Brady's Journey Home

Jeff Green | Oct 19, 2022

Brady, the now famous travelling Bernese Mountain Dog, is a well-loved pet. 

“He’s not budging very much from our feet,” said David Hallett early this week, as he was relaxing at the home in Brockville that he shares with his wife Amanda, and Brady.

The house was not nearly as calm throughout the month of September into early October, because Brady was gone, long gone.

“It started when we were off to a wedding in Odessa, and we brought Brady over to my parent’s place, outside of Sydenham, for the weekend,” said David.

As has been chronicled on local social media, “Brady burst through their screen door and vanished into the trees,” said Dave.

When Brady did not come back, Dave and Amanda contacted Kimberly Vastino of Thousand Islands Pet Search, based in Gananoque.

“Kimberly was there from the start, getting the word out, and guiding us every step of the way,” he said.

Brady was in flight mode. At first there were sightings in the Sydenham area from neighbours who were all on the alert. He was seen on Little Long Lake Road, towards Gould Lake, and on Bedford Road. But he did not stay put, and if anyone approached him, he would take off back into the woods. 

Shyness is a characteristic of the breed, which may explain why Brady sightings were common in the first week or so, but fleeting. 

Then the sightings stopped in the Sydenham area. Brady was on the move.

“We started hearing about him being in Hartington, and Verona, and then there were sightings in Moscow and Enterprise. But every time we went to look for him, we felt we were being left behind.”

The sightings ceased for a few days, and Dave and Amanda started to lose heart, but then the sightings started again, this time just west of Newburgh, but again Dave and Amanda felt like they missed him by a day when they went. 

After a sighting a little further west in Strathcona, he was off again.

Then, on Thanksgiving weekend, a call came in from south of the 401, from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

“A couple of women there saw him, and they put food out for him. When he started eating the food, we figured maybe he had settled in that area.”

Once it was determined that Brady may stick around, Rhonda Guthrie-Taft and the Quinte Lost Paws Group stepped in to help. They decided to try and entice Brady into a kennel shaped trap structure.

The first one that they tried was too small, and while Brady sniffed around it, he did not go in.

Then, they tried a larger one, fit for a larger breed.  It was Wednesday, October 12, 40 days since Brady had run off from Sydenham.

Dave and Amanda were in their car, about 200 yards away, waiting.

“We could see him near the cage, through binoculars. but we were too far away to see if he was going all the way in, so we just kept staring at the light on a device we had, which was to go off when the door trigger had been tripped.

The light turned red.

They drove up to the cage, and got out of the car.

“When he saw me, and heard Amanda’s voice, he lay down. We crawled in there with him, and gave him some food. When we were ready to go, he headed straight for the car. He slept all the way home.”

As soon as they got home, Brady made a beeline for his spot on the couch, and hasn’t let either Dave or Amanda out of his sight ever since.

Brady’s weight dropped from 94 to 71 pounds during his ordeal, he had one porcupine quill in his cheek, but other than that he appears to be in good health.

“The vet has designed a diet for him to keep his weight steady and slowly build it back up. We are so happy that everything has worked out, and the help we received from people all along Brady’s route, and the local businesses were wonderful. We are so happy for things to get back to normal for us, and for Brady.”

The only change that Dave and Amanda are planning to make, is to buy a new collar for Brady. One with a GPS device.