"I don't know what your ultimate goal is. Is it to get Rumble back home for you to keep, or to know where his "forever" home is? It's possible that someone may have him, and not want to let you know for fear of having to give him up. I know if he showed up at our house, it would be hard to let him go. Perhaps if you spell out your goal on the website, you might get a response."

Here is our answer: More than anything we want to know that our boy is safe. If, in Rumble's journey across Virginia, he has found a family that loves him and cares about him and with whom he is happy, then we will be happy. The most important thing for us is to know that Rumble is OK and happy. The folks who take in, care for and love stray, abandoned and/or lost dogs are special angels. Our hope, first, is that Rumble is with just such a family and, second, that one day they will find out that Rumble has a family that is searching for him and wants, more than anything else, to know that he is OK.
 

We're still trying to get a good, close look at these two animals. They avoid anything having to do with human scent so we haven't had any luck yet with the game camera that we used in Yogaville in October. Debbie has given us some suggestions as to how to get around the human scent problem. Despite the cold weather dampening any scent of bait, it seems that human scent is pretty strong!
 

"When I watch my Logan play in the snow, all I can do is wonder about Rumble. I bet he loves the snow. Logan would rather be in the snow than in the house, anyday. I have to make him come in. Here is a pic of Rumble's cousin, Logan, in the snow. I put on a green ribbon for Rumble, but, by the time we got this shot, he had taken it off and trashed it in the yard. I'll try again later. I think Logan looks very much like Rumble."

We agree with Logan' s mom. Logan looks a lot like Rumble. In fact, if we were to see Logan at a distance while we were looking for Rumble, we would think Logan was Rumble.  Logan's photo may be seen in Rumble's Scrapbook.
 

2/13/03 (Thu) - No new sightings.  We received a heartwarming email from someone who lives near Chester, VA, the area where Rumble first started his journey. The individual wanted us to know that she has been following Rumble's story since the beginning. Her email ended with "What a day for celebrating when I check your website to find you have Rumble home safe and sound." She also told us that she has a Cocker Spaniel, Rudy, who was 15 years old yesterday, and that she feels so blessed to have Rudy.

We've written much about lost and abandoned dogs and about the angels who work so hard and risk shattered hearts on a daily basis to save them. But the email from Rudy's mom was so filled with love that we want to recognize all of the responsible dog owners who deeply love their dogs and would do anything for them, because their dogs truly are family members. Hearing someone tell us about their dog's 15th birthday made us want to give thanks to all of those who cherish their dogs and celebrate every wonderful day of their dogs' lives. So, Happy Birthday, Rudy, may you have many, many more!
 

P. S.: Please remember that chocolate is toxic to dogs, so please don't be tempted to share your chocolate Valentine's Day treats with your furry best friend.
 

"Thor is a long haired, male German Shepherd/Shiloh Shepherd that has swept me away. His personality is of a gentle young man. After a few minutes of bringing him out of his kennel, Thor (as he has been named by the shelter volunteers) calmed down quite well and thoroughly enjoyed the attention I was giving him. He loves to give kisses and to be brushed. He's about 2 years old, if even, and weighs nearly 80 pounds. Please spread the word about this wonderful dog. We can only hope that this "Prince" can find the castle that he so deserves."

To inquire about Thor, contact the Richmond Animal Shelter at 3540 N. Hopkins Rd. Richmond , VA 23224, Phone: (804) 646-8648.
 

I had to write to you about my day yesterday as I had Rumble's website and what it says about catching a lost dog in my mind. I had just finished a bunch of errands. It was raining, and I was at the stop light of a busy intersection when two yellow dogs ran across the street, luckily making it through both lanes of traffic. I will never know how they made it.

I turned around in a gas station and went around the block trying to catch up with these two. Finally, I saw the dogs. I rolled down the windows so they could see and hear my dogs. I hopped out of the truck and, with treats in hand, I managed to get hold of them by their collars. One of the dogs pulled away from me, leaving me holding on to the other while trying to get back to my truck to get my phone and call the owners listed on the tag. The girl I had by the collar was very scared and tried to pull away from me to follow the other guy. Her collar came off in my hand!

I grabbed my phone and called the number on her tag. Her human mom answered and said, "Oh my gosh, you have her? We've been frantic!" I was like well…I have her collar. I told her what had happened and where I was and then continued after the dogs. I finally saw them and cut them off in a driveway. Holding the collar and a leash, I tossed a few treats toward them. I tried not to make eye contact. Crouching down, I was able to get close to the golden again. The other guy took off.

When the golden turned to follow I did something I probably would never had tried on any breed other than a golden. I grabbed her tail and soothingly assured her that she was okay. I got the leash around her neck, then her collar. I called the dog's mom on her cell phone to tell her where I was. By then, she and her husband were just around the corner and got to me quickly. The other dog, a male, was nowhere in sight. After helping them look for the other dog, I finally had to go home, because I was drenched. I'm not sure if they found him. I hope so!!!

But the moral of this story is: I have always been a little afraid to try to catch a lost dog because they always seem to bolt...and I couldn't stand it if I caused them to get hit. But the information on your website gave me the confidence to try this time, and I'm so glad I did. Who knows what might have happened to these two dogs. I had to write to tell you that Rumble was in my head the whole time.

