PD had quite a journey. He finished
2001 as the #1 Borzoi in the Country!
Our
National Specialty in Denver in 1999 was to be a VERY memorable
one for us. We had high hopes for the nationals with PD, in 20
years of breeding, I felt I was going with one of the best I had
ever bred. Upon taking PD out to exercise via the stairs and out
to the loading dock, there was a huge banging noise from the loading
dock area. PD pulled away and when I pulled him back, I only had
the leash
.the collar had broken! He trotted down the loading
dock heading to the outdoor bathing area. I was not terribly concerned,
as he was not running. As he went toward the exercise area I began
to get much more concerned as he was NOT responding to my calling
him and the interstate was right there with no fence. After he
went past the exercise area, he hesitated, and then went up onto
Interstate 25
..My nightmare had begun. I screamed "NO"!!!!!
Car horns blared, tires squealed and my heart stopped. He turned
then, and darted under the viaduct and across six lanes of traffic
with me running after him with my lungs burning from the high
altitude. Little did I know, I would be running for 4 more days.
The
overwhelming part began
looking for him. The Borzoi folks
were great, everyone helped look for him and put up posters. We
had several sightings, none panned out. We hired a helicopter
to look for him
nothing. We then had a sighting at Happy
Canyon
20 miles away. He had been spotted by the police,
and to get him off the road so he wouldn't be hit, they honked
to scare him to the side
they scared him all right, it would
be another full day before we had another sighting. The next day
there were thunderstorms and hail, I was frantic at this point
wondering where he might be. That night, I was taking to Rhanda
Glenn, who was handling ARUBA and she showed me a Dream Catcher
she had gotten for luck at the shows. She gave it to me and said
PD certainly needed it more than Aruba. Before going to sleep,
I hung it on my tact box, and true to superstitious dog show folks
touched
it one last time and said "Please Work!" Sunday morning,
I was awakened by a phone a call at 6:15 by a man who said he
was following my dog on a dirt road in one of the canyons. He
gave me directions, and I was off
trying not to get my hopes
up because they had been slammed so many times in the past. When
I got to the road, I saw the man's pick up and PD trotting along
the side of the road. I was overwhelmed! I got out, called him
.he
hesitated, then came toward the van! I finally had hands on him
for the first time in 4 days. I cannot begin to tell you the emotions
I was feeling, I truly did not think I would ever see him again.
PD's pads were gone, and he was to the point of collapse from
exhaustion, but he would be fine! He finished his championship
quickly, getting his majors under breeder/judges. Now, as he travels
with Rhanda starting his Specials Career
.that Dream Catcher
is STILL hanging on his crate!