Teddy the dog found safe after backwoods adventure
Sep. 14—MONTCALM — Thanks to the selfless efforts of strangers, a hungry and frightened dog that wandered the woods for days after losing his family on the Hatfield-McCoy Trail was found and returned to his home.
Teddy, an 8-month-old Australian Labradoodle, was with his family Sept. 2 on the Pocahontas Trail — Mercer County's branch of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail — when their side-by-side crashed.
"We were riding on the Pocahontas Trail and we had an accident and we rolled our side-by-side," said Nathan Holbrook of Fort Thomas, Ky. "Everybody was fine."
The side-by-side came to rest upside down. Brooke Holbrook, Nathan's wife, was holding Teddy. She immediately called for him, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"She was holding him at the time and initially we suspected he was actually under the side-by-side," Nathan said. "It was a horrible feeling."
As the family was looking for Teddy, another two riders came up the trail and said that they had just seen a dog matching his description dragging a leash. They started calling for Teddy, but he didn't reappear.
"But we quickly realized it was not going to be an easy find," Nathan recalled.
A friend back in Kentucky created a flier about the missing dog. It was soon being posted around the trail.
"My wife was driving around various locations posting this flier and then we just started talking to people and we went into the next day," Nathan said.
Local people started posting Teddy's flier on their Facebook pages and helping to get the word out. Many of the people who saw it started looking for Teddy, too. Days passed and Teddy was still missing.
"We were eating in Princeton," Nathan said. "It was the night before we had to leave. We still hadn't found Teddy."
The odds of finding Teddy didn't look good, but the Holbrooks soon learned as they prepared to leave that local people, without being asked, were continuing the search.
"My son made a statement about how great these people are down here," Nathan said. "He said if there's anyone I want looking for my lost dog, it's West Virginia. After that, Monday morning comes. We still have not found Teddy and we're driving home to Fort Thomas heartbroken, and I told my wife the only way this dog is going to be found now is in the hands of the people of West Virginia. And they did not disappoint."
One of the searchers, J.J. Tindall of Rock, stayed in touch with the Holbrooks and kept the family updated whenever anyone sighted Teddy or had any other information. A reward had been offered, but Tindall made it clear that he did not want it. Nobody else attempted to claim it.
Tindall emphasized repeatedly he was only one of the many people looking for Teddy, dubbing the search "a 100-percent community effort."
At first, a rumor started that Teddy had been found, but Tindall checked and learned that this was not the case. Then Teddy was sighted, but he would run away. For nine days, he eluded the very people trying to help him. Nathan Holbrook returned to Mercer County about three times, and he joined Tindall at the crash site and hoped Teddy would return. At one point, two women brought them pizzas while they stood watch.
Finally, two men with C&C Contractors, Sean Campion and Antony Madonia, spotted Teddy at a house down Happy Hollow in the Montcalm area, Tindall said. Teddy ran into a crawl space, but they closed to a door and managed to coax him out with some ham.
They called Tindall and he was soon on his way with a dog crate.
Teddy was thin after his ordeal and covered with burrs, but uninjured, Nathan said. He still had the WVU collar he was wearing during the crash and dragging his leash. He even had his dog goggles hanging around his neck.
The Holbrooks received a call Monday that Teddy had been found after being missing for about 10 days. Tindall rendezvous with the Holbrooks about halfway between West Virginia and Kentucky, and Teddy got to go home with his family. He was seen Tuesday by a veterinarian and given a clear bill of health.
Teddy is back with his family because some people in West Virginia wanted to find him and help him get home.
"It gives you faith in humanity," Nathan Holbrook concluded. "It really does."
Many local individuals and businesses aided the effort.
They included Sherry Lineman with Hilltop Escape; Patricia Ballard and Trina Farmer with the Hilltop Restaurant; Ziggy and Dolly and Scotty with Ziggy's Motorsports; Dale, Sara and Cole Jones with Coal County Outfitters Tours; J.J. and Melissa Tindall with The West Virginia Way; Michelle and Bill Regas Eagle AtV Tours; Michael Constantino with Four Wheeler Heaven; Eugene Penland; Old School Grocery & Grill and Cuz's Cabins; Buffalo Trail Restaurant and Bar; Dana and Wanda Yerger with Sandy Edge; and Brad and Desarae Woodridge.
"It took us all to make this happen," Tindall said.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
