{"id":4552,"date":"2021-07-30T11:20:51","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T15:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=4552"},"modified":"2021-08-01T07:49:34","modified_gmt":"2021-08-01T11:49:34","slug":"lost-dog-of-eldora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/07\/30\/lost-dog-of-eldora\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost Dog of Eldora"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here\u2019s this week\u2019s Sunday story.\u00a0\u00a0No politics, no great philosophical points.\u00a0\u00a0This is the story of a lost dog, and the efforts of a lot of people to get him home!!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Queen\u2019s Dog<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Corgi\u2019s are best known as \u201cthe Queen\u2019s\u201d dog.\u00a0\u00a0Queen Elizabeth has had over thirty Corgi\u2019s during her reign, and is even responsible for a new breed \u2013 the Dorgi.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s a\u00a0\u00a0dachshund-corgi mix.\u00a0\u00a0Their connection with the Queen makes them seem a more regal dog, a bit above all that “doggy” stuff. But they are a loving breed, \u201csnugglers\u201d who like nothing more than a couch, a warm fire and a nearby lap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Tito is all of that.  He is his owner\u2019s emotional support dog, helping her through anxiety issues.  And he goes everywhere with her, in a job that requires travel to car races all over the Midwest.  Tito is always there, beside her or in the camper, waiting for a snuggle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Race Time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Saturday night is a big night at the Eldora Speedway races.\u00a0\u00a0After the evening events, there’s celebration with fireworks and plenty of partying back in the campground.\u00a0\u00a0Tito, who never left the area around the camper, just had to go – outside to potty.\u00a0Unfortunately, just as he finished and was climbing back into the camper, the fireworks began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He panicked and set off a series of events that went on for two weeks and covered dozens of miles.  Tito dashed off into the dark corn and soybean fields of nighttime Western Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tito wasn\u2019t the only dog to head into the cornfield when the fireworks started.  But by Sunday morning, all the others found their way back to their respective campers.  Unfortunately as racing wrapped up on Sunday afternoon there was still no sign of Tito. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travelling Man<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first surprise came on Tuesday morning. Tito wandered up to the door of a small building truss manufacturing plant, two miles away from the races and way out in the country at the corner of Dull and County Line Road (not making those up!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dogs often wander in the country, and one of the plant workers shooed Tito off, telling him to \u201cgo home\u201d. It wasn\u2019t until around noon that Tito\u2019s owner stopped by to drop off a flyer, only to hear the news that the Corgi had been and gone. Tito\u2019s \u201cMom\u201d (and Grandma) drove desperately around the area, searching along the roads and ditches between the corn and soybean fields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They pulled back up to the truss plant later in the afternoon, just in time to see Tito emerge from the corn. But before they could get the car stopped, several of the factory workers thought they could \u201csave\u201d Tito, and ran out of the plant calling his name. Tito, reasonably thinking all these strangers might be a danger, sprinted (on his very short Corgi legs) back into the corn. He was later seen in the evening behind a home across from the plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LPR<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lost Pet Recovery (LPR) decided to get involved.\u00a0\u00a0LPR works out of Columbus, Ohio, and the dog went missing near St. Henry\u2019s, Ohio, over two hours away near the Indiana border.\u00a0\u00a0But Jenn (my wife)\u00a0\u00a0was already working on a dog in Fairborn, north of Dayton on Wednesday, \u201cjust\u201d an hour away, so after trapping a dog gone missing for a couple days there, we headed up to \u201cthe country\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0I was along for the ride, and it looked like an easy catch.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was the area behind the house across the road, right beside the cornfield, perfect to set a trap, and a trail camera.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMom\u201d and \u201cGrandma\u201d were still at the campground, hoping to take Tito home.\u00a0\u00a0If Tito went into the trap, Jenn would see him on camera, and could notify \u201cMom\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0An elaborate plan was set up:\u00a0\u00a0take Tito in the trap to a garage, and release him in there where he couldn\u2019t run back into the corn. (Dogs that are \u201con the run\u201d are usually terrified \u2013 even of their own \u201cpeople\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0It takes a few minutes for them to recognize that they are in safe hands).