Willow ventured out of her fenced in yard when a delivery person did not securely latch the gate. Her mom came out moments later and she was gone!
A few sightings came in close to home and her mom, Laura immediately headed out. Willow who is usually an extremely friendly goofy lab, took one look at her mom and bolted. Willow was in survival mode and even her mom, the person closest to her, who raised her since a puppy was viewed as a threat in her eyes. This changed how we now needed to proceed to bring her to safety.
A feeding station was set at home in the hopes that she would return, but each time she would venture close, well intentioned people would chase her, pushing her further away and deeper into the dense woods.
There were a few areas of interest where I felt that she may eventually come out, the problem was so did the wildlife.
I had located an area where she had been hiding, I had eyes on her and waited for her to move out of sight so I could hike the trap in. Tonight as I was rebaiting the trap, I could feel that I was being watched. Out of the corner of my eye I could see that it was Willow.
I immediately dropped to the ground and pretend I did not see her. I had bait food right next me and I started tossing small pieces of chicken towards her. After a few minutes, I could hear her sniffing and she slowly came into view and started eating. For the next 45 minutes or so I kept tossing her food and she kept slowly, cautiously eating the pieces and making her way to me. She was finally close enough where I put the last chunk of food I had to my side and with the other hand was able to quickly grab her collar. She froze in fear and would not budge. After a few minutes calming her and praising her for being such a brave girl, the life literally came back in to her eyes and she started wagging her tail and kissing me, she was so relieved to be safe. We made our way out of the woods and into my car.
After three days on the run in Fredon, NJ Willows big adventure was over!
