Joy for George!

My family and I would like to send out a big thank you to the dog loving residents of Helpston and surrounding villages, who helped get George the Beagle home. Our mischievous hound took off after a rabbit on a Sunday morning walk in woodland by Heath Road, Helpston. It was not unlike George to chase rabbits, but he had always returned within a few minutes of taking chase. Not this time however. After searching the woodland for several hours George was no-where to be seen or heard and by the time it was dark we concluded that he must have been spotted and picked-up by a helpful passerby. We waited for the phone call that evening and following Monday morning, but much to our disappointment no-one phoned to say they had found him. Fearing the worst we began our search again first thing Monday and started circulating Missing Posters and speaking to local businesses. We were astounded by how kind and helpful local people were when it came to spreading the word of George’s disappearance. After getting no calls on Monday we registered George’s details with a fantastic website (www.Doglost.co.uk) who distributed his information and advised us on the best way to effectively search for our lost pup. Friends, relatives and total strangers posted information of George on Facebook, Twitter and various other websites, put-up posters in their local schools and shops and generally discussed George’s absence over a beer in their village pub. Tuesday we had the first sighting as a result of information circulated on Facebook. A lady who runs a Dog Training school near Uffington had been notified that a Beagle was seen trying to get into her field on Monday morning. By Monday afternoon we had our second sighting, George was seen by staff, attempting to cross, and subsequently falling through the ice on the frozen lake at the Burghley Estate. Though staff attempted to catch-him, by this time our frightened pup was running scared and in the totally wrong direction for home! My family and I spent hours walking around the Burghley Estate and the staff there kindly allowed us to set-up a ‘dog-trap’, but all to no avail. We received no sightings on Weds or Thurs and were worrying that George had not survived the bitter cold nights, especially after his ordeal in the lake. Thankfully we had two sightings called in on Friday, George had been seen in Southorpe and Ufford. Sunday brought with it a new sighting in Barnack. After spending the weekend searching the villages, Monday loomed and everyone had to return to work. By now the night time temperature was -8 and we didn’t fancy George’s chances of surviving much longer.  My Dad couldn’t sleep for worrying on Monday night and took a drive out to Barnack just on the ‘off-chance’. What a good job he did. Dad spotted George hiding between a car and garage door in a driveway near Main Street, Barnack. Managing to keep calm he got out the car, got to his knees and managed to keep George there long enough for him to realise it was a friendly face. George was returned home to us in the early hours of the morning on 8^th December, our daughters 2^nd Birthday. It has to be in the running for the best present a Granddad could ever give his Grandchild.

George is remarkably well considering he was missing for 9 days in freezing temperatures. A bit skinnier, greyer around the face, some frost-bite on his paws and the odd tick. He was always a food fiend and that has definitely got worse….but who could blame him.

Thank you to the wonderful people who saw our pup on his travels and took the time to phone, as without those sightings we would have given up hope of finding him alive. Thanks to the staff at Burghley who allowed us to obsessively search the grounds and to all the village businesses and farms that put up our posters. George’s profile got 2,500 viewings on Doglost.com and we have had no end of phone calls from well wishers since he was found.

Though it was an awful experience that none of us would want to repeat, it was an insight into how kind strangers can be. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Kind regards

The Hodson Family (especially George)

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