Walker the Sheltie comes home after winter on the run

By Nadine Armstrong

The Hants Journal/NovaNewsNow.com

After months on the run, and a vigorous search by his owners, Walker is safely back at home. The four-year-old Sheltie went missing last October, when he bolted from his home on Wentworth Road. Since then, reports of sightings were made from as far away as Hantsport, but until last week the skittish pup refused to be caught.

Owners Christina and Jamie Guitard and daughter Katie Thibodeau only had Walker briefly prior to his untimely departure. Before that, he had two other homes since leaving an Enfield dog breeder. The breeder had raised the purebred as a show dog, but his shy temperament was a serious handicap in the industry.

“She told us right off he was skittish,” Guitard said. “But we knew in time and love he would be fine with us.” Although they have never met the previous owners, the Guitards suspected Walker might have been abused at some point, which contributed to his fear of people. “He has a brown leather lead,” Jamie said, “and anytime we picked it up, he got frightened.”

On the day Walker fled, a delivery was being made at their Wentworth Road home. Christina believes that is what set him on edge. “There were just too may voices. He was scared and bolted; there was no chance to grab him.”

Headed for the tracks

First, the canine headed across the road towards Sobey’s and the railway tracks. He was soon spotted near the Irving in Falmouth, but no one could pin him down in any location long enough to coax him home.

The Guitards began their long search for the beloved pet; ‘missing’ posters were distributed throughout Windsor, Falmouth and, eventually, Hantsport.

And though there were dozens of sightings, no one could catch the sprinter.

“We tried everything,” Christina said. “Someone would call and say he was in their area and we’d go looking all over again.” The family even set up a humane trap near one of Walker’s haunts, but to no avail.

Christina noted that even animal control told her there was little hope of their catching the timid dog.

In one desperate attempt, Christina contacted pet detective Vicki Vaughn. “She told us that we had done everything she would have and there was really nothing she could do to help.” Vaughn offered some encouraging words, though, “you have the passion and the love for him; you’ll get him back.”

As winter approached and sightings lessened, Christina’s big fear for Walker was exposure and coyotes. However, she never lost hope. “People would tell us to go get another dog, but our first priority was Walker. I had the feeling he was alright, he was still alive somewhere.”

Had wide range

Walker covered quite a swath over the winter months, with sightings on the Mines and Castle Frederick roads, and as far a field as the Ben Jackson. Many in those communities had left food out for him, and Christina figured Walker had probably found a few spots to camp down.

He settled in an area near the Bog Road at one point, and the family started searching the area night and day. Their last ditch effort was to set up a tempting trap in the field Walker was frequenting.

“Do you know how embarrassing it is to barbecue bacon in the middle of nowhere?” laughed Jamie. The bait didn’t work, though Christina was close enough to at one point to call out to him.

“He was just so scared and confused, he wouldn’t come, and I called to him, ‘Walker, it’s time to come home.’”

Walker, however, thought differently.

Eventually, Judy and Alison Atwell succeeded where everyone else had failed. Walker had been circling their property for a few days, and they arranged with Christina to set a human trap there and tempt Walter with a roast beef dinner.

Waiting to go home

Soon after, Christina received the news she was so longing to hear, Walker was captured. “When Mrs. Atwell called and said, ‘he’s here waiting to go home,’ I just started crying.”

The amazing journey left little mark on Walker. “When I picked him up, it was like lifting a feather pillow, he was skin and bones,” Christina said.

He had lost weight and was malnourished, a cut on one paw became infected and the vet has diagnosed a heart murmur. But other than that, Christina said, he is just fine.

“He just sat beside me that night like it was nothing; I couldn’t believe how calm he was. I could almost see the relief in his eyes.”

The Hants County SPCA was so touched by the final capture they covered the expenses for Walker’s medication and supplement food, for which the family is very grateful.

The family admits they would do it again, and it was all worthwhile to have Walker back in their lives. “Everything happens for a reason and Walker was meant to be with us. He deserves a chance in life.”

“All he needs now is a little grooming and he’ll shine like new again,” she said.