Mike Yeoman and Sandra Abraham spotted Sophie last February. First she zipped across the yard, then they caught her stashing a package of meat. In a third sighting, the evidence was a lone shoe found in their yard. They put the shoe back with its partner at the door where it did not stay for long.
“The very next day the shoe was thrown in the middle of the garden again,” said Abraham from their home in Lower Gibsons. “It turned out it was Sophie playing.”
For a year, Sophie has been playing by her own rules. Her original owners, who live in the Gibsons area, declared her missing last September.
Abraham said they connected the mystery dog appearing in their yard to Sophie when they saw her missing dog poster while walking the Mahan Trail.
They called the number on the poster and were directed to Roberts Creek dog trainer Jane Bowers who advised them they could start leaving food out for her. They were also asked to place cameras on their property to track the evasive canine.
Reuniting Owners with Animals Missing (ROAM), a non-profit based in Victoria, also got involved. Volunteers tried catching her last December when she was “hanging out at a house on North Fletcher,” according to Yeoman, but that attempt failed.
Several other attempts had also failed, but by then Abraham and Yeoman had bonded with Sophie, who would drop by for food and play by herself in the backyard.
The dog was originally from Iran and based on her vaccination records, the couple suspect she was kept in a shelter for at least a year and a half before she was shipped to Canada by a dog rescue agency. “Who knows how she was treated in a shelter,” said Yeoman. Following her arrival in Canada, she spent some time in the Lower Mainland before the adoption in Gibsons. But those owners relinquished her after she escaped – a common problem with rescue dogs, according to Yeoman and Abraham.
The couple agreed to try to foster Sophie in May – even though she was still on the loose. “All these failed attempts at capturing her were really weighing on us,” said Abraham.
The final attempt took place the last night of August. ROAM made another visit. This time, Abraham and Yeoman enclosed their backyard, increased the height of their fence and spring-loaded their gate. “The challenge was always, how do we close that gate when she comes in?” Yeoman said.
Yeoman waited at the top of the stairs leading into the house, and held the gate open with a rope attached to the gate at the other end of the yard. “As soon as she was in, I could release the rope, the gate could close,” explained Yeoman. The caper worked. Sophie made her usual visit, Yeoman released the rope and the gate clicked shut.
Sophie was no longer a fugitive dog. “It was almost like she knew this was it,” said Abraham of the capture, because she didn’t try to run away from her rescuers once the gate was closed.
It’s been a few weeks since the capture and the new owners – they recently signed adoption papers – said it will take time for Sophie to adjust to her new surroundings, but all things considered she’s doing well.
“To think that two weeks ago she was running around the streets, it’s like she’s already a domestic dog,” said Yeoman. “She’s beginning to realize she’d be crazy to leave. She’s onto a good thing here.”
So far, Sophie hasn’t attempted another escape. “We’ve been told, don’t be fooled, she is at high risk to flee,” Abraham said. To compensate, they walk with two leashes, one around Sophie’s collar and one around the harness that’s tethered to one of them.
The couple expressed gratitude for the support of their neighbours and organizations involved in the rescue. “Everyone really came together,” Abraham said.
Sophie has also recently allowed the couple to pet her. They said she’s even starting to ask for tummy rubs.
