A lost Bernese Mountain Dog has finally made its way home after a 40-day adventure across southeastern Ontario.
“It’s just such a relief,” says Amanda Hallett, the dog’s owner.
Dave and Amanda Hallett are feeling relieved because for more than a month they weren’t sure if they’d ever see their beloved Brady, again.
Brady’s 40 days in the wild started in early September, when the couple went to a wedding, and the pup was being watched by Dave’s parents in a town north of Kingston.
“They were getting ready to take him for a walk, and something spooked him,” says Dave Hallett. “He burst out their screen door and before they could catch up to him, he was off in the woods.”
The Halletts rushed back from the wedding, but Brady was nowhere to be found.
Amanda says they took to social media early, but after a few weeks and a few reported sightings, they had no luck actually catching up with Brady. So they enlisted the help of experienced dog rescuer Kimberly Vastino.
“She realized we need a bigger community,” says Amanda. “We can’t just be doing some of these local Facebook groups, we need our own page.”
Thus began the ‘Bring Brady Home’ Facebook page. Messages, pictures and videos of sightings came rolling in as the weeks went by, helping the Halletts keep hope alive. Based on the sightings, Brady travelled over 100 kilometres — constantly moving from town to town.
The family was able to track him down to an area in Tyendinaga — nearly an hour’s drive from where he first went missing. After such a long time on his own, Brady wasn’t about to simply come when called, so they tried to lure him into a cage.
The first attempt was unsuccessful, then they got a bigger cage and waited.
“I remember just smiling,” says Amanda. “Feeling almost like ‘I think today’s the day’, like, he’s just here.”
Brady finally took the bait, and his misadventure came to a happy end.
“It all came out once we finally got our hands on him, and we smothered him and there were some tears,” says Dave. “It was a very, very happy time.”
The Hallett family say they’re grateful for the efforts of the community, and that they’re happy to have Brady home for good.
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