Wind-tossed chihuahua found safe; owners credit psychic
Candice Williams and Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News
Monday, April 27, 2009
Tinker Bell - chihuahua
Photo: Mark Hicks
Lavern and Dorothy Utley of Rochester Hills,
with their dog, Tinker Bell, who was found Monday
after being swept up in a weekend storm.
Waterford Township -- Two days after Tinker Bell, a six-pound chihuahua, blew away in high winds at the Dixieland Flea Market, her owners found her safe and sound about three-quarters of a mile away. The Rochester couple credits a pet psychic for the discovery.
"We were shocked when we found her," said Dorothy Utley, 72, Tinker Bell's mother. "You don't know how happy we were. We love her so much."
More than 50 volunteers helped Utley and her husband, Lavern, search for their dog, who blew away in 70 mph per hour winds Saturday.
After speaking with a pet psychic from Holly, Utley said she and her husband headed to a wooded field on the opposite side of Dixie Highway. There, they found Tinker Bell. The black and brown long-haired dog was very dirty and hungry.
"That dog was so happy," Utley said. "She just went wild. She was so hungry and we had to bathe her."
Market Manager Joe Goldberg said the whole event was phenomenal."It seems like (the dog) is her whole life," he said of Utley.
First appeared in this article on Sunday, April 26, 2009 -
High winds sweep away Rochester senior citizen's pet chihuahua
Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News
April 26, 2009
Tinker Bell
Photo: Family submitted
Waterford -- An elderly Rochester woman is offering a reward and pleading with the public today for the safe return of her five-pound chihuahua Tinker Bell, who literally blew away yesterday afternoon when high winds hit the Dixieland Flea Market.
Dorothy Utley said around 2:30 p.m. when rain and whipping winds hit Metro Detroit, her eight-month-old dog was thrown into the air and "nobody could catch her."
She was last seen air-bound, heading south over Dixie Highway, Utley said.
"She just went. The wind came up and within seconds she was gone," said Utley, a frequent vendor, who sells clothes, tools and bedspreads at the market. "She was so beautiful, a gift from God."
Utley said Tinker Bell is a black and brown, long-haired Chihuahua. She was wearing a red collar, but didn't have tags. The forceful winds broke her leash, which was left behind.
A search for the pup has been on since yesterday. Utley and her husband along with about 30 others have scoured the market grounds and miles of nearby roadways for the dog. They've even put up posters and are offering a reward for her safe return.
"We need help to find her. We're 72-years-old that's all we have," Utley said about the dog she and her husband bought seven months ago.
"She's our angel. We're not leaving. We're still looking."
Joe Goldberg, who manages the market, said the incident is "devastating" to the dog owners and to other vendors, who've been looking throughout the night.
He said the dog was chained to a cooler and when the wind came up it tipped over and witnesses say the dog "went flying into the air."
"Rains and winds came it was like a nightmare," he said. "I feel so bad for them (the dog owners). They stayed out all night. I put a person in a trailer outside in case the dog came back. She (Utley) is devastated."
Goldberg said the storm has left the market with thousands of dollars in damages. Cleaning crews worked through the night, picking up destroyed tents and accumulating three dumpsters full of debris left by the storm.
About 125 vendors were set up outdoors yesterday and lost everything from sale items to cash boxes.
Source of both articles is the Detroit News http://www.detnews.com
DWARF SAVED BY CHIHUAHUA
Beverley Burkitt
Photo: WALES NEWS SERVICE
Beverley Burkitt, an asthma sufferer with dwarfism, of Colwyn Bay, North Wales, was found unharmed and still snuggled up to Pebbles, her long-haired black and white chihuahua who she became lost with in Snowdonia over night in the forest while out walking.
Beverley, her 15-year old daughter, and Pebbles were staying at a pony trekking centre at Dolwyddelan, North Wales.
When Beverley did not return from her walk, where she dropped and lost her cell phone, the alarm was raised. Not found until the following day, Beverley stated that she cuddled the dog to keep herself warm, and was not too worried because she was sure she would be found sooner or later.
A helicopter with heat-seeking cameras was launched and search parties on the ground scoured the area. But it was not until the next day that she was found after her mobile phone was discovered on a path.
Beverley told rescuers that Pebbles lay across her legs overnight and kept her warm; rescuers stated the dog probably kept Beverley from getting hypothermia.
Chris Lloyd, of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue reiterated that Beverley went for a walk at about 10 a.m. with her little dog and walked into the forest where she dropped her mobile phone. "She realised she was lost and just waited. Luckily it was quite a mild night and she had her dog to keep her warm."
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5037096/Dwarf-saved-by-chihuahua.html
PRAYING CHIHUAHUA
One-and-a-half-year old Chihuahua dog 'Conan' prays with his owner and chief priest Joei Yoshikuni during a morning pray at the Shuri-Kannondo temple in Okinawa islands, southwestern Japan, Monday, March 24, 2008.(AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
NAHA, Japan (AP)-- At a Zen Buddhist temple in southern Japan
Mimicking his master, priest Joei Yoshikuni, a 1 1/2-year-old black-and-white Chihuahua named Conan joins in the daily prayers at Naha's Shuri Kannondo temple, sitting up on his hind legs and putting his front paws together before the altar.
It took him only a few days to learn the motions, and now he is the talk of the town.
"Word has spread, and we are getting a lot more tourists," Yoshikuni said Monday.
Yoshikuni said Conan generally goes through his prayer routine at the temple in the capital of Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture (state) without prompting before his morning and evening meals.
"I think he saw me doing it all the time and got the idea to do it, too," Yoshikuni said.
The priest is now trying to teach him how to meditate.
Well, sort of.
"Basically, I am just trying to get him to sit still while I meditate," he explained. "It's not like we can make him cross his legs."
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/24/praying.dog.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
CHIHUAHUA SAVES BABY
Denise Long holds her grandson, Booker West, 1, as he pets Zoey, held by Monty Long in the backyard of their home near Masonville, Colorado.
Tiny Chihuahua saves boy, 1
The Associated Press
Jul. 23, 2007 08:00 AM
MASONVILLE, Colo. - Zoey is a Chihuahua, but when a rattlesnake lunged at her owners' 1-year-old grandson, she was a real bulldog.
Booker West was splashing his hands in a birdbath in his grandparents' northern Colorado back yard when the snake slithered up to the toddler, rattled and struck. Five-pound Zoey jumped in the way and took the bites.
"She got in between Booker and the snake, and that's when I heard her yip" said Monty Long, the boy's grandfather.
The dog required treatment and for a time it appeared she might not survive. Now she prances about.
"These little bitty dogs, they just don't really get credit," Booker's grandma Denise Long told the Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald.
Source: http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0722chihuahua.html