After two weeks of searching, the community rallied to help bring a missing dog home to her owner. David Ingram’s walker hound dog, Koa, ran away on May 5 in Hot Sulphur Springs. On May 18, she was reunited with Ingram in downtown Fraser. Jeanette McQuade, a 30-year Fraser resident and animal advocate, stepped in to catch a scared and lonely Koa.

Ingram and McQuade shared the moving story of Koa’s reunion with Sky-Hi News.  

Koa lived a wild life before Grand County

Koa’s long journey away from home prompted many community members to try to catch her.

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“Something just snapped in her and she was in this feral, primal state,” Ingram explained of why catching Koa proved so elusive. “Most people couldn’t really comprehend why she wouldn’t come to anybody.”

Once Koa made it to Fraser, she decided to settle down in an area surrounding the Murdoch’s shopping center and Safeway. Residents would often spot her and attempt to coax her in with food. Koa is a 15-month-old mountain lion hunting dog, much more difficult to catch than a typical house pet.

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“She felt more, I think, in her realm out there, just kind of running amok,” said Ingram. “No one could really wrap their head around that, not even me, because she’s first hound dog I’ve had. It was a crazy experience.”

The effort to get Koa back to Ingram was complicated by the fact that he had only owned the dog for about a month and hadn’t yet bonded with her. Koa came from a breeder in Utah.

“I think he sold her to me because she’s super sensitive and really sweet,” he said. “I don’t know that’s like the trait that you’re looking for in a lion dog.”

Koa’s first 14 months of life were spent in a kennel or out in the woods. Ingram said that when he got her, she didn’t even want to come inside the house.

A hunting dog on the loose   

Koa’s first experience on the lam happened about a week before she ran away to Fraser. She spotted a herd of deer and took off, Ingram recounted.

“For three days, she was literally just chasing deer all around the town of Hot Sulphur,” he said.

Ingram put a tracking collar on the wily Koa. But then, she was hit by a truck when out with Ingram. She took off into the woods.

Ingram searched for her all night. He feared that she might have injuries from the collision to cause her to die in the elements. But then, people began spotting Koa “running fine,” Ingram said.

“After that, it was another 10 days of trying to track her down and following the leads that people were posting on Facebook,” he said. “It was quite the journey for both of us.”

Once he knew where she was staying, he set up a feeding station for her at nearby the Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply shopping plaza. A big concern was that Koa was in the heart of downtown Fraser, next to U.S. Highway 40. Thankfully she was not hit by another vehicle.

Despite the amount of people in the area (or perhaps because of it) search and capture efforts were futile. But then Ingram came up with a plan to draw Koa in, with the help of McQuade.

Forming an intuitive bond

McQuade found out about the lost Koa from people posting on Facebook. Before this, she had never met Ingram. As an occasional volunteer with Summit Lost Pet Rescue and a dog lover, she decided to get involved.

She joined the search on May 11 and gave regular updates to Ingram when she saw Koa.

“I was trying to also be supportive with David as well, because when you’re searching for a dog like that, you need stamina to persevere through,” she said.

She had an advantage over others searching for Koa because she knew calming techniques taught by the pet rescue organization. She stayed in contact with them as she worked to catch Koa. Mary Ann Kerstiens of the Grand County Animal Shelter also provided advice.

“I don’t know if it was intuition or luck, but for some reason, I would turn the corner and just see her,” said McQuade. “I would get ahead of her; I would have my treats and the leash. I kind of just had everything ready.”

After McQuade got finished with work in Fraser, she would head to the area were Koa stayed and try to work with her. With gentleness and plenty of treats, gained the dog’s trust. Koa was clearly scared; her eyes were wide, her tail tucked tight as she ventured close to McQuade to eat.

“I had her with me on four separate occasions, working with her for hours,” she said. “She was arm’s length away on all of those occasions, but she was so skittish and in survival mode, that I just couldn’t grab her.”

In some instances, McQuade would make progress, but another dog would send Koa off. Ingram also tried to approach Koa with no luck. He nicknamed her Unicorn.

“The urban setting definitely created very unique challenges,” McQuade said. “It made it difficult because there was constant noise, constant movements.”

Koa wasn’t the only animal in the area. A black bear had been spotted on cameras in the shopping center several times, with Koa appearing on cameras moments later.

Ingram finally decided to consult veterinarian Dr. Mike Brooks in Granby. Brooks recommended tranquilizer pills that they could feed Koa. Now it was time for plan B.

Love, dog food and tranquilizers bring Koa home

On the day of Koa’s reunion, McQuade had been working with her for two hours, but couldn’t get her.

“So we knew, this has to happen tonight,” McQuade said.

With tranquilizer in hand, she and Ingram sprang into action. They put food with the tranquilizer on the second level of the Murdoch’s center, because they could block off the entrance and exit once Koa ate the pills.

Unfortunately, Koa did not go down after eating. Instead, she took off before Ingram and McQuade could block her.

McQuade used a unique tactic of pretending to cry to bring Koa back.

“I was whimpering and acting like I was hurt, and that actually brought her in toward me, so she was responsive to that,” she said.

Koa stayed in the area for a while, briefly going into a field, but the two kept good eyes on her. Koa made her way back towards McQuade, then veered up the stairs to the food station. Ingram went up one entrance and McQuade stayed at the exit.

Finally, the search was over — McQuade reached out and grabbed Koa’s collar for the very first time.

“I just reached my other hand to calmly pet her and touch her face, and she just kind of sunk her face into my hand,” she said. “Almost like she was ready to be done with it all as well. She was just really sweet.”

Ingram said Koa seemed to snap out of her feral state once they pet her.

“When I was finally able to get her, she just was wagging her little tail, and she knew that it was over. It was just a funny little moment with the dog,” he recounted.

The two let Koa decompress as they called Dr. Brooks to set up a vet appointment for the next morning. Astonishingly, Koa had no injuries from being hit from the truck or being on the run for the past 13 days — “she’s a super dog,” said Ingram.

McQuade described how the entire journey created “a mix of million different emotions,” from the joy of having Koa rest her face in her hand, to fear for the dog’s life while she was on the run.

“There were times it was heartbreaking, frustrating, tiring; it was sad, obviously, because we wanted to help her, ” she said.

A brief, yet meaningful bond

McQuade explained that Koa’s history and personality made the search unique. People may not have understood how difficult it is to catch a dog like Koa because she was in survival mode.

In this case, calming techniques are imperative. Hanging up flyers is also useful, as is educating the community to never chase a lost dog.

“It was helpful that people stayed supportive,” she said.

She added that Summit Lost Pet Rescue is a great resource. The volunteer organization has found hundreds of dogs in cases like Ingram’s.

Ingram hopes to bond with Koa now she is back home.

On Koa’s first night back, “I just laid on the ground next to her and just kind of pet her, and she was clearly out of it from all the tranquilizers, poor girl,” he said.

He added that he’s in the process of building a kennel for Koa so she can live outside, which she prefers. Even if she doesn’t cut it as a mountain lion hunting dog, she is still part of the family.

“My daughter loves her,” he said, hoping she will settle into life with humans. 

McQuade also feels like she bonded with the elusive Koa during her time of survival in downtown Fraser.

“In some ways I already miss her,” she said. “… I will always hold a special place in my heart for Koa.”

This story is from SkyHiNews.com.