Woman's Relentless Search Leads to Dog... 8 Years Later

Friday, June 15, 2001 - USA

RICHFIELD, OH — I've always thought that the greatest and most bittersweet moment in Greek mythology comes at the end of Ulysses' 20-year journey.

Ulysses returns home from the bloody Trojan Wars only to learn that in his absence his palace has been overrun by lustful opportunists believing him to be dead.  Disguised as a beggar, Ulysses enters the palace and mingles with the villains, his appearance so haggard and transformed that not a person recognizes him, not even his wife or son.

But as he passes through the courtyard, an ancient hound dog, dying of age and unable to stand, raises its head and pricks up its ears at the stranger.  The dog is Argus, Ulysses' faithful friend.

"...Soon as he perceived
Long-lost Ulysses nigh, down fell his
   ears
Clapped close, and with his tall glad
   sign he gave
Of gratulation, impotent to rise,
And to approach his master as of old.
Ulysses, noting him, wiped off a tear
Unmarked.
...Then his destiny released
Old Argus, soon as he had lived to see
Ulysses in the twentieth year restored."

The Odyssey, from Bulfinch, Chapter XXX

On Wednesday, a similar lost-and-found story came to a close, though not quite 20 years in the making, like the myth.  After 8 years of searching and refusing to give up hope, Denise Tuttle has been reunited with her white German Shepherd Jake.

Ms. Tuttle recalls the day, July 7, 1993, when Jake and another dog Duchess ran off in pursuit of a rabbit.  Duchess came back when called, but Jake kept on going, and that was the last Ms. Tuttle would see of the year-old pup.

Jake only knows what incredible adventures and journeys followed on his 8-year odyssey.  But in the meantime, Ms. Tuttle never gave up trying to find him.  She, of course, did the standard routines: called all the shelters, vets, police departments and road crews within 50 miles, and she kept calling.  But even beyond that, the relentless woman became involved with organizations and rescue groups maintaining a network of contacts in the dog-lovers' community.  This went on for years.

Then last week she got the call about a 9-year-old Shep in need of a home.  The dog was being surrendered by a woman who had kept it for 2 years.  Before that, apparently the dog was kept by a man for about 6 years.  

Strangely, this dog's name was Jake, which prompted Ms. Tuttle to think that whoever first found the dog did indeed recognize it from the posters and flyers, but decided not to return the pooch.  As Ms. Tuttle probed further the details became too telling; dates and descriptions all seemed to add up perfectly.

But of course, she's no Argus; humans aren't quite as good at remembering and recognizing faces as dogs are.  So she had to verify two identifying marks on the dog: a crooked tooth and a "inkstain" birthmark on the dog's tongue.  Both where there.

"I was crying like a blubbering idiot when I saw him," she said, "and he kept licking my face."