'You raise your dogs to stay': Marlow dog reunited with owner after 26 days

Dec. 3—MARLOW — Nearly four weeks and 40 miles later, Bear made his way back home this past week.

Bear is a six-year-old black Labrador retriever mix who's known owner David Dorazio all his life. But just two weeks after Dorazio, Bear and Bear's mom, Brandy, a roughly 10-year-old boxer mix, moved from Bangor, Maine, to Marlow, the black Lab ventured off on an adventure.

Dorazio said he, his dogs and his uncle Jack Dorazio, 72, arrived in town Oct. 18 and moved onto a property with a small home and apartment. They were still settling in on Nov. 3 when David Dorazio said Bear got into a scuffle with a neighbor's dog down the road.

"He got into a fight with another dog, chased him down the street and disappeared," David, 57, said. "We had sightings [where] people were telling me to go down to the school, down to the post office ... and I was like, 'Man, he's never gone this far, I'm thinking he's just right here.' "

David said he's had Brandy for about eight years, after a friend in Maine who frequently traveled between there and Mississippi had picked up the dog in the South. Brandy's owner had learned of her capture and requested her back but then returned her to David's friend a few months later, who then gave her to David. She had nine puppies, and David kept Bear, who he said was "the coolest one," giving away the other eight.

Soon after Bear ran off early last month, David began approaching others nearby to ask them to look for his dog, when he heard that Bear was spotted at the bottom of the hill in David's neighborhood. David said he put out food on a nearby property to set a trap the same day.

He heard of sightings in Lempster. But the search was on when other residents in the area encouraged him to post in the "I Like Marlow" and "Marlow Lost and Found" local Facebook groups. He also contacted Granite State Dog Recovery, a Hooksett-based nonprofit that aims to help people find their missing canines by collaborating with police, animal control officers, shelters and veterinarians.

"I made a post, and it got hundreds of hits," David said. "All kinds of people said they thought they saw him, or they heard him, or they may have seen him over here or over there."

More locally, David began posting "lost dog" flyers with pictures of Bear showing his red collar and white hair around his mouth, and neighbors volunteered their time to find David's pet. He said this was how he discovered kindness in his newfound community.

"This girl that I don't even know [and] I never met her before goes, 'If you want, I'll come down, and we'll drive around and look for him,' " David said. "There was a guy down here ... [who] heard me hollering for Bear like every hour in a couple directions, and he says it's breaking his heart and he had to come out and help me."

Following rumored sightings for days on end, all went quiet for about a week in mid-November. David, standing in his new apartment Friday, spoke solemnly as he recounted this part of the story, his dogs Brandy and the runaway Bear at his feet.

"[Two weekends ago], I went down to Keene to Town Fair Tire where someone said they'd seen him, but ... pictures I got were a bigger dog that looked like he was injured on his side," he said. "Another dog got caught in Maine but he was a male with all his parts; Bear's fixed."

Meanwhile, across state lines, staff at North Quabbin Animal Control, an agency serving the Athol, Mass., area were notified of a stray dog seen nearby on Nov. 22, according to Janelle Caron. She's been with the agency for five years, first as a volunteer and now a full-time animal control officer.

The dog was spotted on Brookside Road in neighboring Orange, Mass., along the border between the two towns. Caron said staff "didn't think much of it" until they were contacted by a firefighter in Orange that Friday, Nov. 25, who had seen regular local posts about the dog. Caron and other officers then contacted Missing Dogs Massachusetts, a dog-finding nonprofit in Peabody, Mass.

North Quabbin Animal Control planned to set a trap to catch the dog, a male black Lab with a red collar and white hair around his mouth. The canine was frequently seen near train tracks spanning an east-west direction not far from the road, and officers were concerned for his safety.

As they tried to capture the dog over the next few days, they worked in tandem to determine who the pet might belong to, thinking it was a local owner. But a Marlow resident caught wind of the found dog and notified Caron and the other animal control officers that it resembled Bear.

"We're like, 'OK, that's quite a distance,' and the dog has been missing for 3 1/2 weeks at that point, but stranger things have happened," she said.

Word reached David of the dog in Orange, prompting him to call North Quabbin Animal Control and relay information about his furry friend. But until animal control officers could catch the animal, they couldn't verify all the details David shared.

Deb Bacharach, an animal control officer in Petersham, Mass., and volunteer for Missing Dogs Massachusetts, arrived Sunday, Nov. 27, with a trap in tow and a live camera, which she prepared that morning near Mill Street.

"On Sunday night, an opossum came and ate all the food out of the trap but wasn't heavy enough to set it off," Caron said. "Deb went out Monday and put more food down, and we went back Monday night and put more Liquid Smoke down."

Liquid Smoke, Caron explained, is a flavoring with a strong barbecue smell officers use to attract hungry dogs. Overnight Monday into Tuesday, she said a coyote or fox passed by the trap, but no dog. On Tuesday, as animal control officers were preparing to move the trap to the Orange Fire Station where sightings were closer, a Facebook user notified them the black Lab was near the trap.

Within about six minutes of the call, he was caught. Though growling as he was apprehended by the animal control officers, the black Lab was uninjured and unharmed, and they verified it was David's dog Bear.

"They got a dog, I'm involved, [so] I've got to go look, even if it's not my dog," David said. "I took two hours out of my day, a nice drive, no big deal. As soon as they opened the door, I knew it was my big bopper."

North Quabbin Animal Control recorded the moment David and his "big bopper" Bear reunited in a short video posted to Facebook, showing instant recognition from both the dog and his owner, garnering hundreds of reactions online.

Bear lost about 30 pounds during his journey, David estimated, but he said he's seen his dog regain his energy every day since returning home. Bear's mom, Brandy, was often playing with her child Friday as David shared the story.

For David, Bear's return gives him hope after his move to the Monadnock Region. David had lived in Virginia for about 25 years where he owned a dump truck business before moving to Maine to take care of his ailing mother.

In Maine, he struggled to make friends, which took a toll on his mental health. But through thick and thin, David said his dogs were there for him.

"You raise your children to grow up and leave," he said. "You raise your dogs to stay. These guys are important to me because I've been fighting depression for a long time."

Trisha Nail can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or tnail@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter at @byTrishaNail.