Pet Dog Found 600 Miles Away After Disappearing 4 Years Ago

A dog that disappeared from a family friend’s Colorado house in 2020 was found four years later almost 600 miles distant, close to the Mexican border.

When Benjamin Baxter brought home a 6-week-old puppy named Patches, he was 13 years old. However, he had to move to Nebraska in 2020 to take a new job, and his new rental home did not allow dogs.

When Patches ran away, she only lived with her friend for a few months. Patches had been living with a family friend in Calhan, Colorado, while Baxter looked for a new place that would accept his pet. Since Patches had a history of escaping, according to Baxter, he was not concerned at first. However, as the days passed and no one responded to the “lost dog” posters, he began to lose hope.

On January 31, Baxter’s mother called Elizabeth, his wife, to inform her that she had been receiving calls regarding Patches being in Las Cruces, New Mexico, but she thought the calls might be a scam. After getting in touch with the shelter, Baxter was quickly persuaded that they owned his long-lost furry pal. After being transported from New Mexico to the Colorado home of a family friend, Baxter promised to make the long trek back to bring Patches home.

An even longer time span—six and a half years—was reached in December when a lost dog was in England. Rose, the dog, was found living in the woods six and a half years after she ran away from her adoptive home less than twenty-four hours later, according to Lost Dog Recovery UK South. The charity stated that for about half of the dog’s 12-year-old life, she had been living independently.

Why do Dogs go missing?

Since the American Humane Society estimates that over 10 million pets go missing in the country each year, having a missing pet can be a frustrating feature of pet ownership. It makes sense that when your dog goes missing, you will be terrified, anxious, and unsure of what to do next. Dogs, in contrast to cats, can travel great distances from their home. Because dogs come in all sizes, a lost dog’s distance from home may depend on size, age, and strength.

A dog may disappear for several reasons. Like cats, dogs can flee in panic. Startling noises, such as firecrackers and other loud noises, can cause dogs to respond violently. Your dog can be anxious about being alone too. Your dog could become anxious and chase after you if you leave the house or go to work. Additionally, your dog might respond based only on instinct and their prey drive, running after the neighbor’s cat or a squirrel, for example. They might wander off to find a possible mate if they notice one in the neighborhood.

Dogs can disappear for no other reason than boredom. They walk off in quest of a new playmate because they do not get enough stimulation or entertainment. Your dog can be missing because it is too curious and they are in a new place, maybe on vacation or after moving. If the new environment is unsafe, they might also go back to their previous residence. Dogs may flee due to stress or health issues.

If a dog disappears, will it come back?

Dogs that escape do come back to their owners. An investigation on the topic revealed that 93% of lost pets were found and brought back to their owners. Like cats, dogs can navigate well.

Dogs mainly rely on their noses to find their way home, whereas cats probably use the earth’s magnetism. Dogs can detect smells kilometers away thanks to their keen sense of smell. Your scent can travel up to 11 miles or more in a lost dog’s journey home. According to experts in animal behavior, dogs identify known smells by sorting through all the aromas in the vicinity.