From Calumet To The East Coast: The Incredible Adventure Of Sugar And Susie

Two adventurous dogs got loose from their yard in Calumet but were found nearly 1,500 miles away on the East Coast.

“They decided to go on a little adventure,” said Brayden Elwood, the dog’s owner.

The Elwood family, Ty, Brayden, and their two young daughters, Hensley and Jessee, rescued Sugar, a lab mix, and Susie, a Border Collie Cross. In fact, they had only had Susie for three days before the two took off.

“They’re partners,” Ty Elwood said.

They’re also escape artists. Ty said he believes the two crawled under a fence and made a break for it.

“We looked and looked and looked and right through here is coyote central, so we were hoping and praying the coyotes didn't get them,” Ty said.

An exhaustive search proved fruitless.

“It was just the not knowing, that was so bad,” Brayden said. “It was a lot of emotions and a lot of tears for sure.”

Then, 18 days later they got a call from Officer Cearra Barker, yes Barker, who had the dogs at the Gloucester County Animal Shelter in Virginia.

“We had gotten a call from a concerned citizen saying they had picked up two dogs running loose on one of the main roads,” said Cearra Barker, Deputy Animal Control Officer, Gloucester County, Virginia.

Barker said she found the Elwoods thanks to a microchip in Sugar.

“I looked at the location where the dogs went missing from and I’m like ‘Oh no,’” she said laughing.

Brayden couldn’t believe it when she got the call.

“Oh, wait what? I was totally in shock,” she said. 

Operation "Save Sugar and Susie" was underway. Ty hopped on a plane and flew across the country from Oklahoma City to Virginia to get his pups. Barker was waiting.

“The second they cut them loose, I dropped my phone and was all fired up,” Ty said when he saw them.

He then rented a car and drove them nearly 1,500 miles home.

“It was a heck of a haul I’ll say that 20-hour haul, man, it was rough, but it was worth it whenever I rolled in get to see them light up,” he said.

The girls ran to the dogs with big tears and big hugs.

“I was crying, and the girls were crying,” Brayden said. “Pure joy is how I’d describe it.”

“It is a huge blessing, huge blessing,” Ty added.

Looking back, the Elwoods now believe the dogs hitched a ride at the nearby Cherokee Travel Plaza, off Interstate 40, about a mile from their home. They have no hard feelings about whoever took the dogs, they just wish they would have scanned the dogs before taking them across the country. Although the two furry friends lost their way, people from afar eventually helped to lead them home.

“We're very fortunate,” Ty said. 

The family has secured the fencing, and they plan to put air tags on the dogs' collars so they can track them if they ever try to escape again.