Best Furry Friend - Search and Rescue

08/30/2026

I am caught up with August!!!

08/30/2026

August 2026
Zuri is a 4 year old female Hound/Lab mix. She has had a rough life and one that can bring a tear. Zuri was surrendered by a breeder after her first litter. Zuri was brought into Illinois by a rescue and was on the road to a new life. Zuri was adopted but sadly after 5 months was relinquished. Zuri then went back into fostering. With Zuri as many rescues you need to earn their trust. Trust can only be built over time and though repetition. After a week with the new foster Zuri was spooked by utility workers in the yard and escaped. The first sighting was 1.5 hours later and 3 miles south. She managed to navigate several subdivisions and a major 4 lane road. We received a couple sightings in that area, a day of no sightings and then more sightings 2 miles away from that last area still headed south and west. She tried to hang out there but was forced out of the area by people trying to help. My big concern was where she was going to head next. If she kept going south she would have to cross a 6 lane major road around a curve that made it even more dangerous. I crossed my fingers and an hour later she was spotted north headed into a golf course. I was happy she made a direction change. That is a good sign she is starting to triangulate. Finally. The next morning Zuri was caught on camera eating food left out by someone attempting to catch a cat. Thank you cat for sleeping in late. She had now returned to the first area which again gave us hope she was backtracking. The next day was pivotal. She was heading north and we were getting good sightings. Then she turned northeast. Another sighting. OMG no way… I text the group at 2:19 pm, "She may have found her scent, she could be at the fosters in 30 minutes". I am getting excited I drove over 2 blocks from the home and sat. At 3:04 pm I get a text "she is in my front yard". Some woman drove by and scared her away. Not a problem. I texted "Open your back gate". Minutes later Zuri shows up again and walks into the house. Over the course of 4 days Zuri had traveled about 17 miles. Day 3 she turns around and finds her way home. Never bet against a hounds nose.

08/30/2026

August 2026
Sarge is a male yellow lab mix not yet 2 years old. Sarge was adopted 3 weeks prior to this event. Sarge's family works days teaching so they hired a dog walker to bridge the time. On this day a mishap occurred with the dog walker and Sarge got free and took off running with leash in tow. Leash cases are an "all hands on deck" scenario do to concerns about it getting caught somewhere out of site. In this case it was made worse because Sarge temporarily used train tracks as a travel path. Due to the speed and distance Sarge was traveling flyers and more so signs were not going to be effective. We did cover the immediate area near the home in case he returned. We had to rely on social media and because we partnered with Mchenry County Animal Control social media came through big. We were getting sightings regularly but Sarge was moving quickly. Sarge ran 2 blocks from my home and interacted with some play buddies of my dog. It was fun talking to them after this event ended. They said that day there were neighbors out walking their dogs that they had never seen walking their dogs before. Everybody wanted to help. Sarge was still moving and getting near a busy road which concerned me. I was hoping Sarge would start backtracking but he did not. He was south bound and not showing any desire to change that. My other concern was he was heading into open conservation lands between towns. I made an attempt to out smart him by getting ahead and monitoring the access roads but he beat me there. I had the drone up and get a call from someone that said they found a dog but were not sure if it was Sarge. That was only 5 minutes from my location but I still had to land my drone which seemed like 1 week to accomplish. I kept the caller on the phone the whole time driving expeditiously to the location. I arrived and oh yah it is sarge. I texted a quick pic to Animal Control and followed that up with a call. The volunteers and staff at AC were visibly emotional and relieved to know Sarge was safe and started arriving within minutes. Sarge had stopped at a business and was resting behind it when the owner went out back and saw Sarge. He slowly and calmly approached Sarge who was ready to go home.

