Brave dog reunites with owner after getting lost in the mountains for nearly one month



SEATTLE - A dog and its owner were reunited after the pup was lost in the woods for 28 days. Sierra Eberly and her dog Snow Beau cuddled at home Tuesday while he got readjusted to life indoors in Seattle.

“Honestly, like I got a taste of true depression. It sounds kind of melodramatic. But he’s my Beau and I’d never felt that much heartache before,” said Eberly.

Snow is just under a year old. Eberly described him as timid dog, but, "He’s always been a very snuggly lovey-dovey dog.”

Eberly said running and hiking trails on mountains with her dog is their favorite thing to do together. She explained Snow had a microchip and she would sometimes let her dog off his leash.

She said they were out hiking the Mount Washington Trail Oct. 6 near North Bend when Snow was spooked by a mountain biker. When he ran off, he was wearing a harness but was not attached to a leash.

“He bolted. He was gone,” said Eberly. “By the time I got to the top trail both the mountain biker and Snow were just gone.”

Eberly stopped at nothing to find him. She created a Facebook page to spread the word about her lost dog and posted flyers on every trail she could find in several communities near North Bend.

Eberly said she even skipped a week-long work trip to hike all the trails on the mountain, hoping Snow would answer her call to come back.

“There was not a lot of sleep. I actually slept at the trailhead a couple of nights because I thought maybe he would come down at night when there weren’t people around. But, that trailhead is close to I-90 and it's really noisy and he’s afraid of vehicles and loud noises,” said Eberly.

On Nov. 3, just five miles away from the trail Snow was spooked on, Eberly got a call from a North Bend resident who found her dog.

“He’s like, ’Hey, are you missing a dog?’ And I’m like yeah. And he’s like, 'This little white dog just showed up in my backyard. My daughter saw it and he’s up on the couch on my back porch right now,'" said Eberly.

Eberly said the resident had not heard or seen flyers about a missing dog. She explained the resident was able to contact her because Snow was wearing a collar with a tag on it.



Snow weighed about 14 pounds less than when he first went missing. Eberly took him to a veterinarian for testing. She said, surprisingly, Snow’s limbs and vital organs were in good condition. He received treatment for Hookworm.

Eberly said she would not let the incident stop them from getting back on the trails they love. However, she wanted to take her time following doctor’s orders and nursing Snow back to health.

Eberly said the experience was a test for both of them to never give up hope.

“Just the week before we went on that hike, I promised I’d never let anything hurt him. I wanted to keep my promise,” said Eberly.

Eberly said the rescue would not have been possible without tremendous support from the community. Snow’s first birthday is on Nov. 18. Eberly said she wanted to combine his birthday with a welcome home celebration.