Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Friday, December 13, 2013
One More Post About Gunner
If you're not a dog lover, you might get tired of posts about the found puppy, so just one more--As many of
you know who saw the posters, etc., there was a $500 reward for Gunner's
return. The people who found him, however, didn't want to accept a reward so it
was decided that the money be donated on their behalf. So, in honor of
those who found Gunner and all of those who searched and prayed for him, $300
will be donated to Dixie Care and Share, an organization in St. George that
feeds and houses homeless or hungry people and $200 will go to Best Friends Animal
Shelter in Kanab, a no-kill shelter that cares for and places hundreds of pets
each each.
Gunner is
doing well as you can see from the little video clip below where he has picked
out his own toy on a shopping trip. I haven't seen his tail stop wagging since
he got home! The family is happy, amazed and grateful to all of the people who
looked for and cared about Gunner. His family--Paris, Amie, Caleb, Haley and Sophia with
you all a Merry Christmas.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE--the story
A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
Early in the morning on November 29, Gunner, a five-month-old
golden retriever puppy was let out of his kennel and allowed to go outside with
several other dogs that were visiting with their families for Thanksgiving. Our
daughter Amie, the dog’s owner, realized very quickly that there were no sounds
of dogs running around the porch, which they always do in the mornings. She hurriedly
dressed to check on the silence, and found that the sliding gate on our chain
link fence had been closed, but not latched. All of the dogs had squeezed out
and taken off to explore.
They had only gone a short distance—north to the Bergeson’s
corner and then down near the Windover’s, when she caught up to them and loaded
all but the youngest into her van and brought them home. She and other family
members immediately began looking for the puppy. We were driving, hiking and
peering in spaces and under cabins with a flashlight for three days, but Gunner
had simply vanished. There were tracks that could have been his going into the
woods, but with other dogs, coyotes in mountain lions in the area, it was
impossible to tell. Several of our grandchildren rode with grandpa as he drove
around the neighborhoods. Haley, one of Gunner’s young owners shouted, “stop
the truck!” Frank was hopeful that she had seen the dog, but instead she wanted
to stop so they could all say a prayer. Many Pine Valley residents and many
others were also looking and praying for him.
We put up tons of flyers, contacted the sheriff, the animal
shelters, the radio station, the veterinarians in the area. People in several
states were posting on Facebook, Instagram, blogs and websites. Because there
was no response from all the media, we thought it most likely that Gunner
hadn’t been taken, but had run into the woods. The weather was cold and snowy
when he disappeared, but got much worse, with deep snow and temperatures well
below zero for several nights. Coyotes were seen in our neighborhoods; we knew
any marauding mountain lions would be hungry. Although we kept looking, we had
almost given up hope that a five-month-old puppy that had always been so well
cared for could survive such conditions.
Then on the afternoon of December 9, more than ten full days
after Gunner disappeared, he was found. Elaine Lindbloom was visiting Cheryl
Callahan who lives within the cluster of cabins where the puppy initially
disappeared but where we had thoroughly searched a number of time. Elaine
noticed a dog on the back porch and asked Cheryl about him, but she hadn’t known
he was there. Between Elaine and her husband Ray, they realized that this must
be the puppy that Amie had called neighbors about. They tried to call our house,
but we were in St. George, and since they were leaving, they took the puppy to
the Bergesons who contacted us in town.
That was the beginning of a series of amazed people. I could
hardly believe it when Laura called me in St. George. In fact I didn’t even
call Amie until I had seen the puppy with my own eyes. When I did call her, she
cried from happiness and relief. We left for Vegas immediately with a plan to
surprise her husband and kids. To say the family was happy, amazed and grateful
would only on touch on their emotions, and Gunner was dirty, a little matted,
very skinny and totally exhausted, yet he was the most happy of all.
We want to thank so many people who cared. If Elaine had not
coaxed him to him to her and got him to Laura’s, he could have easily wandered
off again, wondering where his family was. He is only a little dog and we know
that there are so many more serious losses in the world, but still we feel it
is such a huge blessing to find him. Unless someone speaks puppy, we will never
know what his experiences were for ten days in a harsh environment, but our
family is sure that he must have been watched over. We are so grateful for this
Christmas miracle.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Even in St. George
SNOW DAY!
Thursday, December 5, 2013
It's COLD!
Those of you who live out of
the valley and check the blog probably already know that the weather has
been COLD and will stay that way for a
while. If your pipes aren’t completely drained out, it might be good to make
sure that your inside temperature is staying above freezing while you're away. Frozen pipes are no fun!
Just to pass on an idea--we recently purchased and
installed a thermostat that can be read, programmed and controlled over Wi-Fi from your iPhone,
iPad, etc. There are a few kinds available so we got recommendations from Jeff
Gardner who does heating installation and repair. (Accurate Air
435-574-2491)
We
chose the Nest, but there were other possibilities. The installation was pretty
easy, but if you’re not the installing kind, I’m sure Jeff could do that for
you.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
$500 Reward for Gunner
A $500 reward is offered for his return
Monday, December 2, 2013
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