For 9 days, everyone thought this sweet dog was lost forever. Not so fast.
For the Anderson family of Carlsbad, California, a hike with their two dogs recently became a tireless search after Georgia, one of their dogs, ran off. But while the family was looking for her, Georgia was looking for home. And amazingly, she found it! After nine days, Georgia showed up at the door of the Anderson’s home — a 35 mile journey from the park where she went missing, reports NBC News.
Kris Anderson, her daughter, and their two dogs were enjoying a hike through the Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve late last month. But Georgia, a rescue dog from Hurricane Katrina, saw a rabbit and took off after it, as many dogs would. Although the park rangers helped, the family was unable to find their beloved pooch before the park closed for the day.
Over the following week and a half, they went back to the park multiple times to look for Georgia, but she never turned up. Given the dangers of the canyon, including coyotes and extreme temperature fluctuation, things weren’t looking good. And depending on where she ended up, Georgia could have contended with every dog’s worst nightmare — Fourth of July fireworks.
But when all seemed lost, Kris heard a familiar sound at the door. It was Georgia, coming through her doggy door! The starved and exhausted pup made herself comfy right away, and jumped up on Kris’ bed.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Anderson told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I was thinking ‘what?’ ‘How could this be?’ ‘Am I dreaming or is this really happening?’”
The vet gave Georgia a clean bill of health, even after contending with nature for nine whole days. All told, her time away from home went from June 27 to July 6, and the vet was shocked she was able to make it all the way back to where she belonged.
“I’ve heard of dogs doing things like this, but I’ve never seen it before,” veterinarian Luis Lizarraga told the Tribune. “She’s very lucky, absolutely.”
Lucky and brilliant. This dog wasn’t just fighting the forces of nature, she was using her internal GPS to locate her home 35 miles off in the distance. I think that merits an endless array of snacks and maybe one night sleeping on the bed, don’t you?
(Images via Kris Anderson via ABC News)
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