Lost your dog? There’s a ‘Dream Team’ to help

After getting loose on a Dundas Valley trail, Gus spent two harrowing nights alone wandering the woods and adjacent neighbourhoods.

My kids were like, Mom, what if Gus is hurt?'" said owner Rebecca Wilson. I'm bawling my eyes out."

Gus, a dogo Argentino and Maremma sheepdog mix - a large dog with long legs and black patch around one eye - was lost on a Friday evening in late July.

As Wilson's worried kids pointed out, he hadn't even had his first birthday yet. He was nine months old.

We looked for him ... for hours that evening, and couldn't find him," she said. So we turned to social media."

Wilson said after receiving an outpouring" of recommendations, they contacted Dream Team Search, Rescue and Recovery.

We split the team up and we put them in two different spots: where he got loose and where he could possibly end up," said Ken Price, founder of the non-profit that helps owners find lost or stolen pets. We had the owner walking the trail with their other dog."

Then they waited for a sighting.

Price, who worked for years as a Burlington firefighter, and his team are experts. They use maps, grid searches, trail cameras and other technology to help locate lost dogs - all at no cost to the owner.

It all began in 2014, when Price led a five-person team in search of a boxer-bulldog named Daisy that fell off a cliff at Rock Chapel Sanctuary and went missing. She was found six days later.

Since then, the organization has helped return hundreds of dogs to their families.

Today, the Dream Team has more than 20 volunteers - including Price's dog Charcoal, a German shepherd mix - who run searches, fundraise and help with operations.

Price said there has been increased demand for their services amid the pandemic. This fall alone, they have rescued about 20 dogs.

The kids have gone back to school and now parents are going back to work," he said. So the whole family's leaving and the dog's left alone."

He said work-from-home was a blessing for canine family members.

The dogs loved it. They're getting a couple walks a day. Their humans are home with them every day playing with them, they're getting extra treats," Price said. Now, humans are starting to go back to work, the dogs are having separation anxiety and they're starting to break out to go find their humans."

That, combined with increased pet adoptions and the fact that the non-profit has become more well known, has kept the Dream Team busy.

In a typical year, the response team would handle between 200 and 300 searches - some last just hours, while others last months.

This year, Price said that number will be well over 300."

Every time we come off of a shutdown of the province and people start to go back to work, it goes up a bit," Price said. It's just going to get worse from this point, and there's going to be more dogs on the loose."

Using night vision, thermal cameras and a spotlight - used to spot gleaming eyes in the dark - they looked for Gus in the woods, near to where he got loose the previous day.

We got eyes on something that we felt was Gus," he said.

They had the owner sit in a lawn chair alone, hoping to lure the dog out. But Gus wouldn't come.

The owner of an adjacent property had spotted the dog sleeping in his vegetable garden Friday night, so they knew they were in the right area, Price said.

They will sleep in the same spot every night," he said. When a dog gets loose and they go into fear-flight mode, they set up what we call a circle ... In that circle they will have food supply, water, hiding places if they're in trouble."

The next morning at first light," Wilson's husband entered the garden where Gus was sleeping and dropped to the ground" in submission, Price said.

It took time, but eventually Gus put two and two together" and recognized his owner.

Where he was found was five minutes' walking distance from where I lost him," Wilson said.

Wilson was still in bed - with her kids, who had joined her for a morning snuggle - when she got a text message from her husband Sunday morning.

He sent me a picture of him with Gus in the car, and they all went crazy," she said. We were waiting for him when he got home and he was filthy and kind of skittish, but he jumped all over all of them and they jumped all over him."

As a thank you, the family launched a GoFundMe campaign with the goal of raising $5,000 to support future rescues.

Christine White, who helps fundraise for the non-profit, said the pandemic has made fundraising difficult.

It was so hard because everything kept shutting down," she said.

White, who is also on the response team, first became involved with the Dream Team about three years ago during a search for a rescue dog on the west Mountain, where she lives.

We were realizing there's a lot of costs associated with this, like it's a lot of out of pocket," she said.

The organization relies on private donations and occasional fundraising events - including a monthly event at Gore Park - to keep it afloat. Money raised goes toward equipment for searches, including annual subscriptions for trail cameras, and gas cards for the response team.

For White, the Dream Team is a family affair. Friends and family have become involved, and many kids - including her own - have completed high-school volunteer hours with the organization.

It's still good for the community to come together and help everybody out," she said.

To donate to the Dream Team, visit: https://gofund.me/5c61b0bb.

Kate McCullough is a Hamilton-based reporter covering education at The Spectator. Reach her via email: kmccullough@thespec.com