Hikers Launched A Rescue For A Dog They Weren't Even Sure Existed

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Hikers Launched A Rescue For A Dog They Weren't Even Sure Existed

Trinity Smith

Losing your dog is a horrible experience. Having to come home without them is truly heartbreaking, and knowing that they are lost in the wilderness is incredibly stressful. For this man, he had six long weeks to wait before a miraculous discovery finally brought his best friend home.

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This was no simple task, Larry Osborne's dog, Chloe, went missing in the small mountainside town of Alma. "I was not optimistic at all," Osborne said.

Chloe had run off during their walk, and even after searching for weeks there was no sign of her.

"After about the fourth week (of searching for Chloe), we started taking the posters down," Osborne said.

Even though he felt like there was no hope, Chloe never gave up. Five weeks after she first went missing, a hiker heard a faint bark while hiking along the mountainside. They were 14,000 feet up, but that was enough to make some people notice.

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Trinity Smith said that "I had no sleep the past two nights, because all I could think about was a poor dog stuck in harsh conditions, at 14,00 feet." Other hikers tried to convince her that it was probably a coyote, but she decided to investigate anyways.

She couldn't sleep until she knew what happened to that dog, so with the help of her friend they began their search...

She spent two days searching the mountain for signs of life, but it nothing was happening. "I started to give up, thinking she hadn't made it through the night. Then (I heard) that little bark, and the adrenaline started going again."

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After climbing a little longer, her friend Sean Nichols finally saw the first sign of life. "I saw a little head pop up," Nichols said. The two hikers saw the lost dog, stuck on a ledge. Chloe was surrounded by loose rocks on the steep angle and was terrified.

"I reached up and got her, and she got on my chest," Nichols said. "We just slid down the rocks. She was so light, I could hold her with one arm."

Chloe was given four bottles of water immediately, and then was brought to the local convenience store. She was a big dog when she left, weighing over 90lbs, six weeks later she had dropped to a mere 26lbs.

The clerk at the store immediately recognized the dog from the posters and called Osborne. "I just started crying. I couldn't believe it was (Chloe)."

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Nicholas said that when Chloe finally saw her owner, "she was wagging her tail, she knew she was safe."

Osborne is happy to have his best friend back. He said, "With everything going on in the world, there are still good people out there."

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