We want to say "Great Job" for helping the Golden get to safety. We hope the Golden's buddy was found soon after.
 

Our friend was worried that the terrible weather of this past weekend would be dangerous for Ace. And, of course, we worry so much about Rumble during extreme inclement weather and freezing temperatures. She wrote us today with the latest update on her efforts. What she wrote eased our minds about Rumble and about Ace and about the all the other dogs that are lost and looking for home. Below is what she said:

Sunday I went down when it was freezing rain - I was hoping sort of not to see Ace because I would like to think he had better shelter when the weather is bad instead of being under trees on top of leaves. But he was there in his pile of leaves as he was Monday and this morning. Part of my agonizing is that I think he must be cold as I think how I would feel sitting in wet clothes outside. However - yesterday (we had off from work) my husband took one of our dogs, a nine year old lab/shep mix out for a walk/swim. Yes - a swim. Our guy gets to swim quite often but this past month has been so cold we have just taken him on walks only. Well my husband took our boy for a walk and he wanted to go in the lake. My husband said he had a blast swimming. They walked home which was about a 2 mile walk and our guy's coat was covered in frost but it did not bother him in the least - he wanted to continue to play fetch in the yard. Dog's coats are truly repellent to the rough weather conditions. Our guy is a dog that sleeps underneath the covers at night so if the cold swim did not bother him, I know Rumble and Ace can endure much more as they have the shepherd coat. It did give me a peace of mind for a bit. I pray for Rumble's safe return as well as Ace surrendering to me.

We want to thank our friend for her comforting words and information. We know that Rumble's family members here love the cold and snow, but they've never been outside for extended periods of time in extreme weather. Hearing about our friend's dog and learning about Ace's methods for retaining body heat were heartening indeed. We also want to thank our friend for her devotion to helping Ace.
 

2/22/03 (Sat) - No new sightings.  Today we have a warning for everybody who believes that their dog would never run away. Thursday evening, Noah, Rumble's brother was outside with his human mom and dad and his canine Grandfather, London. Noah's human parents were putting out apples for the deer because in Pennsylvania, where they live, the snowstorm of last weekend covered most of the deer population's food sources.

Suddenly, Noah bolted from his family into the woods. The deer were hungry enough that the apples drew them closer to the feeding source than normal. Noah, seeing the deer, bolted away from his family to pursue the deer. In no time, Noah was out of sight. His human mom and dad started calling for him and struggling through knee deep snow trying to find him. Finally, after about 30 minutes Noah's human dad found Noah and was holding him when Noah broke loose and took off again. But this time Noah headed straight for his human mom who had grabbed Noah's collar and started jingling it. When Noah heard the sound of his collar he ran toward it. His human mom, frantic with fear at this point, was able to hold Noah and get his collar back on him.

There are lessons in what happened Thursday night: First, no matter how much you trust your dog's training and attachment to you, the sight or smell of nearby wildlife can trigger ancient instincts that trump training and love. No amount of calling may be able to override the excitement of the chase. The lesson: unless in a fenced area, keep dogs leashed. Whether it be a squirrel, rabbit, cat, chipmunk or deer, a dog's instinct to approach or chase strange animals will trigger a flight response in the strange animal. This response, in turn, triggers the dog's prey drive, a potent instinct.

Second, if, despite all efforts to keep your dog secure, he or she still manages to get away from you, call him/her but also try to find something that will make a noise familiar to your dog and that is associated with something positive. Noah's human mom was smart. She knew that Noah associated his collar with car rides and "let's go." When we've had a dog get outside our fenced area, we've found that clanging two metal food bowls together gets instant results. Other tactics include using a phrase and tone of voice that evoke early memories of positive reinforcement and that are non-threatening.

For example, from birth we condition our puppies to come or follow us with the words "puppy, puppy, puppy" voiced in a low, sing-song tone. Recently, we received a cell phone call from someone who was looking at a German Shepherd running lose near a busy, major highway. The individual had tried just about everything with no luck. We suggested sitting on the ground and calling "puppy, puppy, puppy." As soon as the person did this, the dog ran straight into the person's open arms. Another tactic, recommended by Debbie Hall, is to start playing with another dog. Whether it's because the loose dog becomes jealous of the other dog or because dogs can't resist a play session, this approach to catching a dog is often successful.

Thankfully, the ending to Noah's adventure had a happy outcome for all, except maybe Noah. Once Noah was collared, London approached his grandson and, arching his neck, placed his head on Noah's neck and forced Noah to the ground, then London stood over Noah, making Noah stay on the ground. It seems that London was telling Noah his behavior was unacceptable! Photos of Noah and London may be seen in Rumble's Scrapbook.

Note:  Some wonderful friends of Rumble who were driving in Suitland, MD (Prince George's County) came across two lost dogs yesterday (2/21/03) at 7:30am which they asked us to publicize in case you know of their owners.  According to them, "one dog was a gorgeous tri-color hound dog (about the size of a lab/small shepherd with hound/beagle coloring) and the other was a black lab."  Unfortunately, they weren't able to catch them, but can provide information about what they saw.  If you know these dogs and would like additional details on this sighting, please call 410-693-1303.
 

