‘It’s a miracle’ With community’s help, Pudge made it back home

Cindy Kuhl was thrilled to see Pudge, her friend Linda and Mark Rahn’s little house dog, after he spent six days on the run, wandering the countryside. The experience brought people together to help find the lost dog. (Submitted photo)
She remembers the sinking feeling watching Pudge take off knowing she couldn’t keep up with him. Cindy Kuhl and Pudge’s owners, Linda and Mark Rahn, are just as thankful the little dog is back home, safe and sound, in New Prague, after a harrowing ordeal amidst temperatures and windchill well-below zero degrees Fahrenheit.
Pudge was over at Cindy Kuhl’s place for a visit. He oftentimes visits Kuhl’s home when the Rahns have errands to run and they don’t want to leave their little friend home alone. But Friday morning, Jan. 17, Pudge slipped out of Kuhl’s yard. Cindy followed him along the sidewalk adjacent to Ninth Street until it came to an end. Wearing only house slippers on her feet, she returned dressed to be outdoors and the dog was gone. Suddenly, hope of a quick retrieval turned to fear.
The small mixed-breed house dog walked into a farm field and wasn’t seen until a searcher spotted him from a distance Sunday, Jan. 19, and he was finally returned home the following Thursday, Jan. 23.
The Kuhls began a frantic search for Pudge. They called the police department and called Critter Getters. Twice daily, Cindy left a meal of food, warm chicken broth, bacon and liquid smoke out front to enhance the scent. Shortly into the search. Cindy got an idea which changed the trajectory of the efforts to find him. She turned to groups of folks she communicates with via social media. Soon, there was an army of people aware of the frantic effort to find the little pooch.
“I’m not a techy person at all,” Kuhl said.
In the meantime, Pudge survived being alone, wandering the countryside, safely evading traffic along roads and potential predators looking for an easy meal. A volunteer from the Retrievers told them a few days later Pudge was in greater danger of being hit by a vehicle along the road than a fox or coyote. Of greater concern were days and overnights of sub-zero temperatures Pudge endured until he was found hiding from the elements in a woman’s garage in the Rolling Meadows neighborhood outside New Prague. Pudge is 9-years old. He weighed about 20 pounds when he took off. When he was found, he was tired and weary. The little dog lost some weight during his week on the run. He had some burrs in his hair but had suffered no wounds or frost bite from the sub-zero temperatures that even closed local schools Tuesday, Jan. 21.
“It’s a miracle, just a miracle,” Rahn said. “There was a search party out right away looking for him.”
Rahn said Pudge wandering off was completely out of...
To see more on this story pickup the January 30, 2025 print edition of The New Prague Times.