Falcore (AKA Fuzzy Butt)

Falcore's Adventure
June 2004 - Jan. 2005

Falcore's (named after the "Luck Dragon" from The Never Ending Story) story starts around Christmas 2003 near Sauk Centre MN, at around 8:00 pm, for Falcore was Bobbi's Christmas present that year. At the age of about 6 weeks Falcore and his new family took the 120 mile trip to his new home, located in the beautiful lakes area, of northern Minnesota.

Life was good for the young Falcore, soon to receive the nick-name “Fuzz Butt”, because the hair on his butt was so fuzzy after bathing and brushing him. Falcore continued to grow and learn from his new family, learning to give big hugs, and to become a lap dog laying his head on Bobbi's lap every chance he could. At the age of 8 months Falcore had grown to an approximately, 100 lb "leggy", "gangly" young dog starting to change his baby coat.

At this same time, roughly 200 miles south of Falcore’s family, in Redwood Falls MN, a foundation was forming "Friends of the Animal Shelter". The goals of this group was to, raise money to improve or replace the old existing local animal shelter’s housing facilities along with adoption rates, of the animals residing at the shelter.

One of the projects being considered was the launching a web site, to promote the groups goal of improving the adoption rate of pets available, by listing their information, along with pictures, on the internet site.   On June 10 2004, a new domain name was registered on behalf of our group, "FriendsOfTheAnimalShelter.com" and our website was launched.

Back in Falcore’s neck of the woods, upon returning home July 5 2004, the unthinkable happened.  Bobbi and Jeff (Falcore’s Family), discovered their eight-month-old St. Bernard, baby Falcore, was missing, and could not be found. Somehow, he had gotten out of the chain link fence, and was gone.

They were doing all they could to find their Falcore, placing ads in the local paper, and on radio stations, putting up flyers, and searching everywhere they could think of. The MN Humane Societies were contacted, and postings were placed on the Internet. 6 months went by and they had not heard any news as to where their Falcore could be.

Back in Redwood Falls the Friends Of The Animal Shelter, was holding one of it's monthly meetings, the web site traffic results were reviewed, and it was suggested to check into not only listing the available pets on there site, but also add them to the very well known site,  “Petfinder.com”. This was done.  The Redwood Area Animal Shelter experienced a noticeable increase in site traffic; along with interest in the pets they had available for adoption.

On December 23 2004, Redwood Falls Animal Control Officer Ken Harmon received a call about a St. Bernard running around the neighboring community of Belleview. The Harmon’s found and transported the St. Bernard to the Redwood Falls Animal Shelter. A few days later a picture was taken of this dog was taken and listed on the websites,  "FriendsOfTheAnimalShelter.com" and "Petfinder.com" identified as “no-name”, St. Bernard, Male, #D320".

Bobbi and Jeff’s life was routinely going on.   It had now been 6 months, and stills no news about their missing Falcore.  On Jan. 12^th  2005, Bobbi received an email.  A lady named Dawne, in Lincoln Park Michigan had been searching for her Australian Shepherd on the internet, and had come across Bobbi’s ad posted about a lost male, St. Bernard.  The subject  of the email read “Long Shot on Your Dog”.  The email was about a Large, Young Male, St Bernard, in Michigan,  Dawne had found as a stray, along with a picture.  The St. Bernard in the picture  was lying down, and it showed mainly his head, it did not show much of his body and very few markings, so Bobbi contacted Dawne to ask questions.  She told Dawne all she could about Falcore, and tried to see if this information was comparable with the dog Dawne had.   At that time, Dawne being unable to keep the large St. Bernard, had given him to someone that she thought really wanted him, and would provide him a good home. As Dawne continued to look for her lost Australian Shepard, Angel, she came across a picture of the St Bernard she had found, now posted at a local shelter.  Feeling responsible, she contacted everyone she could find that was missing a St Bernard that fit his description, and told Bobbi, this is how she came to contact her.  She gave Bobbi the name of the shelter, and said she would be visiting the St. Bernard later that week.

