A miraculous recovery of my two 14 week old pups on Thanksgiving Day is something to be truly be thankful for. The pups disappeared into a deep forest 4 days ago during a hike and had to endure unforgiving cold and snow. Puppies Sean and Cait were discovered by a group of amazing biology Ph.D. students at Dartmouth College out on a Thanksgiving Day walk.

Last Sunday around 1:30 p.m. Sean and Cait bolted from our group of dogs and puppies at a junction, heading down a trail we were not taking. They moved with such speed I couldn’t see where they were going. They were not coming when called. They just kept going to wherever they were going. It was all over in seconds.

The conservation area is 1000 acres of rough, forested terrain. And the temperatures, already at freezing during the day were dropping. The situation had danger written all over it.

My pack of dogs and I (including the pups’ mother) searched until after dark, calling and calling, alerting everyone we saw to two lost pups. After a long 25°f night, we resumed the search, covering every trail within a 2 mile radius of the point we lost them multiple times, calling, calling, calling for the entire day. Nothing. The temps dropped to 15°f on the next long New England night. I gave up hope, assuming two pups out in the elements could not make it.

The following night it snowed. More cold. No calls from the police or humane society. I knew the pups were dead.

Then… at around noon on Thanksgiving day, the phone range and a beautiful, kind, reassuring voice on the other end of the line said, “I think we have found your puppies.”

The pups had traveled to the other side of conservation area. They were found by four Dartmouth Ph.D. students sitting on a hillside up from the trail trying to catch some sunshine for warmth, the female, Cait, shivering. An hour later the pups were at the trailhead. A half hour later, we were reunited.

What happened this Thanksgiving with my pups is a true miracle.

Two presumed-dead pups have a new chance at life. Thanksgiving doesn’t get any better than having two sweet puppies rescued from death. The sharp-eyed Dartmouth biologists found two needles in the Landmark Forest haystack. These pups now have their second chance.

I am thankful for all who worked to get the word out and give those pups their second chance. A post on the Upper Valley Lost Pets Facebook page gave the Dartmouth biologists the connection back to me.

My profound gratitude to the good and compassionate young Dartmouth biologists who delivered my lost pups back to me on Thanksgiving Day. Thank you…

THANK YOU !!