Dog vanishes

April 21, 2020

Perhaps it was an intriguing scent wafting in the breeze that led Cricket astray.

Or the feel of open grass beneath her paws.

No matter the reason, all Amanda Harlan Mendenhall knew Tuesday afternoon was that her deaf and blind 13-year-old poodle was gone from her backyard near the west end of Fellows Lake.

“We let her out at lunchtime to do her business, but she never came back,” Mendenhall said. “She’s never done this before. There was a lot of crying. I was worried that she wouldn’t make it since it was below freezing that night.”

Cricket, a fluffy poodle, is Mendenhall’s close and dear companion. She said the dog has been by her side as she endured several health issues and surgeries. Mendenhall said she and several neighbors immediately began scouring the area for the lost dog. They walked for hours on foot, and drove the area later that day, with no luck.

“I was amazed at the response,” she said. “On Tuesday there were six neighbors out looking for her with us.”

Mendenhall said she could only imagine what her blind and deaf dog was experiencing, being alone and on her own in unfamiliar territory.

After the freezing night passed, Mendenhall said, she resumed her search on Wednesday. She caught a lucky break — a neighbor mowing the lawn recalled seeing a poodle wandering toward a wooded area.

The search led them about two miles from home, where they found a creek with a sheer drop-off. They feared the worst.

“It was about 4 p.m. and we were about to give up and go home,” Mendenhall recalled.  “But then I heard a sound — it was her collar clinking on a rock. I told everybody to be quiet, and that’s when we found her. I started screaming, I was so overwhelmed with joy and excitement that she was found!”

Cricket was thirsty but uninjured. Friday morning, Cricket was back at Mendenhall’s side, staying close as her owner did yoga.

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