02/24/2026
KENTON (Hardin County), OH: I’ll start, so you won’t worry, by telling you that this dog is now SAFE, but let me tell you her story, as it’s a remarkable example of survival in extreme weather conditions and of the sheer endurance this small fry showed in her marathon travel pattern.
It started, as it so often does, with a photograph on a Facebook post. This particular photo showed a small, white dog in a snow-covered corn field along the side of a rural highway, taken during the brutal cold snap that saw 25-degree-below wind chills at times. This image launched a mission to get this dog safe. But none of our volunteers was within practical distance, so we knew we’d have to find some local helpers. One step at a time…
We started by making posts on both regional and county-wide lost pet pages and appealing for access to private Facebook town chatter pages where so much news is exchanged. Quite a few kind local folks assisted us in this effort, and we thank them. Our goal was to establish the dog’s sighting history and raise the alert for current sightings.
The earliest evidence we found for this pup was January 16, east of Forest, Ohio. But more recent sightings (even some with photos) showed that she was going back and forth along a 5-mile stretch between Forest and Dunkirk, two towns in Hardin County. We worked to bait her to a spot in Dunkirk, where she seemed to settle for a bit running the town, but we never got her on our cell cam there, nor did we find out where she was eating from an existing food source. (Because dogs remember where they find food and often, quickly, return for more, we wanted to get her eating in advance of placing a humane trap.)
Then we got word that this munchkin was trekking far south along U.S. Highway 68, and we thought we’d lost our chance to get her safe in Dunkirk, but she popped up back in town two days later—not for long, though.
She quickly left Dunkirk once again to head south, this time showing herself all the way in Kenton, about 10 miles south along Highway 68. Over several days in Kenton, we received sightings and were able to connect with some kind neighbors who had seen the dog sunning herself more than once in their yard. They gave us permission to set a food station and cell cam and also agreed to help keep food in front of the cam. (Thank you, Nikki, Stacie, and Chad. You were instrumental in this effort.) We did get her eating on cam, and no sooner than we had the humane trap on the way, we learned that she had gone all the way back to Dunkirk (again, 10 miles!! away).
At this point, we considered that we might be dealing with two different dogs, but subsequent sightings proved it was just the one, spectacular, 15-pound-max pup who clocked about 2.25 miles per hour on her travels. But the trap was in Kenton, and the dog was in Dunkirk. We held firm with our trapping plan at the spot where we knew she had eaten several times and hoped so hard that she would safely make her way back to the trap.
On Saturday, February 21, we got a sighting that she was on the south side of Dunkirk, appearing to start on her 10-mile trip back to Kenton and the trap. Based on her location and knowing her usual speed, we figured that if she bee-lined south that she would show up by 6p. Well, this beast of a dog (I say that with all the respect due her significant powers) rolled into view of our camera and into the trap at 5:43p.
All told, the straight-line distance between the sighting points we were able to learn, this little pup traveled at minimum 82 miles over a 5-week period. And this is just what we know. Moreover, within a 48-hour period, she turned a 20-mile round trip like it was a stroll in the park.
Her burrs and matts were so severe that getting her professionally groomed asap was a priority, and we thank Kaylyn at Diamonds in the Ruff for getting her in this morning. You’ll see her before and after pics attached here. She’s scheduled for vetting next week. And we can see that she was trying to fill the emptiness of her stomach at times with corn stalks.
A special thanks to our teammate Deb Powell, who embraced the worry for this dog and the mission to get her safe.
“Asha,” as we are calling her, is now safe, warm, fed, being loved—all the things we hope for when we see those posts of these innocent yet incredibly smart animals out in the bitter cold, alone, and in harm’s way. She is serving her stray hold privately with us, and we aim to make sure she is a cherished member of a family in the coming weeks. No one has come forward in the last three weeks looking for her, but if someone knows something, as always, message us or call us at 614.377.1777.
