For those who think the tiniest pups can’t survive out there on their own… think again. Scarlett is here to prove every last one of you wrong…with flair, grit, and a little bit of sass just like her mom the infamous Kim D!
This tiny four-legged warrior spent nine days traversing the thick, tangled woods of Wayne, New Jersey like it was her own personal Hunger Games arena. One minute, she was gone without a trace. The next? Boom, popping out of the wood line and running with better street smarts than half the people I know.
For an entire week: crickets. No sightings. Just hope and traps. Oh, and feeding stations loaded with rotisserie chicken and bananas (yes, she loves bananas). But like clockwork, every time someone well-intentioned tried to get close? Scarlett hit the eject button. Poof. Gone. That little tail would disappear into the trees like smoke.
Enter Day Nine.
We were moving traps when we got a Ring cam alert…ding! Scarlett had made an appearance. Cue Barby (Scarlett’s human sister) leaping into my Bronco like we were in a buddy-cop film. We raced to the scene and sure enough, there she was: all legs and ears, sprinting like she’d just robbed a squirrel.
Now here’s the golden rule in lost dog recovery: Do. Not. Chase.
Why? Because dogs in “survival mode” are running on pure instinct and that instinct says run from everything, including their own name and their favorite people.
So we watched as Scarlett zipped through a set of fencing slats into a semi-fenced yard. The yard was a blessing—a one-way-in, one-way-out situation. Unless she figured out how to pole-vault (honestly, wouldn’t put it past her), we had a shot.
We hopped the fence. Barby slid into the yard and sat quietly, playing it cool like, “Hey girl, just chilling in your yard, no big deal.” Scarlett panicked. She zigged. She zagged. She ran at the fence, but I was there, playing defense keeping her back into the yard.
And then—it happened.
Scarlett bolted straight past Barbie.
Barby, channeling her inner NFL linebacker, tackled her.
They both rolled, stunned. Scarlett blinked. Barby blinked.
I yelled, “GRAB HER!”
And just like that—Scarlett was safe.
This little dog proved something big: Survival mode is no joke.
Even the tiniest, fluffiest pup can turn into a forest-hardened escape artist when the instincts kick in. And no…your dog probably won’t come when called. They’re not being bad. They’re being scared.
Scarlett is now safe and sound, snuggled back home with her amazing mom, Kim DePaola. And let me tell you, Kim moved heaven and earth for this dog. Love like that is fierce.
And hey, losing a dog can happen to the best of us. Accidents happen. But what shouldn’t happen? The toxic judgment on social media. The shame. The side-eye. That stuff adds a whole extra layer of heartbreak when you’re already hanging by a thread.
So here’s the silver lining: Kim DePaola and I are teaming up for a special episode of her podcast to talk about the whole wild, emotional ride—from the moment Scarlett vanished to the second Barby tackled her into safety.
Stay tuned.
And remember: the tiniest dogs can be the biggest fighters.
Just ask Scarlett.
