Pit bull mix missing for 9 months traveled 45 miles from Montrose to Candor

For nine months, Brenda Black never gave up hope. 

She had happily agreed to take in her granddaughter Brianna Gallagher's 1-year-old pit bull mix, Odin, while Gallagher was away at basic training for the U.S. Army. But Odin had only been at Black's Montrose, Pennsylvania, home for a few days when he got off the leash and ran out of the yard.

Black and her husband, Chris Black, did everything they could to find him. They drove for miles, put ads in local papers, sent out flyers, contacted local agencies and put pictures of Odin on Facebook. While he was periodically spotted, attempts to catch him were not successful. Months and months went by without Odin.

But on Jan. 31, the day they were waiting for had arrived. Odin had been found.

To Black's surprise, he wasn't in Montrose. 

The pup had traveled about 45 miles to Candor, where he was rescued by the town's Dog Control Officer Denise Liske, and members of Diamond Paws Animal Rescue. 

"We are just so super excited. It still feels super surreal that he’s back," Brenda said Thursday. "He looks at us the same way like, 'Am I really here?'"

While speaking over the phone, Odin sat right by Brenda's side.

"I’m scratching him, and he’s smiling," she said.

The happy reunion has been captured in photos and spread across social media.

“He’s adapting really quickly and getting so much love and attention right now," Brenda said.

A Facebook post by Lost & Found Broome County, NY announcing Odin's safe return had 3,100 reactions, 2,000 shares and 380 comments by Thursday afternoon.

"OMG!!! I am soooo happy Odin was found!!! I remember when he went missing and seeing all the flyers and emails with his picture," one commenter wrote. "Always love a happy ending. This is amazing!!!"

'The best boy'

Gallagher lives in Ohio and received Odin from a friend in 2018 when the dog was about 8 weeks old. He's a mixed breed, and is part pit bull. Brenda thinks he could be a spaniel mix, or a combination of some other breeds.

"Nobody is 100 percent sure what the rest is," Brenda said. 

When Gallagher decided she could no longer keep Odin, Brenda happily took him. Gallagher had been training Odin to be an emotional support dog, and Brenda had fallen in love with his personality. 

"He was just the best boy," Brenda said. "He was so sweet, and he's very obedient to commands."

Two or three days after Black brought him to Montrose, Odin went outside with Black's husband, Chris Black, and got off the leash. He went to the back of the yard, ran through high brush and thwarted Chris' attempts to catch him. Chris spent hours looking for Odin, but did not have any luck.

"He couldn't figure out which way he went, and Odin was not coming back," Brenda said. 

Odin wasn't yet neutered or micro-chipped, but had Ohio tags on his collar.

"Luckily, the collar was still on him, and that was a big help in identifying him," Brenda said.

Brenda tried every method she could to bring Odin home. From the first week of June through first week of September, she took out ads in local papers and made flyers. Susquehanna County Animal Control put out traps, and caught all sorts of animals. But not Odin.

"We drove around for miles around here," Brenda said. "Every single mailbox got a flyer."

He also showed up on neighbors' Ring doorbell cameras, but was never caught. Occasionally, people would spot Odin in person. They'd attempt to call him over, but never had luck in capturing him.

"He'd take off and run, and they didn't see him again," Brenda said.

Odin's picture was plastered all over the internet, including the Facebook pages for True Friends Animal Welfare Center in Montrose, Susquehanna County Lost Pets, and Lost & Found Pets Broome County.

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After the first week of September, the Odin sightings were less frequent. 

"We were just at a complete loss," Brenda said. 

Brenda feared that Odin was off looking for Gallagher. As he wasn't neutered, they suspected he could have also been seeking female dogs.

"We had no idea how far he was going," Brenda said. 

They worried about his health, and what predators he may encounter in the wild. But Brenda was encouraged by others not to give up hope.

“That’s what kept me going, people kept saying, ‘Don’t give up,’” Brenda said.

On Jan. 26, Candor Dog Control posted a photo of a shaggy black and white dog Facebook. "Unable To Apprehend!!" the post read.

Later, the post was updated to say that Candor Dog Control and Diamond Paws Animal Rescue were making attempts to trap the dog, and for others not to intervene, "as we don't want this fur baby pushed from the area."

An administrator for the Lost & Found Pets Broome County Facebook page knew Odin was missing, and alerted Brenda to the post.

"That's what started the whole thing," Brenda said.

Not giving up hope

Brenda couldn't exactly tell if the shaggy pup in the blurry photo was Odin.

"We hadn't seen him in so long, and we weren't really certain," Brenda said.

For about three or four days, Candor Dog Control worked to trap Odin. Finally, on Jan. 31, Liske and her colleagues from Diamond Paws caught him. 

Liske sent Brenda several photos of Odin, and she passed them on to Gallagher, who was certain that the dog in the photos was Odin. She broke down into tears.

"She's been so worried," Brenda said. "Everybody's just been devastated. It was just like (we) didn't know what to do, what to think. It seemed like we exhausted all things and were just praying that something would turn up, some clue would come along. And it was just amazing." 

Liske called Brenda at about 10 p.m. Jan. 31, and Brenda and Chris immediately drove about 45 miles from Montrose to Candor get Odin. They didn't return back home until around 2 a.m.

Brenda worried that Odin may not remember her or Chris, but was quickly relieved. As soon as Odin saw Chris, he jumped right into his arms.

"It was just amazing," she said. "The shock of seeing him after this much time, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I couldn't cry, I wanted to, but I just was like 'I can't breathe, I can't talk, I can't breathe,' my chest felt like it was clenching.'"

Odin ran excitedly between Brenda, Chris and his rescuers. 

He's in good physical and mental health, Brenda said, save for some ticks and fleas. He didn't lose much weight, and Brenda is awaiting the results from some testing. 

"He's in amazingly good health, and mentally, he's all still there, except he just seems a bit unsure at times," Brenda said.

And his loving personality has not changed.

"We didn't know in that time if he was going to turn feral or what he's going to be, so it was like, thank goodness he's still the same sweet-natured boy he was," Brenda said. 

 Odin is now settling home with Brenda and Chris and getting acquainted with their four cats: Loki, Thor, Dublin and Bruscilla.

Brenda's journey losing and finding Odin has taught her the importance of contacting local agencies and letting as many people know as possible once a pet goes missing.

"Try your best not to give up hope," she said. 

Given Odin's good health, Brenda is grateful for those who may have fed or helped him along the way. But she doesn't know who they are.

Those nine months will always be a mystery.

"If only he could talk," Brenda said. 

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