Rescue dog Cooper the Golden Retriever has lived a movie-plot life that few could believe.
After being surrendered to the dog pound by his family, his days in kennels came to an end when he was rehomed to live with a new doggie sister and a devoted new owner.
But moments after meeting his new roomie, Molly, Cooper bolted from the car and spent the next 27 days on the run, heading more than 40 miles right back to his old stomping ground.
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The team at Lost Paws NI have calculated he walked more than 40 miles alone, through back woods and along main roads, moving mostly at night and surviving without humans to feed him, until he got back to where he had started and the property from which he had been surrendered.
Cooper evaded organised searches day and night, he avoided traffic and human contact, darting into secret safety holes to bed down. He even avoided the sheep farmers watchful over new born lambs at the height of their busiest season as he flanked Co Tyrone farmlands.
No one is sure how he managed it, perhaps the big dog was looking for his old family after being handed to the pound, maybe he missed the dog brother he had been separated from.
He could have had no idea where he was setting off from, he had no map and no logical understanding of the route to take - just a cold, wet nose nose that guided him all the way back to a place he once thought of as home.
He travelled from the town centre of Dungannon to Cookstown to Magherafelt and finally to the place he had been a puppy, Tobermore, 26 miles as the crow flies, 40-plus by the Golden Retriever.
All the while he had an army of dog lovers trying to find him and reunite him with his new owner who was desperate to bring him home.
New owner Nigel, a photographer from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, explained: "I'm sitting here looking at him and I cannot believe he's home. We had literally driven from the dog pound to my home when he bolted. I'd met Cooper a few days before in the hope he'd be good company for my Golden Retriever Molly. I felt she'd love a dog companion and found Cooper and his brother George in a dog pound.
"I'd have loved to have taken both of them but three big Goldens would have been too much for me to look after and in the end it was literally the toss of a coin that decided which one to take home - it was Cooper.
"After a successful meeting with Molly, I got all the arrangements sorted and Cooper's microchip was transferred to my name. I paid his rehoming fee and we went home for a new start. But I was just about to get the dogs out of the car on their leads for their first walk together when Cooper bolted. He literally jumped over Holly, prized the car door open enough to get past me and ran for it.
"It was a disaster. The poor boy had no idea where he was and he was in the wind. I tried to chase after him but he was gone in an instant - so then the search was on.
"That was on April 1 with the help of a lot of people, I finally got him back today, April 26. I was determined not to give up on him and with the help of Lost Paws NI, co-ordinated searches, sightings, social media and sheer determination got us there in the end.
"Just as I was about to do a big story with DogsLive asking more people to look out for Cooper, I got a call from Lost Paws NI to say a member of the public had reported seeing him in the Tobermore area, back to where he had started all those weeks ago.
"So today I'm a very happy and relieved man, grateful to every single person who helped me from the team at Lost Paws, Pets Lost and Found Mid Ulster, to the public and DogsLive who offered support, suggestions and practical help. In the end all we had to do was follow a dog's nose home to familiar surroundings. If only we'd known, we could have saved big Cooper all that anxiety.
"He's safe now, he's is eating small meals to build up his strength and put some weight back on slowly - he has lost a lot of weight and he desperately needs a warm bath, but that can wait until he is stronger. Hopefully now he is home for good but I've some added precautions in place if he ever feels the need to bolt again. He has been through a lot.
"Even when he was missing, my faith in humanity was restored thanks to the incredible help I was offered, and today with him here by my side and with Molly, I don't really have the words to explain the gratitude I feel."
A spokesperson for Lost Paws NI, said: "Cooper is a clever boy. Instinct took him back to a place he was familiar with. How he did it, I'll never know but he managed it. No food, no shelter, no help, just dogged determination and that incredible nose.
"We had searches in place, day and night and we had tracked him back to a spot where we lost him again but now we know he was almost back in the area where he'd started before he was given to the dog pound. It seems incredible that he was able to do this - but dogs are incredible and that's what we work to hard to help them every day.
"Cooper crossed main 'A' roads, forests, fields, country roads all over 27 days to make his way back to his old home from an area he'd never been in before. We are absolutely delighted to have been part of his rescue and a story that will live on in his family for generations to come.
"We would like to send a special mention to Mid Ulster Dog Wardens who were extremely helpful throughout the whole ordeal, to DogsLive and mostly to the public whose messages, information, posters and support got him back where he needed to be. You are the reason why we exist and why we keep going."
Here's how Cooper's adventure unfolded by Lost Paws NI
"We were asked to assist with a search by Coopers’ new owner and set up feeding stations around the area and completed door-to-door chats with locals. Several farmers reported seeing him, but thankfully as he was not posing any risk to his sheep they let him on his way.
"On Saturday April 22, we received a tip that Cooper had made his way to Lisnanane Lane and had been spotted several times making his way through fields and hanging around local properties.
"We quickly got into the area, knocked numerous doors and set up a camera and feeding station but again there was nothing from Cooper. There was then an unconfirmed sighting of Cooper close to Drum Manor Forest Park, Cookstown; we postered and leafleted but again radio silence for 6 days.
"On Thursday April 27, we received a call from a member of the public stating that he recognised Cooper from our posts and that he had seen him running towards his old property - 25 miles as the crow flies - and was certain it was him. We quickly contacted Nigel his new owner, and around 20 minutes later a photo arrived in our inbox of Cooper, dishevelled but alive, something we were absolutely elated to see."
If you would like to volunteer with Lost Paws NI or donate, please click this link.
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