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Sniff & Search Pet Recovery, Davenport, FL (2026)

02/01/2026

Welcome home Kai! Kai, escaped while on a walk with his parents when he suddenly saw a deer while walking through a preserve. Apparently this was his first encounter with a deer and it was way too exciting for him. Furparents pulled out all the stops - immediately had a thermal drone flying (within hours and on day 3), flyers, social media and search parties. The first night there was a possible sighting but security cameras soon confirmed it was not Kai.

K9 Sadie and K9 Chazer were out on day 3. There was quite a bit of concern that he could get tangled since he was wearing a harness. Both Sadie and Chazer lead us to the same area - a large patch of woods with clearings on either side and not far from the trail that Kai had walked in on. From the track it would seen that Kai was not actually entering the woods but walking around them. A game plan was made to get Kai to safety as quickly as possible. The family set up trail cameras, grilled delicious food and left behind items that smelled like them.

With only a few visitors to the feeding stations (including a bobcat napping on the owners sweater) the cameras were moved again based off a "possible" sighting in the same area. On day 6 Kai's owners found part of his poopy bag holder - right on the trail! With this we knew Kai was moving in area and fairly recently! Cameras with the owners comforter were moved to that location. Within hours Kai found the comforter and curled up to take a nap. Furdad raced out to the preserve and thankfully Kai came straight to him. His deer hunting days over and he is thankfully back in his nice warm home for cold front that is blasting through Florida!

06/17/2025

Welcome home Mowgli! After pushing out a window screen Mowgli's family started frantically searching everywhere for him. They notified all their neighbors with flyers but still no one had had seem him. This neighborhood has large lots with very mature, thick landscaping. It offered incredible hiding spots for a lost kitty. K9 Sadie came out on Monday to help narrow down the search area. Sadie went two houses down and continued to circle around one particular house. Unfortunately, the neighbor was very uncooperative and refused to allow us search or place cameras there. We put a feeding station just to the other side of their property hoping to lure Mowgli away from there so that we could safely trap him. Scent articles with his family scent were trailed back home for him to follow.

Seven hours after the track the family spotted Mowgli! He was crossing the road from the uncooperative neighbor!! Thankfully the property he was on now was much more cooperative and was okay with us trapping there. In the excitement of seeing him the family had chased him for a bit and he ran into some thick brush. All night raccoons visited the trap but not Mowgli. Early Tuesday morning a family member was outside on the pool lanai talking on the phone and they spotted Mowgli again! This time they remained perfectly calm and Mowgli walked in the open door like nothing had happened! He is finally back home where he belongs! Welcome home and congrats on your new GPS collar!

04/24/2025

Imagine not knowing where your best friend was for 53 days!

Campbell was boarding at a local facility and somehow managed to escape while his family was out of town. There had been a few sightings of him in the nearby areas but unfortunately Campbell was acting like a lot of lost dogs - scared, timid and unwilling to approach anyone even his own family.

His family reached out to us on day 4. Due to some personal reasons myself and the dogs were not able to track but I agreed to coach the family through this. I was confident with some pointers they would be able to capture Campbell. The community was doing great keeping their eyes out for this boy. With each sighting Campbell's family would move the feeding stations and cameras hoping to catch a glimpse of him. For a while there were no sightings but the family continued to flyer the area and post on social media. They continued to drive the area searching for him and talking to the local residents. Finally, on day 51 someone called in with location on Campbell. Furdad went to location and saw Campbell for himself! As soon as they exited their vehicle Campbell quickly left the area. But the family did just the right thing - they quietly left him food at that location. The next day they went to the same location, this time with cameras and again left food and dirty clothes. Campbell wasted no time showing himself. He continued to hang out for about 30 minutes. Furdad remembering what I had taught him about calming signals decided it was worth a try. Within minutes Campbell approached him and ended his really long adventure! Welcome home buddy! Great job Team Campbell!

