Details about the capture
This was just posted on another Sheltie list:
So many have requested details on how we actually captured Aspen. So here
we go... and feel free to crosspost.
There had been many sightings of Aspen along Rte 164 in Griswold between
I-395 and the River Ridge Golf Course. I received a call from a woman who
lived in Preston (the next town down Rte 164) but worked in Griswold, and
frequently dined at the golf course restaurant. She felt that Aspen was
probably using an abandoned house for shelter (and there were many sightings
near there to back this feeling up) so she started leaving food for her
every day. A professional pet tracker/trapper I was working with (Puregold
Pet Trackers) put an enclosure trap up and set up a motion sensor camera to
monitor it. Aspen was coming to the food/trap but not every day. A local
resident, Glen, feeds everything with fur and feathers and was leaving food
not only in his backyard less than 1/4 mile away but at another abandoned
house just across the field from the house where the feeding station was set
up [He saw Aspen in his backyard several times over the last year]. This
guy was the bane of my existence because of his extensive feeding stations
but also a help because he really wanted this dog found. I went up on
Tuesday the 11th, just before the big storm, to check the camera because I
just needed to know she was still alive. Sadly the camera was taking
pictures but the angle was wrong so I couldn't see anything in the trap.
However there were sheltie prints in the snow in the trap. I followed
tracks around up there, over to the other abandoned house, over towards the
golf course. Sunday the 16th Glen called me to tell me he had see fresh
dog tracks near the house where the trap was. He was going to go out and
feed all his feral cat colonies and would swing back by to have another
look. He called me an hour later to tell me that Aspen was sound asleep in
the back of a trailer (like the back of a u-haul truck but with no wheels,
might have been a horse trailer at one time) in the field behind the
abandoned house. I had borrowed a Hav-A-Heart trap from the Colonial
Sheltie Club back in July and it had been set up and monitored by a couple
of people but with no success. Glen suggested putting the trap inside this
trailer thing but he would need me to help in move it as his car was too
small. He also thought we might be able to sneak up on her and grab her.
I live about 45 minutes away from Griswold and needed to get stuff together
to try to catch her etc. It probably took me at least 1 1/2 hours to get up
there. We decided to sneak down and see if she was still in the trailer.
I would go around the front and Glen would wait by a hole in the side in
case she decided to sneak out that way. I didn't see her at first (and
didn't really expect too, what are the odds she'd still be there over an
hour later...) but as I got further around to the front of the trailer,
there she was standing in the back. I started talking to her, calling her
name, etc. I could see she was conflicted as to what to do. She did make a
half-hearted run for the hole. As she was squeezing through, I grabbed her
by the tail and Glen slipped the rabies pole around her neck on the other
side. She allowed me to pick her up (with a muzzle on just in case) and
carry her to the car.
As crazy as it sounds, I do have to wonder if she was waiting for me to find
her? All trapping efforts failed and what are the odds she would still be
in that trailer after an hour and a half?? A friend had had several dreams
about Aspen being found and they always involved me being there.
Aspen is thrilled to be home and both my vets are amazed by her mental and
physical health. She is heartworm positive, but otherwise her bloodwork was
all normal and her fecal/giardia test was negative!!!! She is 6lbs lighter
than when I sold her in August 2008. She is bouncing around the house
playing with the other dogs and all the toys. It is like she never left!
When I took the lid off the cookie jar, she flew into the dog room and right
into her crate. One of the vets asked her to sit and she plonked her butt
right down. Shelties are Amazing...
-Katrina & Aspen
Katrina L. Stewart
Katana Shetland Sheepdogs
North Branford, CT
Member: ASSA, TSSC, WMSSC, KKC of CT
This was just posted on another Sheltie list:
So many have requested details on how we actually captured Aspen. So here
we go... and feel free to crosspost.
There had been many sightings of Aspen along Rte 164 in Griswold between
I-395 and the River Ridge Golf Course. I received a call from a woman who
lived in Preston (the next town down Rte 164) but worked in Griswold, and
frequently dined at the golf course restaurant. She felt that Aspen was
probably using an abandoned house for shelter (and there were many sightings
near there to back this feeling up) so she started leaving food for her
every day. A professional pet tracker/trapper I was working with (Puregold
Pet Trackers) put an enclosure trap up and set up a motion sensor camera to
monitor it. Aspen was coming to the food/trap but not every day. A local
resident, Glen, feeds everything with fur and feathers and was leaving food
not only in his backyard less than 1/4 mile away but at another abandoned
house just across the field from the house where the feeding station was set
up [He saw Aspen in his backyard several times over the last year]. This
guy was the bane of my existence because of his extensive feeding stations
but also a help because he really wanted this dog found. I went up on
Tuesday the 11th, just before the big storm, to check the camera because I
just needed to know she was still alive. Sadly the camera was taking
pictures but the angle was wrong so I couldn't see anything in the trap.
However there were sheltie prints in the snow in the trap. I followed
tracks around up there, over to the other abandoned house, over towards the
golf course. Sunday the 16th Glen called me to tell me he had see fresh
dog tracks near the house where the trap was. He was going to go out and
feed all his feral cat colonies and would swing back by to have another
look. He called me an hour later to tell me that Aspen was sound asleep in
the back of a trailer (like the back of a u-haul truck but with no wheels,
might have been a horse trailer at one time) in the field behind the
abandoned house. I had borrowed a Hav-A-Heart trap from the Colonial
Sheltie Club back in July and it had been set up and monitored by a couple
of people but with no success. Glen suggested putting the trap inside this
trailer thing but he would need me to help in move it as his car was too
small. He also thought we might be able to sneak up on her and grab her.
I live about 45 minutes away from Griswold and needed to get stuff together
to try to catch her etc. It probably took me at least 1 1/2 hours to get up
there. We decided to sneak down and see if she was still in the trailer.
I would go around the front and Glen would wait by a hole in the side in
case she decided to sneak out that way. I didn't see her at first (and
didn't really expect too, what are the odds she'd still be there over an
hour later...) but as I got further around to the front of the trailer,
there she was standing in the back. I started talking to her, calling her
name, etc. I could see she was conflicted as to what to do. She did make a
half-hearted run for the hole. As she was squeezing through, I grabbed her
by the tail and Glen slipped the rabies pole around her neck on the other
side. She allowed me to pick her up (with a muzzle on just in case) and
carry her to the car.
As crazy as it sounds, I do have to wonder if she was waiting for me to find
her? All trapping efforts failed and what are the odds she would still be
in that trailer after an hour and a half?? A friend had had several dreams
about Aspen being found and they always involved me being there.
Aspen is thrilled to be home and both my vets are amazed by her mental and
physical health. She is heartworm positive, but otherwise her bloodwork was
all normal and her fecal/giardia test was negative!!!! She is 6lbs lighter
than when I sold her in August 2008. She is bouncing around the house
playing with the other dogs and all the toys. It is like she never left!
When I took the lid off the cookie jar, she flew into the dog room and right
into her crate. One of the vets asked her to sit and she plonked her butt
right down. Shelties are Amazing...
-Katrina & Aspen
Katrina L. Stewart
Katana Shetland Sheepdogs
North Branford, CT
Member: ASSA, TSSC, WMSSC, KKC of CT
Yea! What wonderful news! I know my sheltie Foxie is still out there... I think many of my friends think I am crazy but I know she is out there and doing well, just waiting for the right time to return. Shelties are amazing dogs! Thanks for sharing your happy ending!
