Missing Foster Dog Doesn't Know His New Name: 'He's Scared'

MATTITUCK, NY — Denise Magyar had only just brought home her new foster, a neutered male Lab mix, one day ago — and now, he's gone missing, and doesn't know anything about the North Fork or even his new name.

According to Magyar, the dog was brought up from Georgia on a transport; he went missing Wednesday afternoon from Soundview Avenue in Mattituck.

"He is fearful, so please do not chase him,' she said.

Dowser, Magyar said, has never been out of his cage; she had planned to foster him so that he could one day find his forever home. But, she said, "He's not ready yet for adoption."

Despite the fact that she has a triple gate system, and Dowser is on a 4-foot black leash, Magyar had an appointment and Dowser, who is afraid of men, bolted away from her husband, despite his best efforts to catch him.

Dowser, she said, is a year old, and looks like a young black Labrador, with a border collie neck, white with black spots. He has a very narrow blade between his eyes and "white socks with spots," she said.

"He looks like a Lab who had an altercation with a dalmation," she said.

He also has dewclaws, or extra toes, on his hind legs, with nails that are both pink and black.

The dog, Magyar said, had only just been named Dowser. "It's a recent name," she said. "He doesn't recognize his name."

Magyar is frantic with worry about her new charge. "He's very skittish; he's scared," she said.

Her heart breaks, she said, because bringing him home was supposed to mean a new beginning for Dowser: "He has so much potential to be adopted. I'm so sorry this has happened."

Magyar said she had just been starting to settle Dozer in. "We were trying to alleviate the anxiety, the fright — to show him what it is, to be in a home," she said.

Magyar said although Dwoser was caged at night to prevent accidents, she slept beside him so that he could see her all night long. "So he had that comfort," she said.

On Wednesday, Magyar said she and her husband Christopher, as well as others, including a volunteer from a local animal shelter, formed a search party.

The drove in a van toward the end of the road, trekked over properties through the snow, met resident Holly Browder and her husband, and continued the search. Also helping was Dowser's sibling, "the alpha female," Magyar said.

"When I took them to where I lost saw Dowser, I found his paw prints and his sister went crazy," she said.

As for Magyar, she has fostered dogs before; she is worried that Dowser is missing during the cold winter.

Her own dog died recently, Magyar said. "I wasn't ready for a new dog, but I wanted to help — I wanted to give back," she said.

If you see Doser, call Magyar at 631-298-1739 or text 631-276-4236. Or call The League at 631-765-1811.