07/30/2026
UPDATE: Many people have contacted us about Marley, concerned about her leg. The good news is that she sustained no serious injuries during her adventure! The x-rays showed arthritis in both elbows, and all of the running around inflamed them. The vet gave her some pain relievers to help until the swelling goes down.
Marley went missing on July 2 when she jumped out of her dad's car window because she saw a deer that needed to be chased. People honked at him to alert him, but he thought that there was something wrong with the sofa that he was transporting. He waited until he could pull over and check the sofa, and that's when he realized that Marley was gone! Marley is his best friend! She goes to work with him every day, and is constantly "supervising" him when he's working at home. He spent hours and hours driving around looking for her. His wife contacted us, but our instructions were not followed. Signs were never put up (!!!!). Last week, Animal Control contacted us about a dog matching her description who was hanging in someone's yard that morning, and was last seen chasing a cat into the woods. We set a trap and camera, but she never returned to that house. I had seen possible sightings on Nextdoor, and was commenting and asking questions. Yesterday, Julie P. messaged me asking if I was still looking for the dog. Yes! Well, she was in her yard, and had been all morning. I headed over with a trap and camera. By that time, Marley had left, but only for a short while. She came back, but was never interested in the food or the trap. I was worried that the 60" trap that I had brought was too small (it's hard to tell in pictures how big/long legged a dog is) so Laura met me there with the 72" trap. Marley was in the front yard in the early evening, and was trying to convince the next door neighbor, who was on his riding lawnmower, to play with her, but he wasn't a dog person and ignored her (apparently, Marley runs next to the riding mower at home, helping her dad mow!). I messaged the owner's wife asking if I could get an unwashed shirt belonging to the husband. I met him at 11 this morning, and we put the shirt in the backyard near where Marley would lay to sunbathe. We stood around talking for about a half an hour (leaving a nice scent pool of her dad's!) and came home. Exactly 3 hours later, I got a notification on my phone of movement on a camera. It was Marley! She found her dad's shirt and was laying on it! I immediately called her dad, and I headed over. I got there first, but didn't see her. As I was asking the next door neighbor if I could peek in her backyard, she pointed to Marley in the next driveway! I said her name and she stopped and looked at me. At that moment, her dad rounded the corner. He stopped and got out of the car and came towards me (he didn't see her). I pointed to her and he said "Marley!" and she came right to him!!! Now, to get her to the vet to get that leg checked out and get her on Doxycycline for all of the ticks that she's covered with.
