Annika the German Shepherd had lived on Conservancy Road for less than 12 hours when she slipped her collar, jumped a fence and started a weeklong journey through the township and Germantown MetroPark that would end north of Farmersville.

Thanks to a drone and carefully placed live traps, Annika was safely located after being lost in unfamiliar terrain.

“This sweet German Shepherd gave us a run for our money,” said Chris Johnson from Farmersville-based Eye In The Sky - Drone Animal Recovery on Facebook:

7 days on the run
4 drone searches
2 traps
6 trap locations
2 cities
6 nights of watching cameras
And days between sightings.

“There were times when it felt like we were chasing a ghost, but we refused to give up on her.”

Joining the Jayne Family

Friends of the Jayne family who lived in Miamisburg had a German Shepherd they couldn’t keep. After meeting with the family, Melanie Jayne decided to adopt Annika and move her to their home on Conservancy Road with more space for the dog to enjoy.

“The boys had been around her at their house and just loved her,” Jayne said. “I mean, just absolutely loved her. She was really good with them, and I told my husband I hate to pass up on this dog, because you know, when you rescue a dog, you really don't know their personality.”

Annike arrived home with the Jayne family on Thursday, May 21, Jayne said they brought the dog outside to get a feel for their yard and to meet their chickens. On Friday morning they put Annika on a lead in their fenced in backyard to stretch her legs and at some point after that she disappeared.

The family immediately started a search on foot and then posted on Facebook that they were looking for their lost pet. Community members and friends started tagging pet tracking service, Eye In The Sky - Drone Animal Recovery.

On the Run

Melanie Jayne connected with Eye in the Sky owner Chris Johnson on Friday evening. Johnson and girlfriend Kylie Shafer team together to track lost pets via drones with heat signal and live traps.

Johnson and Shafer helped the Jayne family set up a live trap for the lost dog. There were a few initial sightings of Annika, but she was running scared and didn’t respond to people calling her.

“We called her, and she bolted immediately.,” Jayne said. “A couple of other people saw her, and she bolted as well. She wasn't coming to her name, and she wasn't coming to anybody. So Chris had explained that dogs, when they're loose like that, and they're scared, and they're afraid, they don't behave the way you think they're going to behave.”

A few days went by and the lost dog was spotted in multiple places in German Township and then closer to Farmersville. Guided by Chris Johnson and his experience finding pets, the Jayne family put up a number of lost dog signs, expanding their range to north of Farmersville.

“It's really a race against time,” Jayne said, “because one of the things Chris had me put on the sign was to tell people not to call for her, because if it was scaring her and making her run, she might run further away, and the further she got away, the harder it was going to be to track her.”

Unfamiliar with the community and unable to find “home,” Annika continued to wander.

“She went like 12 miles in a day, but not like 12 miles out and back, like five miles this way, four miles this way, three miles, just everywhere,” Jayne said.

Annika was spotted on Farmersville-Johnsville Road, Farmersville-West Alexandria Road and Preble County Line Road.

“I lost hope before Chris did. We only have one car and there were a couple days where we just couldn't do anything,” Jayne said. “Chris and Kylie picked up and kept going at it even when we weren't able to.”

Johnson finally found Annika with his drone north of Farmersville on Chicken Bristle Road. He told Melanie Jayne, “tonight’s the night.” And they caught the dog in a strategically placed live trap that evening.

Jayne truly appreciates the help her family received from people reporting sightings, from local landowners and from Eye in the Sky. “They have such a heart for animals; they were so kind.”

“I would stress, listen to him. It was easy for me to listen to him,” she said, “because I didn't really know this dog, you know. But I think a lot of dog owners think ‘I know my dog, I know what they'll do.’”

Homecoming

Annika is now safe at home on Conservancy Road, “So she's been on house arrest for the week,” Jayne said. “We haven't taken her anywhere because I don't want to take the risk.”

Eye in the Sky posted on Facebook on May 30, “After a week of survival mode, covering miles of territory and keeping everyone guessing, we finally got her safely trapped and reunited with her family.”

“Most dogs that have been in survival mode for that long can be a little ‘spicy’ when it's time to get them out of the trap. Not this girl. She was sweet as pie from the second we walked up to her. It was like she knew her adventure was finally over.”

Local Help for Lost Pets and Livestock

Chris Johnson has helped reunite 100-200 lost pets in the past two and a half years with his business. He also helps hunters find deer that they’ve shot and can’t locate.

Kylie Shafer got into this industry doing rescue trapping, but is more focused on helping Chris locate lost pets.

“I do the drone, and then she does the trapping,” Johnson said. “Nearly 90% of the time, I have eyes on the dog with the drone guiding her to get as close as possible to the trap. It's kind of like cheating, you know. Back before there were drones, these trappers had to go out and kind of guess where the dog was, so it's kind of the cheat code; we can get it done a lot quicker with both of us.”

Johnson said finding Annika was a tough case. “I watched that dog on the drone for probably an hour and a half one night, the night before we got her, and you could just watch her movements. She didn't know what she was doing; she didn't know where she wanted to go. I mean, they call it survival mode for a reason.”

Johnson stressed that speed is essential for finding lost pets. “Luckily, it's getting to the point now where I've got enough of a Facebook following that I get tagged pretty immediately, but you know, time is of the essence so much in this field. If you have a dog that gets out today, and then you call me tomorrow morning, and then we can't do a search until tomorrow night, you know, that's just getting a real bad start, versus if your dog gets out and you call me two hours later, now we've got a fighting chance.”

Contact Chris Johnson for help with lost pets on Facebook or at this number: 937.697.1311.

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