What are you trying to say, Lassie?
Ok, time for a soppy happy ending story with dogs and a happy ending and soppyness. Did I mention there’s a happy ending?
This happened on Vashon Island, a large island in Puget Sound off the southern end of Seattle. Vashon Island Pet Protectors tells the story:
We are overjoyed to report that after being missing for a week, Tillie and Phoebe are now safe after being found deep in a ravine off Monument Road – with Phoebe being stuck in an old cistern. VIPP volunteers have been helping search for the dogs and today we received a call from a community member reporting that for the past few days a “reddish” dog had been coming up to them when they were out on their property and then promptly heading back into a ravine. So with a needle in the haystack hope we made our way into the ravine and after a bit of searching, finally heard that sweet sound we have been waiting for all week. A small one-woof response when we called out “Tillie.” A few minutes later we found her laying beside an old cistern with her head resting on the concrete wall. Heart sinking…we knew that meant Phoebe was inside the cistern and every breath was held and every doggie prayer offered that the peek over the rim would somehow find her safe.
And gratefully… this time we have a happy ending with dear Phoebe found perched on some concrete rubble that held her out of the water. For nearly a week Tillie stayed by her side with the exception of the few minutes of each day when she went for help. A huge thanks to Joe Curiel for realizing something was up and a round of applause to the awesome and amazing Miss Tillie. A true friend and a humbling example of the power of love.
I told you it was soppy.
Updating to add a post from Vashon Island Pet Protectors before the dogs were found.
DOGS STILL MISSING. Phoebe and Tillie have now been missing for 5 days and we need your help. PLEASE CROSSPOST this message to your own page to help get the word out. WE NEED SIGHTINGS REPORTED. Last seen near 216th and 111th in Paradise Valley but could be anywhere – and it is very likely they are stuck in a building or over a slope. Please call VIPP at 755-3981 or owner at 206-992-8384 if you have seen them anytime. And please – check your outbuildings and property.
Good dog, Tilly. Really good dog. Not actually Tilly, a stock photo instead, but a good dog anyway.
Updating again to add that the owner of the cistern broke it up with a jackhammer, so no other dog with short legs will get stuck in it again. And a photo of the reunion with their human.
Is that third picture the same dog as the Tillie in the first picture? There is some white on her snout and forehead in the first one, but not in the last one.
Regardless, what a touching story. Nobody will ever convince me that animals don’t have emotions and concerns.
Apparently not, apparently the last two are both stock photos (I read the comments on them after I posted them). But oh well, they’re sweet anyway.
That made the news back home. Nothing like a small furry animal to join hands across the world…
That’s how you end up spending the next several days hugging and kissing your doggies non-stop.
What a heart-warming story.
Dogs are amazing animals, very attuned to their human pack members too.
My sister got a rescue collie-cross pup from a shelter last year; we’re a re-home for a pedigree Samoyed pup since a couple of weeks ago. Although different breeds, sexes, ages and nationalities, both pups have the same, untrained behaviour.
My sister and I both have asthma; Bailey will stand in front of my sister, refusing to allow her to move until she takes her inhaler, and Sammi will stand in front of me likewise, when either dog determines (I have no idea how) that we need it.
When I lived in Canberra, I homed a collie-cross from the pound. A few weeks after we first got her, Katie was accompanying me on a cycle ride in the national park when I got into trouble (heart). She lay with me for ages until she heard a dog walker in the distance, and then ran off and fetched him. He helped me ring home so I could be rescued.