Blue came home Thursday.
The 6-year-old Australian shepherd and blue heeler mix — completely blind since age 3 — had been missing for 16 days after slipping out of his yard along Kings Valley Highway north of Alexander Road. His return capped a search effort that drew dozens of volunteers, involved thermal drones, game cameras and social media campaigns, and spanned a stretch of rural Benton County terrain thick with blackberry brambles and poison oak.
The dog was found March 26 by neighbors Nicole and Blake Sharp about a mile from his home. They had spotted a white dog walking in circles and recognized him from flyers posted along the roadside.
“They went down and tried to cajole him into coming to them and he went to book it but ran into blackberries because he can’t see, so it stopped him long enough for them to put a lead over his head and catch him,” said Amee Elliott, who owns Blue along with wife Savannah Hensley.
Elliott was on her property setting up additional game cameras when the news broke. Her phone was on silent, but she looked down to find a text from her sister that read: “911, 911, call back right now.”
“So I sprinted half a mile in the dark through poison oak and I like blacked out, I can’t even remember what they said,” Elliott said.
When Blue arrived, she didn’t hesitate.
“My wife was behind me and I swooped in and grabbed him out of the car and when I realized it was him, I just remember yelling ‘It’s mom,'” Elliott said. “He just immediately started licking my face.”
The search for Blue had begun in earnest on March 10, the morning Hensley realized he was gone. She had let both dogs out the previous morning without noticing a side gate had been left open. Their other dog, Texas, came back in on his own — and she assumed Blue had followed.
Elliott, meanwhile, was aboard the Star Princess in the Caribbean — the same cruise ship that made national news when more than 150 passengers fell ill with norovirus.
With Elliott at sea and a blind dog somewhere in the rural landscape, family and community members mobilized quickly. Elliott estimated 50 to 60 people came out at various times to help search, with some driving up to three and a half hours one way.
Her sister, Jesseca Parish, stepped in to coordinate efforts. McKenna Morgan made and posted flyers, searched alongside the family and loaned camera equipment. Terry Ellen shared a recovery checklist, loaned game cameras and helped field questions through social media. Kat Albright, who operates a lost pet recovery service out of Bend, created the Bring Blue Home Facebook page. Waggin Tails Search and Rescue, a Portland-based nonprofit, also provided guidance. Law enforcement, shelters and veterinarians were all contacted, and the family even hired a thermal drone pilot to sweep the area.
Despite all of the high-tech tools in play, Parish said it was the low-tech approach that ultimately made the difference.
“Four of the surrounding neighbors didn’t even have social media and the person that found him actually knew about it from the flyers,” she said.
How a blind dog survived more than two weeks in that terrain remains something of a mystery. Elliott suspects Blue may have found a spot and largely stayed put.
“I kind of feel like he might have just hid somewhere the whole time,” she said. “But there is a lot of water — I think the saving grace is that every one of our properties has a creek or a pond on it.”
The search had its share of false alarms. One report claimed someone had struck Blue with a car, prompting Hensley to drive the road looking for the worst. No dog was found. Game cameras captured images that briefly raised hopes before revealing other animals. Elliott said she was haunted by thoughts of what could happen to a blind dog alone in that landscape.
“He’s blind and you’re just picturing him out there freezing and terrified and maybe getting eaten — we have so many coyotes and cougars out there,” she said.
Blue returned home having lost seven pounds — about 20% of his body weight — but was not dehydrated. He had minor scrapes on his head, neck and ear. A veterinarian at Ark Animal Hospital examined Blue and found no serious injuries, with blood work results expected Tuesday.
“He got a clean bill of health from the doctor but he’s a little more jumpy than he was before,” Elliott said.
Elliott offered one piece of advice for anyone who spots a lost dog — resist the urge to chase.
“They should note where the dog is seen and call the owner,” she said.
The Sharps were able to catch Blue because he had run himself into a thicket and couldn’t bolt.
“We were very fortunate she was calm and down low and that he ran into a blackberry and she was quick enough to slip a leash around his neck.”
The dog has been part of the household since Elliott lived in Brownsville when an 18-month-old Blue was surrendered to the humane society by his previous family. His eyesight deteriorated gradually — Australian shepherds can be prone to hereditary conditions such as progressive retinal atrophy — and he was fully blind by age 3.
“He’s just the sweetest, best dog ever,” Elliott said. “He adores kids … he lays on them and he’ll follow them around and if they lock him out of the room, he sleeps by the door to protect them. If you give him a ball and play, he’s just the happiest dog ever.”