Dog reunites with family after missing for 19 days

Collie showed up at door after almost three weeks

By Katherine Nettles

When Tiffany Cooper realized her dog, a two-year-old collie named Durango, had gotten outside around 7 p.m., she estimated only about five minutes had passed. She was staying at a friend’s house in Mt. Crested Butte, near Whetstone and Gothic Roads—a place her dog knew well.

“We always stay at the same house,” said Cooper, “and we were on the mountain with him a lot, so he knew the trails. What was weird was how short a time it had been [that he had been outside].”

That was September 26. Durango didn’t return to the house that night. Cooper and her husband posted notices and photos around the mountain, in town, and on the Facebook community website, and they contacted Paradise Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) to report him missing. They offered a $5,000 reward for the return of Durango.

But for 12 days they heard nothing.

The Coopers reluctantly returned to their home in Oklahoma, with work responsibilities and young children heading back to school.

Crested Butte dog lovers continued looking for Durango, asking Cooper questions about the dog and assuring her that they were out looking for Durango. “Everyone in town was great. Everybody—hikers, mountain bikers—were looking for him. I had people responding to me on Facebook,” said Cooper. The locals kept a lookout, but somehow no one saw the collie.

Then, a neighbor from near the house where the Coopers had stayed on the mountain saw Durango sniffing around the area. But the dog didn’t stay long enough to be captured.

“We had actually all thought he was stolen, because he was so beautiful, and then the neighbor called,” said PAWS director Rita Clement. “And then an hour later, another call came in that he was between Pitchfork and Washington Gulch. We walked all over that area, but he was hiding,” Clement said.

That second call had come from a local roofer who saw Durango while working, but again, he could not get to the dog before he had disappeared.

When the season’s first heavy snowfall came in shortly after, concern for Durango spiked again.

“We worked very hard in trying to find him once we knew he was out there and hadn’t been stolen. Then, when it snowed, and he was mostly white, it was tough,” said Clement.

Ultimately, after 19 days, Durango turned up at the residence of Carolyn and Gerald Roach near Glacier Lily. “Someone opened their door and had three dogs there instead of two,” said Cooper.

Carolyn Roach’s description of the encounter was posted on Facebook:

“Let me start out by saying we did not find Durango. He found us. And thinking back, he could have been around for several days as we have a Yorkie that thinks she is a Great Dane and a Golden Lab that backs the Yorkie all the way. The last several evenings they would raise Cain and run to our back door. We have a lot of deer that come close to eat shrub salad so we didn’t get concerned. Never dawned on us it could have been something or someone else.

“Last evening my husband took our crew out for the night. He came in shortly, calling for me to come outside as there was a large white collie-looking dog on our drive. He knew there was a missing dog but not much else. We opened the door and they all three came running in. Wish he could tell us where he has been the last several weeks and what adventures he has had. We just happen to be in the right place at the right time as we plan to leave for Texas Thursday morning,” wrote Roach.

The Roaches agreed to look after Durango while Cooper’s husband made his third 11-hour drive back to Crested Butte in an attempt to bring home the family dog. This time, it was successful. Durango’s nose was sunburnt and he had lost 10 pounds, but Cooper said his paws were in great shape and he was otherwise unharmed. “He’s not the kind of dog to run away, but you never know what could happen. The vet was shocked he was in such good shape,“ reported Cooper.

The reunion between Cooper’s husband and Durango was captured on video and uploaded to her Facebook post, where she thanked everyone involved for the outpouring of concern and support in the search.

“Thank you to everyone who shared on Facebook and all of the locals in Crested Butte who have been actively looking, knocking on doors, putting up trail cams, and on and on. Very happy day for our family,” she wrote.

Cooper also said the Roaches declined the reward, and instead the Coopers donated to PAWS in their honor.

“Everyone at PAWS was super helpful—I’m glad you all have that resource there,” said Cooper.

PAWS had made periodic Facebook posts about Durango throughout the three-week ordeal, as they do with all animals reported missing. After he was found, the organization wrote on its community forum page, “We LOVE happy endings!” alongside the video of Cooper’s husband and his dog reuniting.

“He survived. Dogs are amazing,” said Clement. She noted that Durango’s family had taken the right precautions to have him micro-chipped, and that he had a collar on. Clement said that 99 percent of dogs that wander off and get lost in the valley do get found, but sometimes they lose their collar. It is important to have every opportunity for a dog to be identified.

“We are very happy, grateful; we all looked hard for him,” Clement said.

As for Durango, he is now recovering from his extended mountain adventure back home in Oklahoma. And no one really knows what he did for 19 days.