04/09/2025

Midnight, a small solid black kitty, escaped from his home as furmom was loading up her car to leave on a work trip. She was unable to stay back and search for him but her family jumped in to help until she returned. K9 Sadie and K9 Chazer were out very early in his disappearance. Their tracks were very similar and showed that Midnight was still close by. After the track we had two confirmed sightings from the day before right on the track. Cameras and feeding stations were put out, a door was left open at home and we waited. Midnight never showed up. About a week after the track Midnight was seen again! This time on the other end of the track but closer to home. We were hopeful he would turn himself in or at least visit a feeding station. Unfortunately, after that sighting Midnight's trail went cold. Furmom continued to post online and maintain the feeding stations but was losing hope.

Today, after 24 days someone called with a possible sighting! They had been feeding a little black cat for the last 5 days. This kitty had a tipped ear and appeared very petite. Furmom rushed over and had eyes on him and tried to grab him but he was too fast. The good Samaritan and furmom followed him for a bit but soon realized they weren't going to be able to hand capture him.

As soon as furmom called and confirmed it was in fact Midnight we headed out with a trap. Intially I set it up where he had been eating each morning and night. When they took me to the area where they had lost sight of Midnight he suddenly started "talking" to us. I crouched down and opened a can of food and he quickly approached me - but stayed just out of reach. Thinking we could end this a little sooner we brought the trap to Midnight. Sure enough - in less than a minute he entered the trap. He was a bit upset initially but quickly calmed down and enjoyed some head scratches through the trap.

Here's the crazy part. He was almost 3 miles from home. How he traveled that far is a mystery. There was some busy roads he would have had to cross to make it there. I wish they could talk but we are just all grateful he is home!

03/26/2025

For 12 days Jesse's furmom has been in full cat recovery mode. Jesse, a former street kitty, snuck out of the house at the worst possible time. His family was in the process of moving and on the last day of the move he escaped. Originally we thought this would be an easy recovery. Furmom saw him right after the escape and nearly had hands on him but he is fast and disappeared into a backyard. Cameras with food were placed in that yard as well as their old home. Days passed with no sightings of Jesse. On day 5 K9 Sadie and K9 Chazer were out. They showed us that Jesse had abandoned the area near home - in fact they tracked nearly a mile away. That track lead us to a sighting from the previous day. Someone had seen him on day 4! Based on that info we started with cameras and feeding stations. Jesse's family really turned up the heat with door to door flyering not only in that area but the surrounding areas. They posted daily to Ring and other sites, moved cameras and feeding stations and spoke to everyone they saw. They followed every piece of advice given to them. Posting on Ring was a struggle but after I walked them through it a few times it came second nature.

Finally, today, those posts paid off! Someone called stating they believed they had found Jesse in their bushes. They sent over pics and sure enough it was him. He had randomly turned up in their yard and was meowing at them! This boy had managed to go over to yet another neighborhood. As the crow flies he was almost a mile from home - but based on the track and sighting he went about 1.75 miles. This is totally not the norm for cats. We generally find them within 5 to 10 houses from home. At this point Jesse isn't talking so we may never know his full story. But we do know that he is in really good condition overall - clean, still at a healthy weight and no obvious injuries. The vet will check him out but I am fairly confident he will get a clean bill of health.

His family never gave up and followed all advice given to them. Anything asked them they did immediately. It so important that the family do the groundwork - the K9's are just one tool in pet recovery. So very happy for Jesse and his family!

03/23/2025

Sylvester is home safe and sound after 12 days! This little guy took off while spending the day with a family member. After 11 days of no sightings someone finally caught him on a ring camera at 2AM. When his furparents reached out for help on the 11th day we knew the K9s weren't needed but offered to help trap him. We immediately met them at the sighting and set the trap up for the little guy. He was a no show that night. The owner of the home was super helpful but was unfortunately selling the home and requested that we remove the trap and cameras the next day. Going to plan B I asked the owners to move the camera with a feeding station a couple blocks away. As they were doing that late on the 12th day they heard a small bark. After gently calling for Sylvester he showed himself and ran up to furdad!! It's a miracle that he happened to be in the new location - almost like he was just waiting to be found.

