Huxley is between 4 and 6 years old. He had a home once in the last year but was given up to rescue; we’re guessing, because of behavior issues, which we know aren’t his fault. Prior to that, nobody really knows where he came from. All we know is that he has a tattoo on the inside of one of his ears, we have no idea why, and that he may have been abused in his past homes prior to being rescued. Ours was to be his rehabilitation and “forever” home. He has had many successes in the last couple of months since we adopted him; no more peeing on furniture, reduced, and almost eliminated, separation anxiety. We have even fully weaned him from the anxiety medication the rescue center vet had him on. His fear of men had all but disappeared. Huxley was fitting in perfectly into our family and our home.

On the morning of December 16, we let him outside in our fully fenced-in yard for his morning potty break. Only 5 minutes later, when it was time to come inside did we realize that the terrible wind storm had blown open one of the gates. Huxley was nowhere to be found.

We had seen Huxley 4 times in the first 2 days and every time we called him, he ran in the opposite direction. We also tried to catch him but that also did nothing other than scare him away. We didn't know what to do. It seemed as though he was happier being on his own than with us. As we later found out, this was not the case; more about that later.

At 1:45pm on December 20th, we found Huxley in the humane trap we had setup with the help and generosity of Willingboro Animal Control. We had been checking the trap every two hours for four and a half days, day and night. It was good to have Huxley back and almost as good to finally get some sleep.

A couple days after we got Huxley back we spoke to Steve Hagey from Detect-A-Pet in Hatfield, PA. What we learned is that when a dog gets out in to the “wild” instinct takes over. They are now on their own. There are only three things that matter: food, water, and safety; safety being #1. There is no time for thinking, only reacting. Everyone can become a stranger depending on the animal. When we first spotted Huxley, our first reaction was to get out of the car, and say his name with a commanding voice loud to make sure he heard us. What normally works in the home and in the yard as the “pack leader” does not necessarily work in the "wild" if the dog is scared. When I said his name with a commanding voice, he saw this as a threat and ran away. Every time we saw him and tried to run after him, he saw this as a threat. He was doing exactly what he was supposed to do to survive.

The best way to approach a situation like this is when you see the dog, get down as low as possible and turn in the opposite direction. If you have some treats, great, if you have another dog from the house to play with a squeaky ball with, even better. Do not talk, just ignore the dog and let them approach you once they determine everything is safe. Once they realize things are safe, they might come over to see if you have food. If you need clarification, please speak to an animal behaviorist. We also recommend talking to Steve Hagey from Detect-A-Pet. Click here to view his contact information on the Lost Child/Pet Help page.