Lost Dogs Illinois received this heartwarming email yesterday, and it moved us to tears!

Mr. Spock, or as his family refers to him, Spockie, went missing in Mars Hill, Nc on Tuesday 6/18 @ 4:30pm and was recovered around 5pm on 6/19 at the location where they lost him.

“I am reaching out to say thank you for your highly informative and helpful series of posts about finding shy and elusive dogs that enabled us to find our beloved dog, Mr. Spock.

My husband, Drew, and I lost our little guy on Tuesday when he jumped out of my car after a horrible car accident. Like Toby in the post, he had gone through a traumatic event, was in unfamiliar territory, and is by nature, weary of strangers. It felt like the odds were against us when we began the search.

We spent Tuesday evening and most of Wednesday morning searching by foot and by car , calling Mr.Spock’s name, and setting out fliers. It felt like we were going nowhere fast and we both began to lose hope.

I am a scholar by trade and learning is my superpower .So when I sensed our strategy might not be working, I decided to see what I could find out online . Your posts (Lost Dogs Illinois website) about finding shy and elusive dogs were BY FAR the most informative and instructive resources I found.

Based on what I learned, we set up feeding stations at the scene of the accident and a sighting location. We also switched from frantically calling his name to approaching the stations with calmness and quietness.

On Wednesday evening we went to check the feeding station by the scene of the accident, which happens to be by a local gas station. At the EXACT TIME we were there, someone from the gas station who had my number thanks to our fliers called me to say our dog had just been spotted AND the person who had seen our dog, saw my husband, and pointed the direction Mr.Spock was walking.

We knew from your posts to remain calm and not to panic. My husband followed our dog slowly on foot, resisting the urge to run, and threw me the keys so I could follow in the truck. Our dog turned down a sleepy side street, and my husband gestured for me to turn when I drove by.

Thanks to your posts I had a winning strategy for when I spotted him on the side street. I parked my truck far away and did not slam the door or rush. I opened a can of his favorite food and approached slowly. At first he was very hesitant, so I sat on the ground, and poured out the food. He started approaching after that, and suddenly realized it was me, and ran into my arms.

I do not think we would have been able to get him back without your posts. Not only did it give us helpful information about dog’s behavior when they are lost, but also a winning strategy and hope.

Thank you from the very bottom of my heart for sharing your resources so freely and please know that they really made a difference in our lives. Your strategies helped reunite us with our beloved Spockie in less than 24 hours.

P.S. Please feel free to share this email with anyone you like!

-With deepest gratitude”

We were honored to read this and hope others will check out our resources for ‘best practices’ in recovering missing dogs! Visit us at www.lostdogsillinois.org