A Whanganui woman who lost her dog in Matipo Park was delighted to get her back after nearly a week.
She was just lucky that a man walking there at dusk heard a dog growl from the undergrowth and decided to investigate when it happened again days later.
Aydie Holland had only had Belle, a six-year-old Jack Russell terrier, for two months when she took her for a walk in the Brunswick Rd park.
Belle was still learning to come when she was called, so Miss Holland had her on a 5m lead attached to a choke collar. The idea was she would call her dog and give a little tug on the lead. The tug would remind the dog, who would feel she had decided to come all by herself.
Miss Holland has since learned there may be kiwi in the park, and she shouldn't have let Belle roam free.