Keiko is a 7 yr old female, born in my kennel, who has run 3 Iditarods with me. She is a little skittish and can be a little shy with people she doesn’t know, but loves me. I placed her with a girl that wanted a dog and wanted to learn to mush. They are good people, but not really knowledgeable about dogs. The next day she slipped her collar and ran off. Of course they chased her trying to catch her and she just ran harder.
Keiko was seen the following day trying to cross a busy street. She looked frenzied, darting first one way and then the other. She tried to go back to the new house, but one of the younger children saw her, hollered “Keiko” and started after her. Off she went again. Then she wasn’t seen for three days. After that she was spotted several times, but always moving, and gone by the time I got there.
After 7 days on the loose, she was spotted bedded down under some trees, and was still there when I arrived. I gently called her name, clicked my tongue, coaxed and slowly walked up to her. At 10 feet I hit her discomfort zone. She sat up and I froze and dropped to squat on one knee. I gently called her again. She stood and looked around, then started to move away. I called one more and she paused, then walked off into the woods. I left my shirt with some liver treats near her nest hoping she would come back.
Four hours later I came back and she had returned. This time I stopped 20 feet out, dropped to a squat and called her. She stood, started towards me, and then backed away. I called again and tried to coax her in, but she was too nervous. I got the bag of liver treats and shook them. Her ears came up and she focused on the bag. Slowly she walked towards me, crawling the last bit and dropping in submission inches from my knee. I gently reached out to pet her and she almost climbed into my lap. I slipped a new collar on her, tightened it and gave her the liver treats. She was so hungry she almost ate the bag.
Eric
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