By ALANAH MAY ERIKSEN
Heidi the dog has a "hairdressing" appointment every six weeks - this week she was a day late.
But wow, what an excuse.
The 7-year-old bichon frise's little legs have just trekked four cold, wet, kilometres from her Amohau St home to her dog groomer's house in Otonga Rd. And she did it alone.
Maybe you saw her? She probably trotted down Old Taupo Rd, sniffed her delicate nose around the Westend shops and then somehow got across the busy St Andrew's roundabout at Devon St.
From there, she found the home of her dog groomer Emma Stanley-Clarke on Otonga Rd on Wednesday. The bizarre thing was Ms Stanley-Clarke had been out on Rotorua's streets trying to find Heidi, who had an appointment with her the previous day.
A dog expert suspects Heidi recognised the groomer's scent and simply followed her nose.
Ms Stanley-Clarke reckons it's a miracle.
"I just can't believe it. It's just one of those freak things. It's a miracle really."
Heidi's owner Beverley Agnew is in Rotorua Hospital and a friend had been feeding Heidi at her Amohau St home.
However, on Tuesday morning he discovered Heidi was missing.
He waited at the home for Ms Stanley-Clarke, who was coming to collect Heidi and take her back to the dog salon as a surprise for Mrs Agnew.
"We just went everywhere looking for her," Ms Stanley-Clarke said.
"I was really worried. We went to the pound, the SPCA, had the vans out looking for her. By Tuesday night we decided to call it a day and look again tomorrow."
But they didn't have to. Ms Stanley-Clarke was awakened in the early hours of Wednesday morning by her husband Aaron Brown, who had opened the curtains to find Heidi sitting placidly in the backyard.
"She is Mrs Agnew's lifeline. When we told her the story about how we'd found her, she cried. She couldn't believe it."
Professor, Kevin Stafford, an expert in domestic animal behaviour from Massey University, said Heidi probably set out to find Ms Agnew and ended up on Otonga Rd. "It is not impossible that she almost smelled her way to the groomers. She sees the groomer regularly and probably considers her almost like family. Dogs noses are brilliant. They can smell things that we would have no idea about."
* Do you have a miracle pet with an amazing tale of survival? Call the Daily Post on (07) 348 6199 to share your story.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from Rotorua Daily Post
Public push to save the Lakeland Queen: 'The heartbeat of the lake has gone'
A new society has been formed aimed at getting the tourist attraction back on water.