to catch something else before you catch the dog. 6:30 a.m. on March 29th - Patti calls to say they have the dog in the trap! What dog...must be a neighbor dog...some other dog that needs our help? Could it possibly be Sunny? Patti and her husband Dave knew not to open the trap but they offered to bring it inside their garage until our volunteer Pat could get there.
Pat and her granddaughter arrived, along with Sunny's owner's in-laws. The markings looked right, the size looked
right, but there was that tiny bit of doubt that it was another Sheltie that looked a lot like Sunny. The dog sort
of wagged his tail at the father-in-law. He was matted and full of burrs, but otherwise didn't look too bad. They sent pictures to Sunny's owner in Ohio, and he was on the
road by mid-morning.
Sunny went to Karen's for the day. Pat's granddaughter spent some time picking burrs out of his coat and he was amazingly relaxed. He got a good nap for the rest of the morning.
Friday at noon, Sunny went to MNSR's vet, he was checked out and overall opinion was that he is in pretty good shape (bloodwork results will take a day or two), not thin but obviously he was tired.
Sunny had to meet some more MNSR volunteers later in the afternoon, and he was quite calm for that too. He didn't approach us, but he didn't hide or cower. Maybe
still somewhat in shock and maybe relief that he didn't have to run anymore.
Friday evening about 7:00, Sunny's owner arrived at Karen's. Sunny looked at him, walked over and sniffed
him, and then the tail started to wag a little. He never left Dick after that. Dick sat on the step and talked and Sunny
looked at him and listened. Dick would say familiar words and his ears would perk up. He relaxed and laid down at his feet for a while, and we could tell all was well in Sunny's world again.
Sunny left Karen's equipped with a MNSR collar, a harness and double leashed! After all that Dick carried him out to thecar anyway. Sunny and Dick are driving back to Ohio
Saturday morning and should be back home by evening. In time to spend Easter with his family.
Thank you to everyone who helped in this 96 day search to get Sunny back home. The flyers, the craigslist ads, the
Maple Grove Patch and the City of Brooklyn Park, the sharing on facebook, twitter and other social media. Thank you to Patti and Dave for feeding such good food to stray cats and a lost Sheltie from Ohio.
Blood test results are back and other than Sunny's cholesterol being high, everything looks normal.
Sunny - you captured our hearts. Safe travels home, Sunny and Dick!
Written by Mary McTie
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