08/30/2026

August 2026
Slinky is a 2 year old long hair dachshund. Slinky was still intact which may have led to his little adventure. Slinky was in the back yard with his Yorkie brother when the escape occurred. Both dogs left the yard but only 1 returned that day. Slinky was officially on the run. Finding a dachshund with a drone is not easy especially in August. The family worked on getting the word out which included talking with neighbors, posting online and hanging flyers in all directions. Slinky did not leave under stressful conditions so focus was kept in a small radius. Would Slinky return home on his own, I believe very possibly, but what family wants to wait for that. We received sightings all days except one. Because this event was short there was really no established pattern to follow. We worked with what we knew and put up a feeding station based on a single centralized sighting. It paid off as Slinky showed up that night and ate the food. Good enough for me I set a trap the next day expecting he would show up late afternoon. Of course heavy storms moved through early and mid afternoon but I was monitoring radar and it was to clear soon. Undeterred by the storms and major water runoff Slinky showed up at the trap and I believe made the quickest entry into a trap I have seen. It is exhilarating and rewarding to be able to make the call to the family and being able to say "come on over, your dog is waiting".

08/27/2026

I have a vested interested in this one because I was able to be there the day he was found and recovered. Charlie had a rough time. He was in an auto accident and ejected from the car. As near as I can figure he dislocated his hip during the accident. I noticed an injury while I was working on the recovery but did not see this coming. Vets tried to reset it but it will not take. His leg will need to be removed. That hurts me I guess because he went through too much already. I go in to a recovery expecting happy days to follow. I know many dogs live full lives with 3 legs but I did not expect it would be a dog I recovered. I am hurting with Charlie. Please consider helping Charlie’s recovery expenses. Thanks.

In the early morning hours of August 4th, Charlie and his sister, Violet, were in… Christine Hardy needs your support for Support Charlie’s Road to Recovery

08/16/2026

July 2026
Madi is a 6 year old Black Lab. Her family took a vacation out of country to join other family members. They took Madi to an area boarding facility for the duration or so they thought. While at the facility Madi was off leash at the time and got spooked by an employee. A set of containment failures at the facility allowed Madi to find her way out and into the neighboring community. Having been in this community for a lost dog about 30 days prior I knew a drone might help but this was going to take a ground crew fliering the area each time we received a new sighting. The family returned to the US as soon as they could get on a flight. I was happy we were getting regular sightings. Both the family and boarding facility employees actively worked to get the word out through fliering and social media. We tracked and mapped sightings as they came in. Over the course of 5 days Madi traveled about 10 miles fortunately the travel path backtracked some keeping her in the area. Madi was showing signs that she was not overly stressed. At one point she approached a family outside their home but she ultimately walked away. Madi was looking for her family which in these cases is also something familiar such as a house that looks similar or a scent that smells familiar. Although I thought it was possible Madi would return to the boarding facility as it was somewhat familiar she never did. With the family now home and fully engaged we were talking daily. I set expectations and prepared the family for the day they will get to reunite with there pup. On the final day we received a call about 6:30 am by a person driving on a major highway who saw Madi near an exit ramp. How while driving 60 mph I am still not sure. We talked over the sighting and we made the decision to not go to the sighting location because it was too dangerous for Madi as well as the family. That was tough but I was hoping with no pressure Madi would make her own good decision at turn around and head away from the highway. Then not an hour later I received a text from a friend 30 miles away who saw a post from this area with a picture and sighting about 1/3 miles away from the highway in a business park. Wow THANK YOU. I texted and called the family… GO GO GO!!!. They raced to the area and started driving around. We were optimistic Madi would continue the same direction from the highway so Madi's mom headed east on the only road Madi could use. This was a 4 lane divided road but happily had a lower speed limit. Madi's mom spots Madi across on the far side of the road. She stops in the middle of the road, gets out and crosses the divide. Cars going the opposite direction stopped. Madi was going to head into the woods when mom yells "SIT". Ha Ha that was not in my training manual but mom knows best. Madi sat. Then Madi turned and ran to her mom.

