Lost Dog Covers 2,000+ Miles To Reunite With Family In Real-Life “Homeward Bound.”

Lassie, Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin embody the hallmark traits that define collies and shepherds: fearlessness, loyalty, and steadfast devotion. Those characteristics are a vestige of their heritage working side-by-side with humans, and they’re the reason the dogs develop such strong bonds with their families.

So is it all that surprising that a collie-shepherd mix traveled more than 2,000 miles to find his family? Well, yeah, it is. So read on, because this is a truly amazing, epic story.

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In the early part of the 20th century, Frank and Elizabeth Brazier and their two daughters, Leona and Nova, lived in Silverton, Oregon, in northwest Oregon. In the summer of 1923, they took a family trip to visit relatives in Wolcott, Indiana, with plans to return in mid-August.

Bobbie, their 2-year-old Scottish collie-English shepherd mix, joined the family on the trip, and they were all set to head back when the unthinkable happened.

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On August 15, 1923, Frank was filling up at a gas station and left Bobbie in the car while he went inside to pay. Suddenly, he heard Bobbie yelp and ran outside — just in time to see Bobbie “run around the corner of the building with three or four snarling curs at his heels.â€

Bobbie had often struck out on his own and always returned to his family, so the Braziers figured he’d come back on his own time. But when he didn’t return within a few hours, or in the following days, the family extended their stay in a desperate bid to find their beloved family member.

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But Bobbie had seemingly disappeared without a trace, and the brokenhearted family was finally forced to begin the long trip back to Oregon without him. Before they left, they left their contact information with numerous residents, but had prepared themselves for the worst – they’d never see Bobbie again.

Meanwhile, Bobbie had managed to escape from the dog pack, and he was determined to find his family. He spent the next six months tracking them, literally covering thousands of miles, battling the elements — including crossing the unforgiving Continental Divide during the heart of winter — and swimming across countless rivers in his single-minded quest.

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Then, the incredible happened: On February 15, 1924 — exactly six months after he’d run off from the Indiana gas station — young Nova spotted Bobbie while she was walking along a street in Silverton.

He was exhausted, covered in mange, paw pads literally worn down to the bone, and suffering from pretty much every conceivable ailment from being on his own for so long. But it was definitely Bobbie.

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He whimpered and cried out desperately when Nova called his name.

Not only did he respond to his name, his family further confirmed his identity thanks to several distinct scars they recognized from his puppyhood.

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According to Frank:

For three days he did little but eat and sleep. He would roll over on his back and hold up his pads, fixing us with his eyes to tell us how sore his feet were. His toe-nails were down to the quick, his eyes inflamed, his coat uneven and matted, and his whole bearing that of an animal which has been through a grilling experience. When he first came back he would eat little but raw meat, showing that he had depended for sustenance chiefly on his own catches of rabbits or prairie fowl.

As news of Bobbie’s incredible feat spread, more and more people got involved in mapping out his incredible, 2,551-mile trek, and the family was contacted by Good Samaritans across the country who’d helped the poor, lost pooch on his journey. Some estimate his journey was as long as 3,000 miles.

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One family wrote:

The attached clipping from the Denver Post interested me owing to the fact that late in November a large collie stopped at our house; in fact ran up to our car as we were driving into the garage and seemed very happy to see us. He went into the house, had dinner and slept in the den in the basement all night.

He was a very nicely behaved dog and seemed very tired, in fact exhausted, was dusty and had burrs in his hair. We spoke of his being so tired and that he looked as though he had had a long hike. We lost our fourteen-year-old collie in September, of old age, and hoped this one would stay with us, but in the morning, he did not even wait for his breakfast.

Bobbie lived out the rest of his life as a celebrity, even playing himself in the 1924 silent film, “Call of the West,” before passing away just three years after his return to Silverton. He was buried at the Oregon Humane Society’s pet cemetery in Portland, and the great Rin Tin Tin himself even stopped by the following week to lay a wreath on his grave.

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But Bobbie– now known as “Bobbie the Wonder Dog”– will never be forgotten, especially in his hometown. A 70-foot-mural dedicated to this devoted and steadfast dog depicts his life and incredible return to Silverton, and the city hosts a parade in his honor each year.

What an incredible story about the unbreakable bond between a dog and his family. Share to warm some hearts today!