A dog is a member of the family and when that dog is no longer around, its absence leaves a hole.
For Cindy Ross and her family, Shyla had been that dog. In May 2018 the dog took off, the Sun Journal reported.
Ross owns 8 acres of land in Maine and allows her animals to roam the property, but Shyla always came back. This time was different.
"She's an anxious dog, though, and it just happened to be hunting season," Ross told the Sun Journal.
While the days became months, then a year, Ross always had a glimmer of hope that Shyla would come home.
"I'm an avid prayer, so I had faith that she would come back. Other than going out and looking for her from time to time, my hands were tied on what I could do. I just kept faith that we would be reunited," Ross told the newspaper.
Over the more than 12 months in the wild, there were sightings of Shylla, but no one could catch her.
Maine Lost Dog Recovery also stepped up to help search for the pup.
A volunteer had heard a dog matching Shyla's description was seen 50 miles away from her home in Chesterville, in the town of Rangeley, WGME reported.
Kathy Winslow drove 3 1/2 hours to set up a trap. A homeowner nearby promised to help keep food at the trap to help lure Shyla.
"We were sitting around at midnight on Wednesday, watching live footage of Shyla, waiting for her to go in there," Winslow told the Sun Journal. "After weeks of waiting, she went into the cage and stayed and we were able to rescue her."
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Ross knew it was Shyla when she saw the video recorded by remote cameras Winslow had set up.
"As soon as we were able to reunite with her, there was a lot of hugging and kissing," Ross told the paper. "I was shocked at how healthy she looked. She goes to the vet tomorrow, but it looked as if she had been eating well and stayed healthy."
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