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Tito had other plans.\u00a0\u00a0Clearly the truss gang freaked him out enough that he moved on.\u00a0\u00a0The trap and camera sat for a couple of days.\u00a0\u00a0Meanwhile Tito was spotted near a house, a mile north of the plant.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Worst News<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There were several other sightings of Tito, all around the area, but no clear place where LPR could \u201cget ahead\u201d of him to set up a trap. \u201cMom\u201d had to go back home to Indianapolis, about 90 minutes away. Two local volunteers passed flyers to local stores and farm houses. \u00a0\u00a0And Friday morning we got a terrible report.\u00a0\u00a0A man driving on SR 119 late on Thursday night saw Tito peeking out of the cornfield.\u00a0\u00a0The man swerved, but thought that Tito came out into the road.\u00a0\u00a0He heard a thump, but when he came back, couldn\u2019t find any evidence of the dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenn and I dropped some food for another lost dog in Dublin, Ohio, then headed out the 120 miles to SR 119.  We searched alongside the highway, underneath the bridge over the Wabash River (while the Wabash becomes a major river in Indiana, here in Ohio, it\u2019s little more than a muddy creek).  Then, with permission, we marched down the rows of the cornfield, covering the first several to see if Tito dragged himself in there to hide. (As a guy who grew up in the city, this was my first experience hiking in the middle of a cornfield.  No wonder the \u201ccountry\u201d kids played hide and seek there<\/em>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there was no sign of a Corgi \u2013 though there were dog prints in the mud.  They looked a lot bigger than Corgi prints, maybe coyote sized.  That wasn\u2019t a good sign either.  Jenn set a camera under the bridge, hoping to see Tito go by to get a drink.  Then we headed home, unsure whether the Tito story was over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sightings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can\u2019t catch a dog you cannot see.\u00a0\u00a0Lori and Robin, wonderful volunteers who lived a half hour away and had helped LPR in the past, put signs out around the area.\u00a0\u00a0You can usually tell an LPR sign \u2013 bright pink, \u201cLOST DOG \u2013 DO NOT CHASE\u201d, followed by a phone number.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s those phone calls that allow the team to plot where a dog is going \u2013 and hopefully get ahead of him so he can be trapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for two long days there wasn\u2019t any word of Tito.  Don and Kim, the leading \u201ctrappers\u201d for LPR, went back to the bridge to see if there was any sign of him, but found nothing.  Kim got injured trying to get down to the river to check for evidence.  That\u2019s one of the risks of trapping dogs.  (She\u2019s sore and bruised but will be OK).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this would be a really sad Sunday story if it ended here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little League Field<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

St. Henry\u2019s is a small town, a few miles away from the bridge.\u00a0\u00a0There\u2019s a Dairy Dream, a Food Mart, and a couple of small restaurants.\u00a0\u00a0On Sunday, Tito showed up behind one of them, and the phone call came in.\u00a0\u00a0Lori and Robin sped over to check. They found Tito hanging out in the middle of the Little League baseball field on the north side of town, waiting for the next game to start.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word passed quickly: “The Lost Dog of Eldora” was here. Kids roamed the streets, looking for Tito – so there was more chasing, and more dodging into the nearby cornfields. Lori, followed too, but from a safe distance. She found Tito’s “safe zone”, behind a farm house where he had water, peace and quiet. She let everyone know: leave him alone! Then she called Don.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a two hour drive from Columbus, but as soon as he could, Don headed up to set up a camera and a trap near the ball field.\u00a0\u00a0And it took another night, but on Monday morning there Tito was on camera, calmly waiting in the trap for someone to come and get him.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was soon reunited with his family.\u00a0\u00a0After ten days, a couple dozen miles of corn and soybean fields, a brush with a truck: adventures all on short little Corgi legs, he was a little skinnier but healthy.\u00a0\u00a0And he was home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LPR doesn\u2019t always have success.\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes searching for dogs is beyond frustrating; they are never found, or even worse.\u00a0\u00a0But the reunions are awesome \u2013 and that\u2019s a happy Sunday Story ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about Lost Pet Recovery or support our efforts – click here<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n