Dog escapes pet sitter to chase pawrents on holiday in New Mexico, only to find out his pawrents were home by the time he got there sparking inter-state rescue, dog dad says: ‘My father and I are flying out there to bring him home’

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Apr 16, 2026 10:45 AM EDT

It is not often that a dog rescue story mimics the storyline of a blockbuster film. But in this story we have a canine child who lived a tale similar to that of the Home Alone franchise, had Kevin McAllister managed to get on a plane to chase his family.

Dogs are larger than life, which is usually ok because their world is relatively small. Confined to a few square kilometers around their home, their larger than life adventures come with much less risk than if they were to take place over vast distances. But in this story that is exactly what happened. For while this family struggled with the decision to leave behind their doggo while going on a quick day trip, they thought they were doing what was best for the pupper. Opting to leave him in the care of a dog lover instead of packing him into a crate so he could travel on the train with them.

But it seems that their dog did not get the memo that he was not coming with them, and so took it upon himself to chew through his own leash and set off on a grand adventure to find his family. 
 

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    "I know it'll be a long road to recovery, but honestly as long as he's with me again I'm just so happy!"
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    I just really wanted to share this story because today has been an insane emotional rollercoaster, but I'm just so happy and relieved!
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    We got Brancy from a breeder who was looking for homes for two mini Australian Shepherds. They were a bit older than puppies, as the breeder we got him from had in turn
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    gotten them from their original breeder, who'd had a family emergency right after the little was born and didn't have time to socialize them properly. As far as we know, Brancy was
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    never ab d, but he was pretty skittish around people and took a long time to warm up to strangers. As we worked with him, he got a lot better! The first
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    night I was home from school (he was my dog, but due to timing my parents brought him home a month or two before I'd be home) we had to spend hours coaxing him back inside because he
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    was so scared. By the time we went on vacation last summer, after I'd had him for over a year, he was jumping and dancing when I came home from
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  • There is nothing quite like the behavioral transformation of a pupper to set your soul alight. To see them overcome their difficulties and scars and blossom into the loving, caring and kind doggos that you knew they could be all along is simply wonderful. And even more so as such achievements do not come without the hard work that this family put in, making that moment when her doggo came up to her jumping and dancing even sweeter. We are truly so incredibly lucky to have dogs in our lives, what on earth did hoomanity do to deserve all this good?
     

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    work and would sleep in my bed. We made so much progress together and he was my sweetheart. However, tragedy struck last summer while on vacation in
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    New Mexico. My family and I wanted to take a day trip on a train, and thought it wouldn't be comfortable for poor Brancy to be stuck in his crate for the approximately 5+
    via marvellwasright
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    hours we'd be gone. Luckily, a friend we were camping with was also staying behind with her dogs, and offer to watch him so he wouldn't be cooped up. We took the
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    offer, went on the trip, came back... And he was gone. Turned out she'd left the dogs tod up outside for awhile, and came back to find Brancy's leash chewed through (we
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    Cheezburger Image 10614196992
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  • Well, you might argue that this family had trained their pupper a little too well if it is this well versed in the art of escape. Though all jokes aside this must have been crushing. To come back to a missing dog after already feeling bad about leaving your pupper behind must have been heartbreaking for this family. Especially when the whole thing happened far away from their home base. In an area that their doggo did not know all too well and where they were much likely to get lost. 
     

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    never figured out if it was him or one of her dogs) and he was gone. We stayed for almost an extra week looking, but even the one or two times we did spot him, we couldn't get close; like I said, he's
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    skittish and being an Aussie, he runs like a speeding bullet, you'd need to be on horseback to keep up with him. Eventually, we had to move on, and I was heartbroken. We put up posters everywhere, posted
    via marvellwasright
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    on the local garage sale Facebook group, and kept in contact with the local Humane Society, who were very supportive and helpful throughout the whole ordeal. My parents even
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    flew back out a few months later to try again, but no luck; he was just too fast, and too scared. We kept getting the occasional call or message saying
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    someone had seen him, but considering how fast and scared he was, without dog in hand it wasn't worth spending all the money to fly out there just to chase him around for a few
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    days and fly back. I was devastated, but had to accept that life moves on. I got a new puppy (Bucky, a maltipoo) and while I loved/love him dearly, I still missed Brancy with all my heart.
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    Until this morning. I got a call from New Mexico, and, expecting another bittersweet "We've seen him, he's alive" message that would've at least told me he'd continued to beat
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    the odds and survive the harsh winter, I picked up. Imagine my shock and joy when I heard the woman on the other end say that she had Brancy in a trap in her barn, and that the Humane Society was coming to pick him up later today!
    via marvellwasright
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    I've been teary and crying all day from happiness! My baby boy's okay! We've been communicating with the humane society, and according to them (and the pictures they've sent!) he's mostly okay, just got some
    via marvellwasright
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    burrs and gunk in his fur and a bit shaken up. He's much less traumatized than I'd ever hoped for, he allows himself to be handled, still likes to be pet, and is even following the woman fostering
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    Cheezburger Image 10614196480
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    him around a little! (She sent us a picture of him peeking at her from around a corner, which is exactly the kind of thing he used to do at home!) I know it'll be a long road to recovery, but honestly as long as
    via marvellwasright
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    he's with me again I'm just so happy! My father and I are flying out there this Thursday to get him and bring him home, and I couldn't be happier! I'd just about lost hope of ever seeing Brancy again, and now he's coming home!
    via marvellwasright

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dogs escape chase new mexico find reddit story holiday pet sitter pawrents dog story home dog dad rescue
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