07/27/2026

July 2026
Heidi is a female Husky mix rescue. Heidi was skittish but was slowly getting better and was able to go out in the yard and play on an extended leash. On this day Heidi was going to the groomer for the first time and as her family found out she was not ready for it. When they got to the groomer they got out of the car. Heidi got very scared, pulled out of her collar and ran off. Of course to complicate matters this was the week of July 4th. We received a couple sightings over 2 days. We knew roughly where she was but due to multi-day fireworks we decided to let her settle safely and not try and trap her until after local fireworks had run their course. I didn't want to risk her getting to the trap and having a firework go off and have her relate it to the trap. The sightings decreased during the 4th weekend as expected but we felt optimistic that she would not relocate due to the local main fireworks display only blocks away. That Monday I set the trap but kept it closed. I had a frisky cat nearby that previously ate the food from a feeding station and I did not want it in the trap taking the food. That night the trap worked as planned. It entertained the cat but more importantly attracted Heidi who spent over an hour checking out the food smells and the scent items. The next morning we set the trap live. She did not return in the morning as I had hoped but I was confident she would come back that night. I camped out near by as well as her family. It was just shy of midnight when the pics started coming to my phone. Heidi was at the trap. She was pacing around the trap which had 3 bowls containing either rotisserie chicken, bacon or brats. Also in the trap was a shirt from her human mother. Heidi picked up the shirt at one point and carried it out of the trap. Heidi circled one more time, entered the trap and Heidi's saga was over.

07/21/2026

07/05/2026

July 2026
Fred is a male Bernedoodle. Fred decided one day to go on an adventure from his house. Fred's adventure covered 17 miles over 14 days and ended 4.5 miles from his house. As much as I would like to tell the family I'll have him back by end of the day that is not how it usually works. I tell the families to brace for a rollercoaster ride and this one was. We had 5 days of sightings, a day without, 2 more sighting days, 5 days without and finally a sighting and recovery. We had a string of very hot days that I feel led to that 5 day no sighting span. I was ok with that at the time because I felt Fred was doing what he needed to do to stay safe and deal with the heat. Fred's family was doing everything they could to get the word out which is obvious given all the sightings in both residential areas and conservation areas. The problem was Fred was traveling up to 1.3 miles between sightings so the family was not able to get to a sighting quick enough to attempt a recovery. We spent a lot of time going over best practices for a successful recovery and preparing for the day they would be able to attempt one. Fred's family mentioned that Fred has some dog friends he is close with. This was good information. The use of a magnet dog if done properly can be very effective at breaking a dog out of survival mode. When we got the call for the latest sighting it was in a conservation park. The family, friends and I all headed to the area. Everybody covered an area looking for Fred. A family friend brought Mercedes one of Freds dog friends. Mercedes started walking the paths near the sighting location and suddenly Mercedes started pacing back and forth smelling the ground. Seconds later Fred sticks his head out of the woods and runs to Mercedes. Mercedes mom was able to get a leash on Fred who was happy to comply. An emotional and wonderful reunion. Welcome home Fred.

06/27/2026

June 2026
Winnie is a 9 year old female Husky mix. Winnie and her dad were visiting a friend in the area. While her dad was out the friend opened their front door not expecting Winnie's reaction would be to run out the door too find her dad. The friend followed Winnie as far as he could when she ran into a wooded area. Winnie's dad went looking for her but was unable to locate her and she did not respond to his calling. Winnie's dad put some food out for her where she was last seen and started the "Find Winnie Campaign". Even though Winnie and her dad were visiting from Champagne her dad stayed in the area until Winnie was found. Days went by and then a week and no sightings. Then 11 days in and a first sighting not far and a bit south of where Winnie went missing. WInnie's dad raced over there and on the way saw Winnie running across the road into a field. He lost her but quickly got a call from a person who saw her and was following in a vehicle. They connected and that led them one more subdivision north where a third person saw her and called. Now they were very close and new where she was exactly. Winnie's dad slowly approached her. She was laying is some taller grass. Although she still was not sure about him she new she needed help. Dogs often do not recognize their family immediately but maybe it was just that she saw a good person. A few minutes later she relaxed enough to recognize her dad and a family was reunited.