Decker made his journey to the bridge Jan 26, 2013

[Judi]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

i keep looking for your updates too. I hope you find her soon. She must be finding some shelter somewhere

[momofdecker]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

Thank you all again - for the support and the suggestions. The former owner of Watson did come help me search last Thursday and does think if Watson sees her or one of her other dogs - that she can get her to come to her. BUT - we have not spotted Watson in 3 days. No sightings today. She is on stand by to come help search if we get a sighting. We are looking into getting a trail camera to put up to hopefully verify whether or not Watson is leaving some of the tracks we are seeing.

Here is a link to Decker's shutterfly account - I put a power point slide show of the tracks we've been seeing. Most are on the river and I'm not walking out on it to get close up shots so they are difficult to tell. Pictures 11 - 13 are Toby & Kinser for comparison. If anyone is good at telling animal tracks in the snow - I'd be very interested to know if any look like dog prints (vs. coyote or fox or cat, etc...).

https://inmemoryofdecker.shutterfly.com/47

[clydesmum]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

Just catching up with the hunt for Watson. I can only send you prayers and positive vibes. No one could be doing more than you to find Watson.

You'd think hunger would make her keep closer to human habitation. Is there any sign of scavenging around those riverside properties? I'd also thought about leaving clothing and water near a trap, but as she's so newly rehomed I don't suppose it would help. And water probably isn't a problem for her.

[buddingartist]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

I keep checking in and keep hoping for a positive outcome

Louise

[momofdecker]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

2/18/15 - We had a Watson sighting!!! We didn't catch her - but it was great to have a visual on her. Had several strangers stop and help track her for about 5 hours but could not get her off the river. The fire dept even tried to help but couldn't do much because she would not go to them.



Here is our plan to try to catch Watson: John's sister purchased a couple of trail cameras which John & I put up last night. We either need to get her off the river to catch her or we need to find her hiding spot so we can catch her. It really does seem impossible to catch her while she is traveling up/down and across the river as we simply can't keep pace with her (by vehicle) and it's too dangerous to go out onto the ice.

John & I have a few spots we will strategically place food at - along with the trail cameras. We need her to get into a routine of visiting only a couple of places to eat so we can track her to catch her - and we need the cameras to record her routine.

There is also one other contact who lives out of state that will fly in this weekend if we are unable to catch Watson before then. The contact is confident that if Watson sees her that she will come to her. We'd love to catch her before then but she is not making things easy for us.

Thanks again to all who've supported us from afar - your prayers and positive thoughts are working - please keep them coming - Fingers crossed this will result in a happy ending!

[Cara Sandler]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

Continued prayers coming your way. Looks like you're getting closer! So glad you've actually had a sighting!

[farrwf]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

Wonder what she's doing for food??

[buddingartist]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

Tks for the update.

Sightings are a good sign and hopefully that baby will be back home soon.

Positive vibes your way

Louise

[Soaphie & Sydney's Mom]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

I have been lurking, as well, watching for updates. This would truly be one of my worst nightmares

Keep the faith!

[buddingartist]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

I check in before logging off at night and check in when I log in in the morning and I keep praying for positive news

This is heartbreaking in light of the frigid temperatures everywhere

Louise

[momofdecker]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

Bill - I've been leaving food such as chicken and cat food out but am sure it's frozen before I get back home. I've also been leaving a lot of dry dog food on the river - in hopes that she is able to get to it. Every time I go check I have to move the snow away to even make a spot it doesn't completely sink in the snow.

We didn't check the trail cameras last night - it was sooo cold and windy I suspect she didn't go out much as long as she had a somewhat warm and safe place to hide. First thing in the morning I'd gotten a couple of texts about tracks in the snow but by the time I got there the wind had blown the snow to cover any tracks that were there. Half of my walking path that I'd worn down had to be re-created thanks to the drifting snow.

The college I work at actually cancelled classes today - unheard of as I've seen our college students have to go to class in some brutal weather - but the wind chill is that bad today. Temps are suppose to rise tomorrow and Sunday. My sister in law is organizing a team of volunteers for Sunday and we will go out searching. Will check the trail cameras later today but am not hopeful that they will show much due to the wind/snow/drifting.

The odds may not be with us - but I'm not giving up.

[clydesmum]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

I logged in hoping against hope that Watson had returned to the fold, but having positive sightings of her is brilliant. She's coping with your nightmare winter, and is obviously getting food somehow. Renewing my prayers and positive thoughts for you all. It's wonderful how your community is working together to rescue Watson. Good luck.

[farrwf]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

Like many here, Holli, hoping and praying Watson comes out of this situation well.

You never know, could be someone in the area who has noticed her and has been leaving food out????

[ceruleanblue]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

We had a similar situation happen recently with one of our customer's rescued golden retrievers. She slipped out of our customer's car and took off into the woods. The dog barely trusted her owner and wouldn't come. We had people from the rescue searching up and down the road for I think about 2 weeks. They set traps, etc, but the dog was avoiding them. Finally, one day after the rescue people had left, one of my coworkers saw her coming closer to our facility. The dog was at the edge of the woods by our driveway (still had her leash on). My coworker chased her down through the woods and was able to catch her. The dog had been hit by a car (Possibly more than once. Several people had told us they'd seen her running from one side of the road to the other in front of traffic), and she had to have a leg amputated, but otherwise, she was okay and recovered well from her surgery. It was scary for all of us, and we were all stressed out until she was caught.

It sounds like you have a good plan to get Watson back. It sounds like she's not in a high traffic area, so the odds are good she will be somewhat safe until you are able to catch her. She must have found someplace to hole up from the wind and snow. It's good that you've had a sighting, so you know she's still in that area. I hope you get her back soon! Don't give up!

[jesse girl]

Re: Decker made his journey to the bridge this afternoon

it looks like this bitter cold will end in that first week of march and long range weather models points to that being it for 2015 and back to more normal weather

its hard to catch something that doesn't want to be caught . would animal control use tranquilizers if all else fails . i understand that would be extreme measure but its done for wild animals on a regular bases . maybe something to explore . hard to say if its a good idea to get them involved if you haven't already

hope something turns up in the cameras . my dog who took off when i was a young adult after a storm had many sightings but couldn't be sure if it was my dog . the cameras might give you that as far as identification