There is always someone waiting for a concerned family member if a dog goes missing. Sometimes, the dog will come home on its own and sometimes you’ll need to search for your four-legged friend.
Sage, a Labrador puppy aged 12, ran away from her home. Her family was devastated. Sage was not only blind, but also old. They wondered how Sage would survive on her own, with a forest near by.
The family started looking around Boulder Creek, California for signs of her.
“Ten of our neighbors joined our family in the search that lasted until late that night,” Beth Cole, Sage’s mother, told us. “Then they came back to help for several days after that.”
After five days, the family started to lose hope.
Although the family felt helpless, they kept searching for their dog. Five days became six, seven, and eight.
They were afraid Sage would be attacked or killed by a predator.
A man happened to spot something in the forest by chance. The family’s neighbor and firefighter Dan Estrada was out walking his dogs with a friend when they saw something next to the creek at the bottom of a steep slope.
“At first I thought it was a trash bag, so I was actually frustrated,” Dan told us. “Nobody wants people dumping trash in the forest. Then I looked closer, and I saw that it was Sage.”
Sage wasn’t moving and Dan suspected the worse. As they got closer she lifted her head and Dan’s friend noticed and called back “Dude, she’s alive.”
Dan ran to the creek to save her as soon as he heard it.
“I climbed a lot quicker, jumped into the stream, and hustled over to her,” Dan said. “I put my arms around her and kissed her and started to pet her. And she was able to hold her head up and wag her tail.”
Sage also noticed Dan’s two dogs Barnabas and Köelsch whom she knew well and it helped to lift her spirits.
“I think she was happier to see Barnabas and Köelsch than she was to see me,” Dan said.
She tried to stand and walk but she was unable to do so after eight days of starvation. Dan took her home.
On the way back, they also contacted Sage’s family who was, of course, thrilled to hear the news.
The reunion brought many tears of joy.
Dan refused to accept the $1,000 reward that his family offered for finding their beloved hound. Instead, he requested that the money be donated to an animal rescue group.
Watch the video below to learn more about the happy reunion and Sage, who never gave in.
Sage, an animal who taught us so much through her survival story, showed everyone that animals can be our greatest teachers.
Please share so more people can read Sage’s story.
