After being lost for three weeks in freezing weather, dog returns to her owners in Truro, N.S.

TRURO, N.S. — It was a tough three weeks for Taylor.

While her and her fiancé were in Toronto, their dog Mochi was staying at a family member’s house.

“Personality wise, she’s headstrong,” said Taylor, describing her four-year-old pup. “She is very confident in herself. She definitely thinks she can get whatever she wants.”

While Mochi isn’t one to run off while at home, an unlatched door at the house she was staying in led to Mochi running off on Dec. 14.

“It’s never something you expect,” said Taylor, who asked for her last name to be omitted. “She’s never been the type to run through the door, but after talking to family members, I guess that’s what she does all the time at their houses.”

Taylor and her fiancé immediately hopped on the next flight back to Nova Scotia, hoping that their beloved Mochi hadn’t strayed too far.

Search for Mochi

Taylor posted a photo of the missing Mochi to Facebook, letting the community know that her dog was on the loose around the Brunswick Street-Exhibition Street area. She added people shouldn’t approach Mochi or call her name as they could startle her.

“When a dog is lost, we don’t want to risk pushing it further out,” said Taylor, reiterating advice she received from Nikki Marie, a professional lost pet tracker.

The couple also offered a $500 reward to anyone who could return Mochi to them.

As days past, they tried luring Mochi back home with a food trap, hoping the hungry dog would stop by for a bite to eat. They had no luck with this.

While posts about Mochi flooded local Facebook groups, there were no signs of her. Taylor had almost given up hope.

“We treated our dog like she was our child, so it was a lot,” she said. “It’s hard to go on with your life. If she passed of old age, at least we would’ve known what was going on. We would’ve known what happened.

“We just had to hope she was still out there, and she didn’t freeze to death in that 100-kilometre wind storm, or the two freezing rain storms we had.”

Homecoming

On Jan. 4, Truro resident Ibel Scammell snapped a photo of Mochi while out for a run around Burnyeat Street.

Posting a photo of the pup to Facebook, Scammell also called Coun. Cathy Hinton, letting her know she found the dog. Mochi’s owners were then contacted and were able to retrieve her.

“Within minutes, my fiancé was up there,” said Taylor.

Coincidentally, Mochi came home on Taylor’s birthday.

“It was a mind-blowing day,” she said. “It was the best birthday present I could’ve asked for, with that one.”

While she’s experienced some weakness and weight loss, Mochi’s trips to the vet have so far all been positive, said Taylor.

“She’s definitely coming around. She’s playing with the cats again. Shocking considering how long she was out there.”

Taylor is over the moon to have Mochi back in her household, and voiced appreciation for all those who took time to share information and keep an eye out while she was missing.

“Everybody was extremely helpful. We had people reaching out all the time, giving us tips, seeing if there was anything they could do to help.”