Homer, an eight-year-old black Lab mix, made it safely back to his new home after taking off into the woods almost a week prior. Michael Terry and Stephanie Perkins, Roxbury, found Homer on For Love of Dogs VT’s (FLDVT) website. “Stephanie saw the posting and we were like, ‘yup,’” Terry said. Homer had been found tied to a signpost in Houston, Texas, made his way to Louisiana, and FLDVT shipped him up north on a bus along with other dogs (FLDVT adopts out many dogs from the south).
Terry and Perkins met the transport at the fire station in Middlesex on Sunday, April 9. Terry said Homer shook the whole ride home and was very nervous. When they got him out of the car, he immediately took off and bolted into the woods. “That was really scary,” Terry said.
FOLLOWED TRACKS
At first, Terry chased after the dog for about 3 to 5 miles, following his tracks, before deciding it was best not to chase him further. Terry and Perkins informed their neighbors about the missing dog and called FLDVT, which put them in touch with Central Vermont Canine Recovery (CVCR). CVCR’s Christina Jochum and Julie Payne told Homer’s new owners what to do immediately, formed a group chat and a Google Map to share sightings of Homers, and created flyers, which Terry and Perkins distributed to neighbors.
One of the things Terry said they learned from CVCR was not to post sightings of the missing dog on social media and to request others refrain from doing so, as such information may cause well-meaning people to try to catch the dog, pressuring him out of the area.
Jochum and Payne helped install game cameras and security cameras in the area to observe Homer and dropped off “a ton of McDonald’s,” Terry said, instructing them to set up feeding stations along the property line. (Fast food was used because it would last several days in the woods and would not attract predators with strong odors.) Terry and Perkins refilled the feeding stations several times a day. They also hung rags soaked in liquid smoke and ran an e-smoker to try to lure Homer with the scent.
HOMER IS SPOTTED
For a few days, they had no leads, until a call came in on Wednesday, which Terry called “a gamechanger.” Homer had been spotted about a half-mile from their home walking down a bank towards Route 12. There was a flat area on a neighbor’s property nearby that the group thought might be a likely location to find him. They set up a feeding station there and Terry spotted him in the nearby woods.
“Everything in me wanted to run right up to him,” Terry said, but Jochum and Payne had instructed him to get low if he saw him, look away, set food down and set up a camera nearby. “I started to get optimistic,” Terry said.
The group set a large Havahart trap where Homer had been sighted. CVCR sent a message explaining the process, which included leaving the trap there and not setting it right away, and “putting a jackpot” of treats in and around it.
On Thursday, the camera caught Homer visiting the trap several times throughout the night. On Friday, Terry and Perkins got a half dozen calls noting that he’d been seen a couple miles from the couple’s house and was coming back up their way. Then silence for the rest of the day. Late that night, the cameras notified their phones of movement in the trap. “He went in. We couldn’t believe it.”
The couple went out around midnight and made a trail of food leading up to the trap. Around 9:30 the next morning (Saturday, almost a week after Homer went missing), their phones dinged again. Homer had been caught in the trap. “We celebrated and ran right up into the woods,” Terry said.
SLEPT FOR 30 HOURS
Homer had laid down in the trap. “It was almost a relief to him,” Terry said. They put a slip leash on him but he wouldn’t budge. Terry said he had to carry Homer to the house, where he plopped down on the couch and slept about 30 hours straight, leaving the couch only to pee outside.
As of Monday, April 17, Terry said Homer was starting to perk up and wagging his tail. He leans on Terry’s leg when he goes out on his leash and he now follows Terry and Perkins around. He’s learning to get along with the couple’s two other dogs.
“He’s a really sweet dog,” Terry said. “It was really stressful, worrying about him. The odds were not in our favor. Christina and Julie were absolutely amazing. They told us exactly what to do and never let us give up. We can’t thank them enough. Stephanie and I are so grateful for their help.”
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