Lost dog survived in deep woods nearly two months: ‘She defied the odds’

Tim Paul was making an early-morning work stop near his home in Park County, Wyoming, and he had his dog Jade with him. When Paul opened his car door, Jade unexpectedly bolted out – fast and far into the wilderness. She got spooked by loud machinery and trucks driving by.

Paul gave chase.

“He chased her for about three-quarters of a mile, and she was gone,” said Paul’s wife, Laura Wilderman.

The two live with their four rescue dogs about a half-an-hour drive from where Jade ran off in Little Buffalo Basin.

“This area in Wyoming is just deep, deep woods. There isn’t anything around,” Wilderman said, explaining that she began to panic thinking about Jade on the run in the area, which has roaming grizzly bears, mountain lions, coyotes and other wild animals.

Jade was having a bad reaction to an allergy medication – she had a facial swelling and a loss of appetite – and Paul was planning to bring her to the vet as soon as it opened that day, June 4. After Jade sprinted off, Paul searched the woods for hours, then slept in his truck overnight.

When he turned up empty, the couple decided to put their lives on hold to search for Jade, a Boxer they rescued in 2022.

They went looking for her in the woods every day, and Wilderman took a leave from her job as a flight attendant.

They took out radio ads, posted all over social media and put posters up around town offering a $1,500 reward. They hired a scent-tracking dog to help sniff her out.

The couple was especially concerned given how timid their pup is. Even if someone was able to find her, they said, she probably would not go close enough to a person to be caught.

“She always was a little skittish,” said Wilderman, noting that Jade was a breeding dog and when they first got her, she wasn’t well socialized. “If you were eating a meal and dropped a fork on the table, she’d run.”

“We spent every single waking moment trying to find her,” said Wilderman, whose phone began to ring with strangers volunteering to help. People in the community joined the rescue effort.

Ryan Lawler, a local sheriff’s deputy, read about the missing dog on Facebook and offered to use his personal drone to help search for her. He spent three of his days off trying to track down Jade.

“I’m an animal lover, and when something like that happens, I feel bad for the owners,” said Lawler, 49, adding that he has used his drone to help find missing animals a few times in the past. “It’s just something I like to do.”

Wilderman and Paul were stunned by the outpouring of support.

“Those people were rockstars,” she said.

Still, after several weeks, there was no sign of Jade.

“We didn’t think we would get her back,” said Wilderman.

But they finally got a sliver of hope last week, when Tobias Cortner, 31, who works at a local ranch, spotted Jade on a trail camera he was monitoring. She was gnawing on an animal carcass.

A few days later, he got about 20 feet away from Jade, and as soon as she saw him, she bolted once again.

“It’s pretty open out here; there’s not much of any kind of civilization. … It’s random that she happened to show up,” said Tobias, who called Wilderman and Paul to let them know their dog was alive and in the area.

He had seen posters of Jade in town and recognized her.

Knowing exactly where Jade had been, the couple hatched a plan. They put out a large humane trap they borrowed, as well as food – including cat food, since it has a stronger smell than dog food, and treats – to lure Jade in.

“That’s the only way we were going to get her,” Wilderman said, adding that they also put out some of their clothes so Jade could smell them and perhaps be comforted.

Their plan was temporarily hindered when ranchers dumped a dead cow in the woods. Since the dead animal would attract grizzly bears, posing a major threat to Jade, Wilderman frantically phoned a nearby ranch and they agreed to move the dead animal.

On the Tuesday morning – exactly seven weeks after she first ran off – Jade wandered into the trap, as they had hoped, and it closed on her. They had her.

“I can’t believe it’s actually her and she survived,” Wilderman said between tears. “She defied the odds.”

Despite being disheveled and slightly frail, Jade was quickly back to her usual self.

“She just ran upstairs, filthy dirty, jumped in bed, snuggled and had a great meal,” said Wilderman. “She has not skipped a beat. She’s got a pep in her step.”

Jade also seemed elated to be reunited with her animal siblings.

“Our other dogs were so excited to see her,” Wilderman said.

Jade had worms, but other than that, she got a clean bill of health from her vet.

Considering what she has been through, “she is doing amazing,” Wilderman said. “She is resilient, that’s for sure.”

Jade’s safe return was a relief for the whole community – especially those who took the time to help find her.

“I was very excited,” said Lawler. “It’s a miracle.”

Although losing their dog for months was awful, Wilderman said, they are filled with gratitude for their community.

“I feel like I have a lot of new friends through this whole process,” she said.

It also served as a reminder that – even when it seems impossible – happy endings can happen.

“It’s such an incredible, long-shot story,” Wilderman said.