2/23/03 (Sun) - No new sightings.  The other day a dear Friend of Rumble's from the Senior Canine Rescue Society (SCRS) in Alberta, Canada sent us the link to a wonderfully encouraging "Lost Dog" story which we'd like to share with you.  The story was published in the Placerville, California Mountain Democrat newspaper.  It is so uplifting!  It's the true story of "Taz," a senior, deaf Queensland Heeler who was found after a year of wandering.  Now that she's back home, the owner has been able to piece together where she was during the past year and how she survived.  Well worth reading!  And while you're at it, we'd like to encourage you to visit two senior dog rescue groups that have been so supportive of Rumble.  You're cordially invited to visit both the SCRS Foster Dogs page and the Senior Dog House and Rescue page in Bigfork, Montana.  Senior dogs are true treasures and can be wonderful additions to your family.  Taz's owner will vouch for that!
 

2/24/03 (Mon) - No new sightings.  The other day we received a wonderful story from a Friend of Rumble's in Virginia who also found that calling out "Puppy, Puppy, Puppy" worked when she lost her her dog many years ago.  She had owned her 4-month-old puppy "Nikki" only an hour when Nikki darted away into a snowy woods, so Nikki hadn't even been named yet.  In addition to calling those magic words, she also crouched down and didn't rush.  The amazing thing is that this occurred when she was still a girl living at home with her parents.  Somehow, even at that young age, she sensed the right thing to do.  To read all the details of this heartwarming (and instructive) story, please visit Rumble's "Inspirational Stories" page.  It would be wonderful if Rumble's path could take him to some equally wise young person today!
 

2/25/03 (Tue) - No new sightings.  We've received several more stories about dogs who had gotten lost (or loose) and were successfully recovered.  Ironically, two were about Siberian Huskies - - "Style" in Australia and "Kodi" in Virginia.  The third story was about a black German Shepherd in Maine.  We love these stories!  They are so encouraging and uplifting.  They also generously share knowledge about what has worked in recapturing a dog so we all might benefit.  We certainly see some patterns repeated.  All three used the technique of invoking some pastime the dog enjoyed:  for Style it was a car ride, for Kodi it was a walk, and for the black GSD it was playing with a stick.  This is the same approach Noah's mom used successfully last weekend when she jingled Noah's collar after he had slipped it (see update of 2/22/03).  [Noah lives in Pennsylvania and is Rumble's brother and littermate.]  Style's human mom also used another technique we've seen to be successful time and time again - - crouching down low and using patience.  How wonderful to share this valuable information with each other!  These are the kinds of things we learn, hoping to never need, but are so grateful to know if we do need them. 
 

2/26/03 (Wed) - No new sightings.  In the spirit of sharing important and valuable information, we'd like to take a moment to talk about a serious medical condition in dogs about which we feel all dog owners, particularly owners of large and deep-chested dogs, should be aware.  The condition is commonly called "bloat."  The technical name for bloat is "Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus" ("GDV").  We have read that bloat is the #2 killer of dogs, after cancer.  Fortunately there are things you can do to minimize the chances of bloat.  We believe every dog owner should be familiar with the symptoms since it can become lethal very quickly if the symptoms go unnoticed.  One of the most typical symptoms seems to be frequent (every 5-20 minutes) unproductive attempts to vomit.  However symptoms and circumstances can vary.  Things such as rapid eating, stress, elevated food bowls, and inadequate protein have all been found to contribute to bloat. To read a nutshell summary of what bloat is, which dogs are prone to it, symptoms, and what you can do to minimize the chance that your beloved friend will ever bloat, click here.  This site also contains a printable document you can leave with pet-sitters when you're away so they'll be better prepared too.  Forearmed with this knowledge, you just might save your furry friend's life some day! 
 

2/27/03 (Thu) - No new sightings.  Today we received an email from a wonderful Friend of Rumble's in Virginia.  Their family's beloved Sheltie recently crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  All of us who have ever lost a pet can surely understand the pain, and we extend our deepest sympathy.  Despite the sadness, our friend's heart is full of love and caring.  In her words, "I can't imagine not having a dog. Since I've been reading about rescuing dogs (thanks to your website), I'd like to adopt a young adult Sheltie.  If you hear about any for adoption maybe by May or June, please keep me in mind."  What a wonderfully generous family!  There could be no better tribute to their departed friend than to save another dog's life and give it a home filled with love.  If you remember our Valentine's Day thoughts, one of our three guiding principles is that something good must come from our efforts.  It means so much to us when we learn of good things that occur because of our Rumble.
 

2/28/03 (Fri) - No new sightings.  For obvious reasons, we spend a lot of time talking about dogs on Rumble's site - - after all, Rumble is a dog himself!  But we know that people become very attached to all types of pets.  Today we'd like to refer you to an excellent and unique website of a Friend of Rumble's, Exotic Pet Vet.Net.  This site has valuable information on exotic pets such as birds and reptiles.  All pets deserve the best of care, and this site includes some excellent information on exotic pets.