Thanks to our volunteers and to our pros

Special thanks to all our volunteers, without whom we could not have established such a great feeding pattern--especially our non-K9 volunteers.

Also special thanks to both the pros we used:

Sam, of Pure Gold Pet Trackers

and

Steve, of Detect-A-Pet USA.

Lee is caught and safe in a home!!!

After weeks on the run and outsmarting all of us, it only took 4 hours for the expert trapper to lure him into a dog kennel this early morning. Steve, the pet detective, called me at 12:45am and told him the good news!

Lee is a little skinny, nervous, and completely tuckered out, but he is in a nice warm home with a soft, cushy bed. And most importantly, food and water! tomorrow, we get him vetted!

Thank you to everyone who assisted in this search! Lee is a very sweet dog, with a great temperament.

Just a Quick Update

Since our traps clearly are not working, we've called in an expert that setup a monitoring system and rigged a dog kennel in one of the neighbor's yard. Within the last 2 hours, Lee has approached the kennel several times wanting the very high-value chicken we have in there, but has yet to go in. We do know he will go in because he went in twice Monday night. We just don't know if he'll go in with new equipment, so he just needs to check it out.

Our trapping expert advised me it can take a minimum of 3 days before the dog will actually venture in. I'm hoping it'll be tonight, because I really want him to get to the vet for his heartworm treatment.

I feel very confident my next post will be to let everyone know, we've caught him!

Lee is Playing with us!!!

OK, I have to change my opinion about Hounds. Lee is one smart cookie!! I cannot believe this dog is playing us! He has not moved from his "safe" place and he's claimed himself 3 different areas. Two apparently for eating and one for sleeping.

Our volunteer that visits him every evening, she's come to somewhat trust her. Well, more her dog than her, but it's a start. When he hears her car drive up, he comes out into the open ready to play with her dog, Heidi! One of the neighbors, who has a dog kennel, we've been able to lure him in there for feeding. If we can rig this with a trap door, we'll be able to trap him, since he's a little too smart for our traps.

All is well with Lee and he remains in the same area for the past 2 weeks. He isn't moving from this area and is enjoying his nightly visits with our volunteer and her dog.

I'll post information when something changes, like when we catch him, but right now, it is status quo. He's staying put, he is getting comfortable, and enjoying playtime with Heidi.

Lee Update--He isn't moving

Since the last post, Lee has definitely found a temporary home. Despite the rain and human interaction, he has remained in one area for the entire week. Every day, volunteers have been sitting where he is, watching his oves, throwing him food and he is not running. He is actually beginning to get somewhat comfortable with our volunteers.

We had some breakthrough this past week. First, Lee has gone into our trap, but not all the way. He is somewhat scared of the rattling noises it makes. So instead, he decided to drag out the sheet we had in here in order to get to the food. He's been using this sheet as his bed apparently.

The second breakthrough is that Lee came hands tip to one of our volunteers and just about ate out of her hand. Still too far to grab his collar, because the last thing we want to do is scare him. So, we're going back tomorrow (Saturday) and hopefully, he'll become more comfortable in order for us to get a hold of his collar for us to slip a lead on.

Even though he has been living in the outdoor elements for the past 2 weeks, he looks healthy. He's hunkered down in a safe area and we have locals talking to him in order for him to trust humans and lure him out.

Several people have asked why are we not using sedatives and that just isn't something that is an option. Given the side effects and Lee's heartworm positive condition, we feel its best to aire on the side of caution. Since he isn't in a dangerous or busy area, and is pretty much staying put since he doesn't need to hunt for food, we feel this is the best approach.

We fully anticipate having Lee "in custody" this weekend! I can't thank the local volunteers enough for checking every single day, 3-4 times/day, to ensure Lee has enough food to keep him healthy and safe in his little hiding place.

4/20/09 Sighting

Despite the rain, Lee has not moved from his spot, which is very good for us! We saw him again today around 7:30pm.

We still need additional volunteers to refill feeding stations and check traps, so he doesn't move from this area. Please contact me at YvonneM@k9lifesavers.org if you can help!

Lee was Spotted Again Today--4/19/09

We're getting close! Several volunteers spotted Lee at different times of the day, hunkered down in the same area! If you see him, please do not approach or chase. Otherwise, we'll lose him and we want to ensure he stays put in the quiet area he found.

We've setup traps and feeding stations and we expect to have Lee back into a home in a couple of days!