Overall he is healthy just tired and a bit thin from his time on the run! Welcome home little guy!

03/23/2025

Welcome home Oliver!! Oliver, an adorable gray and white kitty escaped from his patio when the wind blew out a screen on 3/9. Furmom reached out for some additional help four days later. Initially, I thought we would be able to guide her through recovering Oliver herself. After 12 days of zero sightings K9 Sadie and K9 Chazer hit the ground to help. The first thing we noticed is that there were a TON of neighborhood cats that were most likely preventing Oliver from returning. Within the first 5 minutes of tracking we counted four outdoor cats.

Both dogs took us over to a neighboring apartment complex. Once there we found what appeared to be temporary cat shelter made from a box with food and water. We had some suspicions that perhaps someone was trying to befriend a kitty. Unfortunately, we could never get anyone to answer the door to give us more information.

Furmom did absolutely everything that was asked of her. From conditioning the neighborhood cats to stay away from her home, to flyering and leaving scent articles of herself for Oliver. Finally, tonight after 13 days of work Oliver turned himself in. After leaving a trail of scent articles earlier today he managed to creep on to the back patio this evening to the safety of his home and loving mom!

Welcome home big guy!

02/04/2025

Welcome home Layla! This 14 year old min pin went one crazy walk about. She escaped from her back yard on 1/29. There were several sightings for the next few days so when her furmom reached out on 1/31 I coached her through how to recover Layla and assumed she would be reunited soon. Unfortunately by day 5 Layla wasn't home and the sightings had stopped. We decided it was time for K9 Sadie & K9 Chazer to help out. There was apparently a doppelganger that was allowed to run the neighborhood without a leash and collar and that was adding confusion to our sightings.

While driving into Layla's neighborhood it was clear Furmom was determined to get Layla home. There were yard signs at every major cross street, smaller flyers on every pole and nearly every home in the community had been given a flyer at their front door.

K9 Sadie started at our point of loss and confirmed several of the sightings before looping back to the house. By this point the sun was setting but Mom was in the front yard holding a Layla sign for all the cars passing by. She was a live billboard advocating for her lost baby! K9 Chazer took over the track from this point showing us that Layla was again attempting to circle back to the house from a different direction. Unfortunately, it was now pitch black and it looked like Layla was now cutting through apartment complexes - there were fences she could easily cross but we couldn't. We ended the track with a clear idea of where she had been and where it seemed she was headed.

The following morning I was finishing up the map and called Furmom to advise her of where the next batch of flyers and signs should be placed. Before I could get that info out Furmom bursts out with "she's been found!!" It seems that Layla was in fact going exactly where we had thought but arrived there two days earlier. A wonderful, kind person had picked her up and was keeping her safe. They had tried to scan her chip but the chip was still registered to the rescue and apparently they weren't able to reach anyone with the rescue.

Hats off to Team Layla. Literally every person that we stopped to talk to on the track already knew her - most by name - and had a flyer. The community had rallied around this little dog but she had wandered just outside the perimeter that had been so heavily flyered for her.

Welcome home sweet girl!

12/28/2024

There is no better message to wake up to than "Cancel the track, Gucci has been found!"

Gucci is the apple of Furdad's eye. While visiting family for the holiday Gucci was able to sneak out a door on the morning of the 26th. The family searched inside and outside but couldn't locate him anywhere. At the same time of his disappearance neighbors were reporting coyote sightings only a block away.

Furdad immediately reached out for assistance and we quickly began guiding him on what to do in hopes that Gucci would turn himself in. Things were really not looking great when another coyote sighting came in in the middle of the day again very close to where Gucci was lost from.

Thankfully about 48 hours after escaping Gucci decided that life on the run wasn't for him and came back in through a door that was left open for him. His little adventure has earned him a new collar with a tracking device!

