Собаки и собаководство

HAMPTON — A three-legged English setter named Zip is back home after he went missing for nearly a week, running off from his owner while bird hunting in North Hampton.

Peter George, the dog's owner and a Hampton resident whose son is also named Peter, said Zip apparently ran across Interstate 95 on Dec. 31 and got picked up by a woman on the Massachusetts border.

The woman took care of the dog at her home for a couple of days before dropping Zip off at an animal shelter in Dedham, Mass., on Jan. 4.

"He had a little adventure and got pretty far with those three legs," George said.

George said he's just happy his pet is home.

George credited a posting his family made at the Granite State Dog Recovery Web site and a missing dog alert system in Massachusetts — similar to the Amber Alert program for missing children — for reuniting him with his dog.

Zip had been insistent on going hunting on New Year's Eve day.

"I wasn't going to take him, but he got excited when he saw me get dressed and was hyped for hunting," George said. "So I decided to bring him to see if we could get him a bird."

George said the hunting that day was not good, and Zip was getting restless.

"The spot was dry, the apple trees were dying, so it was a dead spot," George said. "Zip was getting antsy because he wanted a bird. He's young, stubborn and sometimes has little fits like a teenager."

George said he let Zip run around to blow off some steam.

But when the dog did not return to his side after the usual 15 minutes, George became worried and fired some shots into the air, hoping Zip would hear the shots and think he had shot a bird to retrieve.

"He never came," George said. "It was like he just up and disappeared. He's run off before, but he always returned."

George said he walked around the area and then along the highway of I-95 searching for the dog.

"My biggest fear was that he was struck by a car," said George, who noted the dog had been hit by a car in the past and that is why he has only three legs.

After spending several hours searching, George went home and broke the news to Peter, his 15-year-old son.

"It wasn't fun," George said, who started posting missing dog notices on several animal Web sites.

George said he was thrilled when he a received a call Jan. 4 from the Animal Rescue League in Dedham.

After taking in the dog, the group issued a SABER Alert — a Massachusetts program that sends alerts about missing dogs to animal control officers throughout the state.

The program was founded by Marshfield, Mass., Animal Control Officer Deni Goldman.

Several hours after the alert went out, the Animal Rescue League was contacted by a dog care provider in Newton who said she saw a missing dog alert in New Hampshire that matched Zip's description.

"They then called me and said we have a dog that fits your dog's description and we think it might be him, because we don't usually come across that many three-legged dogs," George said.

The group e-mailed a picture of the dog to his son, Peter, who yelled, "Dad, it's him, it's Zip!"

George said the woman who picked up Zip was traveling southbound on I-95 to her home in Massachusetts.

George said the woman was going to take care of Zip, thinking he was abandoned.

"I don't blame her, he's an awesome dog and an excellent companion," George said.

Luckily for George, it didn't work out.

"He was a barker, and she couldn't take care of him anymore because the landlord was complaining," George said.

George said after retrieving the dog in Dedham, he called the woman who picked up Zip to thank her.

"She saved my dog's life," George said. "I don't even want to think what would have happened if she didn't pick him up."

When he picked up Zip, George said the dog was happy to see him.

"It was like nothing happened at all," George said. "He was wagging his tail, jumping up and down, almost like he was saying 'Dad, you found me.'"

As for the next hunting trip, George said that will have to wait as bird hunting season is officially over.

"We'll be back at it next year," George said. "But during the break, we are going do some training sessions to break this running-off habit of his."

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