SHEPHERD – Roger Jacobs of Shepherd thought for sure that his loyal dog of seven years was long gone.
After all, it had been a week and Montana’s cold temperatures had set in.
“It’s amazing, but that's Mother Nature,” Jacobs said Wednesday.
Turns out his dog Salty only suffered a wound on her front leg along with clumps of ice embedded in her toes after being out in the wilderness for seven straight days.
He says it all started the week before Christmas when, while he was out on his property with his dog, he accidentally forgot to close a gate behind him.
“She was gone, “he said.
Jacobs did what any worried and frantic pet owner would do. He went searching.
“I got on my whistle right away and started to blow my whistle when she didn't come, I knew she was gone,” he said.
He raised Salty from the time she was just a puppy and says she’s his loyal companion during bird hunting season.
She is fierce and accurate in the field and waits next to her target so Jacobs would have never thought she’d take off.
“We searched for days, put everything out on the internet, drove day and night looking,” he said.
But after about day six, he knew there was a chance she might never turn up.
“I thought, it was a really good shot that I didn't ever get her back,” he said.
That was until day seven, Jacobs says his friend spotted Salty along the river near the area of the Yellowstone River bridge between Shepherd and Huntley.
Jacobs says then his daughter also responded and started to videotape on her phone at about the time he showed up to call her back in.
“Finally, she heard me and she came running towards me. And I've been blowing my whistle so hard and walking through snow and I was all gassed and she was gassed and cold,” he said.
Salty was out of breath and cold, but it didn’t stop her from running as fast as she could to Jacobs.
This video has been liked and shared across Facebook dozens of times, proving that everyone loves a good reunion. Jacobs says it’s a warm reminder of the special bond we have with dogs.
“We had a nice reunion on the riverbank you know,” he said.
It was the perfect belated Christmas gift he says he needed this year.