Welcome home sweet boy!

12/13/2024

281 Days….That is the exact number days that Tess, an American Bulldog, lived on her own in a swampy, wooded area. On March 8th, she escaped from a dog sitter. When her owners showed up they thought they would simply call for her and she would come to them. Tess had other ideas. For 9 months, she would elude and evade all attempts for capture. When her family first reached out for help in June we were not able to track - no scent article and the terrain would have been impossible for my dogs and myself. She had been spotted on a neighbors camera so I told the owners to start feeding her there. I didn't hear back from the owners until August. Seems that they had started feeding her, had cameras out and had her on a routine. They had attempted to trap her and she broke their trap the minute the door closed. We made the 3 hour drive down with a larger, stronger trap. Tess was a no show and never returned to that area. Thankfully a few weeks after that she was spotted again not far from the original location. Again, we started feeding her and conditioning her to the larger trap. After 3 weeks we thought she was ready. I drove down, we activated the trap and we waited. Tess was early that night but entered the trap perfectly. Unfortunately, she beat the door of the trap and escaped once more. We started the process over and once more Tess was coming to eat daily. After a month or so she was entering the trap again. In mid November we started arming the trap. But this girl is SMART! Every time the trap was ready she would ghost us. On December 1st, she entered the trap and managed to break the door free. This trap has caught wolfdogs - Tess is clearly a powerful dog. But her parents were determined. This time we started feeding her again and were going to build a Missy trap for her.

Keep in mind during all of this Tess had had encounters with her family and would turn and immediately run from them. It was absolutely heartbreaking. Last night her parents were out to drop her dinner off and once again they came face to face. But something was different this time. She didn't run - instead when they said her name she ran towards them. Furmom says it was like a dream - she came to them. After 9 months she surrendered. She has lost about 10 pounds and unfortunately has heartworm from her time out there but should make a full recovery.

The love and dedication her parents have for her is amazing. The drive out there to feed her is over an hour one way. Providing her with hot, fresh, food daily and knowing she is so close but so far at the same time is emotionally taxing. They never gave up, they never wavered and they never considered any other option than getting her home.

Christmas has come early this family!!

12/10/2024

This is never the outcome we want for a lost pet. We express our deepest condolences to the family of Cheetah. She was blessed to have had a loving family who cherished her deeply. May the numerous happy memories of her bring peace during this difficult time. Rest in peace, dear Cheetah.

We are thankful that K9 Sadie was able to assist in providing closure for the family.

12/05/2024

There are some lost pet cases that I will remember forever. Xandra, a 15 year old Maine C**n, is one of those.

On 11/24, Xandra snuck out the door as her owner was bringing in groceries. After six days with zero sightings in a heavily wooded area K9 Sadie and K9 Chazer were brought out to help. Sadie immediately picked up her scent and tracked through the woods, over one street near a school and a known feral feeding station. As Chazer was starting her track, I tripped over a vine and fell into 12 inch stick - with my eye breaking my fall. I thought for sure the stick had directly hit my eyeball. After confirming my eye was still in place, Xandra's owner helped Chazer and myself out of the woods. This is a very small, rural town without any medical facilities. We went to the fire department hoping they could help but this was beyond their capabilities. They sent us off to the ER about 20 minutes away. I spent the next 6 hours at the ER having 1/2 inch piece of bark/tree removed from my eye. I sent Xandra's owner home to begin the process of recovering her.

That same night Xandra was caught on camera right on Sadie's track! The trap was then set out for her, but she had almost no interest in entering it. For two nights Xandra would come to the area, look at the trap but never enter. It seemed like the trap was a little too small for her. So today, we met with the owner and provided a larger trap. After a bit of trial and error, Xandra entered the trap and ended her 10 day adventure.

Welcome home sweet girl!

As for my eye - I have partial vision that will hopefully be fully restored in time.

Sniff & Search Pet Recovery

02/01/2026

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