Repost of original story /post in April

I thought I would re-post the beginning just in case new followers didn't get a chance to go back to the beginning...

Saving Teddy 4/22/09

Can you imagine looking over your shoulder at every noise heard? As your belly burns from hunger do you think you could handle your fear long enough to consider when and where you might have your next meal? Could you survive living on the run through all kinds of weather, escaping the claws and attacks of wild animals, and possibly people perhaps hunters or others who choose to torment and tease you as you so desperately try to survive? One can only presume that this has been part of Teddy’s journey.Teddy (a beautiful black and white collie possibly border collie mix) was originally turned in the Hillside SPCA reportedly as a “stray.” Apparently Teddy’s young life filled him with fear and he was wary of most things, but he was fortunate enough to be adopted. With his unknown past overwhelming him with fear, he apparently bolted from his new home within a short time of his arrival. That was June 2008. Posters went out in the area; search parties looked for him, all to no avail. He was seen infrequently over the next few months but no one was ever able to get him to trust enough to be rescued. Weeks then months passed, and sightings became less frequent. Winter set in and all concerned were certain that Teddy succumbed to the winter.And then a miracle….in February 2009 he was seen again! I happen to live at the base of the mountain where Teddy was known to roam and wander. I had never seen him before but one morning as I looked through the dusk of the morn, there he was in my back yard. He caught a glimpse of me as I stood at my glass door inside the house, as he startled. He then bolted.My neighbors too had reported seeing him again and we all felt good that he survived the winter (the neighbors and their young girls saw him more frequently and even tried to capture him in a humane trap to no avail). Other neighbors down the road had also reported sightings and were anxious to capture him. However, as we all hoped we could rescue him and enable him to know a safe, secure, loving environment, he was so very afraid of any voice, noise, or change in his environment and escaped any sort of friendly efforts. Even the distant sound of a dog barking sent him racing into the woods.I noted the time of his visit and devised a plan; I would make sure I placed food in his path during this time every day. By providing him a routine and a good meal my hope was to encourage him to return daily and ideally make friends, but this was to be a long arduous journey. He spooked and bolted at every little noise. Time was going to have to be on our side and we would have to take it very very slow. I finally got him into a nice routine to which he would return each morning to a place I set up on the edge of the bush covered mountainside. Each day I add more twigs and sticks to “cover” his dining area, therefore changing it with each addition. My eventual hope is to slide the humane trap in this concealed area, and eventually, once he doesn’t seem to notice it, conceal it further and set it up. My next step at this point is to get him used to eating and walking on cardboard and straw as these will be the two substances I plan on using to “hide” the cage. We’ll see….

April 23, 2009 The sun had barely risen when in a flash I saw Teddy seemingly happily and playfully bouncing and trotting in my back yard this morning. I had not yet gotten his meal ready as it was so early for him and ME. He raced across the open yard stopping to look at the usual places for tid bits of food, but then…the terriers inside the house saw him too and began to bark. Teddy froze momentarily and then ran with great speed up the mountainside. I was so disappointed because the last time the dogs barked at him, he didn’t return for some time. I now have put cardboard sections on the lower parts of the upstairs doors so my precious terriers won’t bark if he returns. I wondered if he, by some odd chance, actually was staying with another human as his exuberance was almost like he was freed and came running to a familiar place. We can only assume that he still lives and roams on the mountain until we may discover otherwise. And until that time…our quest to save him will continue.

Concern: If and when Teddy is “captured” he will need a very loving, patient, and well supervised home for quite some time. I understand the shelter has a rescue organization that will take him, which is good because rescue folks are used to having to work out a lot of issues some times. (I too participate in rescue and have seen many a good turn arounds and unfortunately, tragedies throughout the years.) Our hope is Teddy’s young life can one day be a forgotten memory and he can live out his days in security and love.