Bobbi contacted the Shelter,   Dawne had said the St Bernard was at.  The person who answered said, “it sounded like it could be him but they could not send more pictures, as the lady that takes the pictures only came in occasionally, and if you really want to know you will have to come see him”.   Well it didn’t take long for Bobbi and Jeff to make up their minds if there was a possibility this could be Falcore, they were on their way to Lincoln Park Michigan.  They decided to leave that coming weekend.  People were telling them they were "nuts", going that far, not knowing for sure it was him or not.

On Jan. 13th Dawne once again, emailed Bobbi, this time with an internet link attached,  to a photo of the dog, Friends Of The Animal Shelter, had listed on the Pet Finder website, he definitely looked like Bobbi’s missing Falcore.  She contacted Redwood Falls Animal Shelter, to go and see him. 

In the meantime Bobbi started to wonder, would she know it is him for sure, if he was found? He was not micro-chipped, or tattooed, and St Bernard’s do look some what similar.  Although, after looking at several other found St. Bernard’s on the internet, over the past 6 months, Bobbi noticed, none she had seen looked like her Falcore.

Bobbi and Jeff kept looking at his pictures, "We had puppy pictures, but did not have very recent pictures of him, the latest picture we had of him was at about 3 months of age, in his puppy coat (not adult coat). He was shedding, and in that gangly, leggy stage when he went missing. We knew he was going to be large, as he had large parents, huge feet and a huge head, he was a rough coat (his hair was curly), had several freckles on his nose and legs, spots on his belly skin (only seen when you bath him), he was mostly a dry mouth, had what 'we' considered “perfect” St Bernard markings except the white band (collar I called it) around his neck, broke and pointed up towards his head instead fully going around his neck), he had a black mask over both eyes, with a larger portion on his left side than his right, had solid reddish brown on back and down his legs (going down further on the left front let than the right) and he had a grayish undercoat. 

Back in Redwood Falls Animal Shelter, Ken had received several interested parties regarding the adoption of the St Bernard #D320. 

On Jan 13 2005 Ken received the following Email:

Hello,

I am from Perham MN, I lost my saint Bernard on July 5th, he was at that time 8 months old. He was my Christmas Present. His name is Falcore (like the dog/dragon off Never Ending Story) I also called him "Fuzz Butt", as his butt was so fuzzy after bathing and brushing him. I had contacted all the local shelters, had he broadcast on the radio stations, and placed his information on the lost ads on the internet. He is greatly missed, and I have not quit looking for him. I know that several of the saint Bernard’s look similar but this one does have a lot of the same markings as Falcore. Could you email me more pictures of the other side view, the front and also a shot of him from the top? I would greatly appreciate it. Maybe you could even try calling him Falcore, or my nick name for him "Fuzz Butt", and see the reaction and let me know. Any information you can share would be great, as I am determined to find him.

Thank You So Very Much

Bobbi

In the meantime, however, a couple from the Twin Cities had expressed interest in adopting the St. Bernard; they had contacted the shelter a couple of times. The very last time the shelter heard from them, they said “they were at Wal-Mart picking up a collar and on their way to pick up the dog." Fortunately for the Bobbi and Jeff, the Twin Cities family never showed up, so the “no-name” St. Bernard was still at the shelter.

On Jan 14, 2003 at 8:00 pm Bobbi and Jeff arrived at the Redwood Area Animal Shelter.

When we arrived at the Shelter, we pulled up outside the building he was to be located in, and we heard barking. I asked Jeff (my better half), “if that bark sounded familiar”, he agreed, “it did” (it was Falcore at the time that was barking). We walked in the door; he was in a kennel just to our right, next to the door.  We saw him immediately.  He was Huge!!! I could not believe how big he had gotten from 8 months (at the time he went missing), till now.  He now looked doubled in size, and had "barreled out" (his chest was broad and about to his knees), he was up to my waist, had his new, very thick, adult, rough, coat, and looked like a "grizzly bear" (LOL)!  (I knew he was going to be large), but it still was a shock to the system, as to how big, since last time I had seen him (LOL).

I walked over to the kennel, bent down on one knee at the chain link kennel door, and put my hand up to the door. He walked over, put his nose up my hand, sniffed once, and started doing circles, wagging his tail, and jumping. His face had the same markings (even with the changes he had undergone), he definitely looked like our Falcore...acted like our Falcore... then I looked at the top of his back, just between his shoulders sure enough he had the same break in his white collar, that pointed to the top of his head.  We had found him!

