Ebony, a frightened new rescue was only in her new home for two days when she pushed down the screen door and bolted.
The family contacted me that evening and I advised that all search parties stop and no one go searching or calling for her. I was confident that Ebony would emerge when all was quiet and she was no longer being pursued. The property was vast open fields with bordering woods where she could hide in.
At 1:43 am Ebony came back took one look at the trap and kept going. Although unsure of her past, her body language was indicative of a dog who had been previously trapped. We brought the enclosure up first thing that morning hoping that she would go in.
Trapping is a process and can take time, especially for a trap savvy dog. Ebony was showing a lot of interest in the enclosure and spent hours circling and investigating it, even at times sitting and laying by it but had yet to progress in.
Thankfully, one of the neighbors had a larger fenced in yard that opened to the fields that Ebony was running. We asked if I could work to lure her in the fenced in area.
That morning I had the owner and I go sit on the back property, outside of the fence with their other dog Mocha, who Ebony loved and was drawn to. I just knew Ebony was watching us from the woods and I wanted her to see Mocha walking in and out of the fenced in yard and playing. After about an hour, a curious little miss Ebony emerged from the woods to come see what she was missing. She stayed far away but this was huge that she came out. I tossed pieces of yummy chicken and bacon towards her and showed her that I was trailing it into the fenced in yard. She went back to the woods.
I set up cameras within the fenced in area to see if she would go in. A couple hours later my camera went off and Ebony was cautiously following the food trail into the fenced area. I headed back over and walked the inner perimeter and blockaded off any areas where she would be able to get through.
I had to be able to sneak up once she was far enough in and shut that gate door. The only problem was that the gate was all the way in the back and it was a far distance to run without her hearing or seeing anyone pass by to get to the gate. It was going to be a ninja mission!
Cameras were set throughout the yard and inside the fence so I could track her every movement. I waited in the freezing cold outside, dressed in black and staying completely still at the front of the yard so that when she appeared on a certain camera, I knew I had to start making my way down, tip toeing through the crunchy frozen grass. I stepped only as cars passed to mask any sound. I was about five feet from the gate and held my breath and waited for the next car to pass and I went for it and slammed it shut.
She was now safely enclosed in large fenced in area but the next phase of capture was going to the hardest and take a lot of patience.
I immediately called Ebony’s mom, Gabby and told her to bring Mocha over because I knew she would help calm her down. We sat on the ground with food and were gaining her trust, she was staying close but still keeping a good distance. After a couple hours, Gabby and I were freezing our butts off and needed to warm up a bit. We called in Ebony’s dad Mark to take over. He came in, laid down on the ground and worked his magic. After about an hour and a half he was able to to get her to come close enough to be able to grab her collar. We got the slip lead on her and she was finally secure and safe!!! We carried her back home to the warmth and comfort of her new big sister Mocha. Very quickly she was nudging us with her nose to keep petting and loving on her, I even got a little smooch. You could see in her eyes the relief and the knowing that she was now safe.
Welcome HOME Ebony (Ebbie)!!
