One year ago today was the start of the longest month of my life...the day Delta disappeared.
This was the last picture I took of him before he vanished. He was watching me clean the ashes out of the firepit. He likes to sleep on them so he wasn't impressed with me!
After a month of relentless searching without success, Delta was found, fifty miles from home, rescued by a roaming female dog who took him back to her people and shared her food with him for a few days. Delta wouldn't let his friend's owner get anywhere near him, but he had seen one of my lost posters and called just in case that was my dog. I'm eternally grateful to him for making that call. It took some help from Delta's littermate, Antare, his new friend, her owners, and Kentucky Fried Chicken, but 36 hours after that first phone call, Delta was in the truck and headed home.
He's changed a bit since his great adventure. I don't think he enjoyed it much! He's very protective of "His" yard now, barking at the fenceline at any intruder, even the ones only he can see. He's still extraordinarily timid. It's difficult to explain to people with "normal" dogs just how timid he is. If he were a cat, he'd be considered feral.
Progress with Delta is painfully slow, but it does happen. Saturday afternoon, for the first time ever, he came in the house under his own power and by his own choice. Every other time he's ever been inside, I've had to corner him and carry him through the door. Delta absolutely will not walk on a leash. If I have to move him somewhere, he has to be carried.
Once he got inside, he acted almost like a normal dog. He lounged on a dogbed, ate a treat, snuggled up to Sleet.
The main thing I noticed was the lack of fear in his eyes. He was wary and never completely relaxed, but Delta probably never will completely relax. Coming in and enjoying it at all was a huge step for him!
I am grateful for the support I got from PT during Delta's absence. A year later, I smile every time I watch him race across the yard, play with his brother, every time he greets me with his morning wooooooooo.
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Merry Holidays to One an All Blessed be 
That was quite a saga! We are all grateful it had a good ending. That last picture of him is fantastic - he has such beautiful eyes. Your patience & love are paying off, what a treat not to have to carry him in - he looks like an armful! God bless you & Stuart for all you do for those "Wandering Spirits" of the North!
Originally Posted by mike001
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