It’s always heartbreaking when a dog goes missing, especially when they’re out in harsh elements like freezing cold. That was the situation for one dog, who went missing on a ski trip in the snowy Colorado mountains.
But thankfully, the dog is safe and sound now, after an inspiring rescue mission led to a sweet Valentine’s Day reunion.
A couple named Erin Boggs and Connor Visser are the owners of a 1-year-old chocolate lab mix named Bergen. According to The Denver Channel, the couple took their dog along on a snowboarding trip with friends in Silverthorne, Colorado.
But their trip turned into a disaster when Bergen went missing. They had left the dog with a dog walker, and Bergen apparently became scared and ran off to look for her owners.
“I think this new person trying to get her, to get a leash on her, on top of a brand new area and all of that — I think she was just spooked,” Erin told the Denver Channel.
With the dog lost in a freezing cold, unfamiliar territory, time was of the essence, so the couple extended their vacation and enlisted the help of Summit Lost Pet Rescue, a local search-and-rescue group.
The team began an all-out search to bring Bergen back to her owners. “We immediately had them set out a comfort scent station, grill out at their condo, hung neons, and our team searched along with the owners,” they wrote in a Facebook post.
They advised the couple and their friends not to go looking for the dog as a large search party, as that might scare off the lost dog.
In addition to the professional search team, other locals got involved in helping to bring the lost dog home.
“There are parents coming up to us saying, ‘Hey, my daughter left a loaf of bread and peanut butter outside,'” Connor told Denver Channel. “Or volunteers were driving around saying, ‘Hey, I got nothing else to do today. Just tell me what it looks like. I’m gonna drive around all day looking for her.'”
That inspiring, community-wide rescue effort paid off. On Valentine’s Day, Summit Lost Pet Rescue got word of a confirmed sighting of Bergen.
Connor arrived on the scene, recognized his lost dog, and used techniques taught by the search-and-rescue team to finally reunite with Bergen.
“He softly spoke her name and she immediately turned her head,” Summit Lost Pet Rescue wrote on Facebook. “They both knew the voice registered with her and immediately started calming techniques.”
Video shared by the team shows the moment the happy dog reunited with her owner:
Bergen had been missing for three days before finally reuniting with her owners. Needless to say, there was plenty of love on this Valentine’s Day.
“Thank you to TEAM BERGEN for your dedication and help on this mission!” the Facebook post reads.
We’re so glad Bergen has been found and reunited with her family! We can’t imagine how scary it must be to lose a dog in such an unfamiliar place, but we’re glad to see the local community came to their aid and helped bring their dog home.
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