After being told we could, we immediately let him out of the kennel. He about “bowled” me over, went to Jeff and did the same. He was so excited, he just kept going in circles, leaning and rubbing up against us (not realizing he was just a "little" larger than when he used to do that as a puppy (LOL)).  Running between myself and Jeff, and around the interior of the building. When asked if he wanted to go home, he laid his head on my shoulder wrapping his nose around and pressing into my neck, (Falcore Hugs) I knew our search was finally over. We told the care giver (Ken's daughter, Christine), that this St Bernard is definitely our Falcore, (although I think she already knew), and we would be taking him home. I commented on how “hyper” he now seemed, (not like the laid back, couch potato, watching movies in bed with “mom” (LOL,) St Bernard he used to be). She told us, “she had only seen him acting that way since we got there” (what a super comment, he was excited to see us too!!!), “normally he had been real mellow, and much laid back”, she had said. Christine then called, to let Ken know, this St Bernard, was definitely the dog we had been searching for, and he was going home with us. It was Great! We did find our Falcore, were taking him home, and he seemed to miss us just as much as we had missed him!!!  It was hard to believe, and is still is so “un-real”, that he was back with us after such a long time.

It was now 8 pm, and we had about 200 miles one way, to go back home. (Rather, ironic considering that when he had been originally went to pick him up, as a puppy (my Christmas Present 2003), we had traveled the same highway, the same direction, (only 80 miles closer towards our home), and had gotten there also at around 8 pm (sort of like "taboo").

We finally had our Falcore (AKA "Fuzz-Butt") back home at about 2 am Sat, Jan 15^th, 2005. It took just over 4 hrs. getting the burrs out of his hair (some I had to trim out as they had just been in for too long and the hair was too knotted. Really bad on his underside, chest, ears, and tail), bath, deodorize, dry, and brush him. Falcore (as he always did) loved every minute of his grooming (as usual I was getting groomed too (LOL)), and naturally he had to "strut" his "stuff", when finished (LOL).

I can not express how great it feels to finally have him home, or give enough "Thanks" to all who helped us find him. He was dearly missed, and all your help, was greatly appreciated!!!  We would never have found him without you!

He now, wants to be with us everywhere we go, is constantly the "oversized lap-puppy", laying or sitting at our feet, or beside us, putting his head, or his paw on us, showing so much affection in so many ways.  It really makes us feel that he missed us, just as much as we missed him. It is still to this day “un-real”, considering the time we all were apart, not knowing what he may have been through, to get him back home safely!  I was not sure what to expect, with him being gone for so long, situations he may have come across, or changes that he may have gone through while away from us. I am so glad to say, "he is still our "Fuzz Butt"", and sometimes, it feels as if he was never away from us at all.

We have noticed some minor changes, and I do believe somewhere in his travels, Falcore had been abused, because of some of his current reactions. Currently, if you make a sudden movement, or he hears a loud noise, or raised voice, he will flinch, crouch or step back from you. He did it quite a bit at first, but in the couple days he has been  back home, it has gotten less frequent, so I do believe he will get over it, quickly. I also gave him a large (about 2ft.) braided, chew bone, (he always loved them), but he wants nothing to do with this one, and also flinches when you pick it up. Even with the fact that I think he has been mistreated, his temperament seems to be the same (Big Baby). We have not seen any aggressiveness towards people, or other animals. He is still the non-aggressive, gentle, lover-boy, we knew as a puppy and love today.

All-in-all, he is still the same "Fuzz Butt" (yes, even his butt is still fuzzy (Hence the nick-name), only he is much, much larger).

Jeff and I really want to comment on Ken and his Family, at the Shelter in Redwood Falls.  They were very kind in the caring of Falcore (along with the other animals) and to us personally. They went out of their way; waiting on a Fri night for our calls, always being pleasant and courteous  and came in after hours in sub-zero temperatures, just to unite us with Falcore.

Thank You All,

Bobbi, Jeff and  our “Luck Dragon” Falcore (AKA “Fuzz-Butt”)