Several months ago there was a notice posted at our dog park that a 1 yr. old Golden wearing a collar with identification had disappeared from the area of the dog park. The notice included a picture of a very nice looking Golden.

Recently I met a female Golden about 20 mos. old and her owner at the dog park. From what I was told I think it's the same dog. The owner said that she had been lost for about 3 months and been living "in the woods" on her own for all that time. About 5 months ago the owner got a call from someone in an adjacent town saying they had found the dog. The owner said that after her disappearance when he contacted the police they said that she had probably been taken by the coyotes who live in packs in the woods around here.

The dog looks good, a little on the lean side, but quite high energy and not as social as some Goldens but not any noticeable signs of having been traumatized. The owner said she had lost about 11 lbs. and had been treated for intestinal problems because she had "been eating garbage".

This is a suburban area. The dog park is across a road from some woods but the woods also abut a 4 lane divided parkway and commuter rail tracks. To get to the area that the dog was found it would have to cross the parkway either directly or by traveling on a road and bridge and travel a few miles.

Does this story make sense to you? Do you think a 1 yr. old golden could be living on it's own for 3 months? My first thought when I first saw the posted notice was that the dog had probably been stolen but I've been known to put 2 and 2 together and get something other than 4.

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Zoe, Rockwall Nantucket Breeze, BN, CGC, Delta therapy dog
Zeke, our introduction to the world of Golden Retrievers

My breeder had a dog got loose one time from a handler. It was up at a show in the pocono mountain area. The dog had been a normal, friendly golden however became quite scared and was hard to catch. Not sure exactly how long she was gone but is she had to make multiple trips to locate her and finally entice her to come to her. It can happen. Just like in people there is the fight/flight button that some have more than others.

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Alison and 2 Furry Kids and 2 non furry kids

Lilly- Golden DOB 1/28/11
AKC name: Goldridge Lights Action Lilly RN CCA
http://k9data.com/pedigree.asp?ID=433352
Sanford- JRT DOB-9/5/06

Bridge dogs
Toby-Boxer 10 yrs. old (rescue) 9/17/2002-11/1/12
Charlie- Boxer (1st "child" together)2/19/02-3/18/12
Julie- golden retriever ( my heart dog) 5/6/96-3/3/07
Ruby- terrier/chow mix (my 1st dog) 8/1/90-1/15/05
Rusty-shih tzu (million dollar dog) 2/5/99-1/20/04

Lost Dogs Illinois on Facebook provides info on how dogs move & change personality when lost (i.e. friendly dog scared to come to people). It was pretty eye opening, and there saying is when you find a dog (even if in poor condition) think lost dog as opposed to dumped dog.

Wow. That's quite a story. Losing my dog is my biggest fear. I'm looking for a GPS product that works in Canada...

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- Kat (Sydney's Mom)

A few years ago there was a member on this forum, she doesn't post much anymore. Her niece's golden was missing for at least a month. She had a lot of posts here about the search.

Same thing, somebody called them and told them a golden was living in there nearby woods. They went there, I believe they needed to bring another dog to coax the dog out. The dog had lost lots of weight, had a couple minor issues, maybe some teeth issues. We were all surprised that she was able to survive in the woods like that too.

I'll try to find the thread.

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Dogs can absolutely live in the woods on their own for very long periods of time......see our story about Grets(a German Shepherd) that was doing exactly this with a litter of puppies!!!!

Harborview Goldens Grets' Story

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Thanks for Grets story. It was very interesting. I hadn't realized that a dog that had always been fed and taken care of could survive on its own.

The dog I was describing has been back with her owner for about 5 months. The couple of times I've seen her, her behavior seems pretty normal. She and her owner were playing a lot of fetch but she seemed to always keep her eye on him and return to him pretty quickly. She did come toward me a couple of times but never quite close enough for me to pet her. Her owner did say that she never "raises her tail anymore". She does wag her tail in a low key way and it definitely wasn't tucked like she was afraid.

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Zoe, Rockwall Nantucket Breeze, BN, CGC, Delta therapy dog
Zeke, our introduction to the world of Golden Retrievers

Back in the late 70's my mom gave away one of our dogs to what she thought was a good home. Onxy ran away and when my mom found out 2wks later we began searching for Onxy. We hunted and hunted in the woods near where he ran way. I thought he was dead but my mom said no she knew Onxy was in those woods. 3mos later yes my mom went every day 3-4x a day calling for him, 3mos later Onxy finally came out of hiding. He was skinny and scared but he was home. We had Onxy until he was 25yrs old. He loved going for car rides and would get out of the car but stayed close to his humans.

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U-CH, CGC, TDI Top Flights Reap What You Sow " BaWaaJige"