Remarkable dogs and their incredible journeys

REPORT: Friends of Rhiwbina Library monthly author talk – Richard Sugg on 'Home is Where the Heart is' – a tale of remarkable dogs and their journeys to find their loved ones.

In Indiana in August 1923 Bobbie the Collie was chased away by three dogs while his owner, Frank Brazier was filling up his car after a long drive from Oregon. Despite searches and the offer of a reward, Bobbie could not be found.

The Braziers had to break the news to their two young daughters, Nova and Leona, back home in Silverton. But on 15 February 1924, Nova spotted him in the street. Bobbie was home. He had walked over 2,500 miles - over rivers, deserts and mountains, during the bitter winter weather.

Bobby was far from alone. Many other dogs crossed countries and continents, through America, Europe, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Incredibly, some hitched a ride on buses or trains, or crossed the Atlantic by ship. What was even more surprising was a significant number of dogs found their families in completely unknown places.

Army Captain Stanley Raye travelled thousands of miles from home in California when deployed to a remote Pacific island during World War II. His cocker spaniel, Joker, walked 30 miles to Oakland, where he boarded an Army ship bound for the Pacific. At each Island the dog stood sniffing on the deck but remained indifferent. Not until the 20th island did he bound excitedly off the ship and bowl over – yes – Stanley Raye!

Refusing to give up on a loved one is therefore common in the dog world. None more so than when their owners die. After his master passed away, Jerry, a two-year-old bird dog, from Seattle would disappear for days at a time.

The cemetery manager, where his owner was buried, contacted his widow to tell her a dog was regularly sitting by the grave. Jerry travelled 22 miles to this final resting place on an almost daily basis.

The question remains - how did these dogs know where to go? Not, as you might think, through scent or through 20/20 vision. Richard told us the science behind these incredible dogs is still unproven: “In an age of artificial intelligence, satellites and nanotechnology”, dogs continue to confound us. He concludes the driving force is, quite simply , emotion.

Richard’s talk (on Tuesday 10 June) was a delightful, sometimes incredible, celebration of some very special dogs who defied the odds and exceeded all expectations... “all for home, and for love”.

Richard Sugg is the author of 17 books, including A Cenury of Ghost Stories (2017), Fairies: A Dangerous History (2018), and Dogsygen: Celebrating the Secret Lives of Dogs (2024).

He has published articles in The Guardian, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Country Life. He is currently working on Impossible Journeys: How Dogs

Reinvented Love, Family and Home (Mariner, 2027). His books are available here.

Report and photos by Lynne Schofield