Dog rescued, returned home after nearly three weeks lost in the Maine woods
CBS 13, Special to The County
6 years ago
CBS 13 | BDN
The Waltz family praises Sam the dog, who went missing in the Maine woods for 18 days before being caught and returned home.
BOWDOIN, Maine — A family’s dog went missing deep in the woods for nearly three weeks and was rescued by a K-9 tracking team.
CBS 13 | BDN
Lisa Nazarenko of K-9 Tracking
After 18 days lost in the woods, the Waltz family is overjoyed at the return of new rescue, Sam. The dog became lost after chasing his brother into the woods.
Start Legacy Planning
Ad By Merrill
See More
“Sam decided to take off and Bentley went with him. About 45 minutes later Bentley came back but Sam didn’t. I mean we’ve only had him for two months and the thought of him being out there in the wild, again, because he was a stray is just awful,” Sam’s owner, Michael Waltz said.
“Its one-million percent rewarding to find someone’s child, we’ll say. And to hand them back is unfathomable,” Nazarenko said.
The Waltz family said faith was running low as days continued to go by.
“Before we met Lisa I thought he was never coming home. But then I met Lisa and we gained hope. But Lisa always kept us on the right page. We found dog tracks. Day by day it was different,” Tiffany Waltz said.
After 13 days of searching, the dog was spotted and hope was restored. The next step was to trap Sam.
“This dog wasn’t going to come up to anybody. We didn’t even know if it was going to come up to its own family members. They didn’t have it long enough. Even though they have developed a rapport but being in the woods for 13 day, it may not see the humans as family.” Nazarenko said.
Five days after the initial spotting, Sam was rescued again.
“They removed like 45 porcupine quills out of his mouth and throat. We have probably removed about a hundred ticks off of him,” Tiffany said.
Sam is now safe at home and building back his strength.
