Dog survives 9 months lost in Idaho mountains

Mo is recovering at home with her owners after 288 days apart from them.

ByABC News
July 11, 2017, 9:19 AM

— -- A lost dog is home safe and sound after surviving more than nine months in the Idaho mountains during a brutal winter and her owners said "it's wonderful to have her home."

When Mo, a 14-year old Chesapeake Bay retriever, wandered off from her owners Darwin and Cindy Cameron last September the couple desperately searched for months, but after a brutal winter, they feared the worst.

"The day she went missing, the other guys took off and went hunting and I had to run to town ... Mo was asleep on the couch and I came home and the grandson of one of our hunting partners had opened the door to play ball with Mo and when Mo realized I wasn't there she took off to find me," Darwin Cameron said today on "Good Morning America."

PHOTO: Mo, a 14-year-old Chsapeake Bay Retriever was reunited with her family after she was missing in the Idaho mountains for 9 months.
Mo, a 14-year-old Chsapeake Bay Retriever was reunited with her family after she was missing in the Idaho mountains for 9 months.

"If you know anything about Idaho winters, this one was not a normal one. Record snowfalls, highest snowfalls and coldest temperatures in over 100 years," Darwin Cameron added. "So to think that she was smart enough and tenacious enough to figure out how to do that, that's pretty good for a little town dog, we're just amazed," he added.

According to the Idaho Statesman, Cheri Glankler, a farmer in Garden Valley, took care of Mo after she was found collapsed, covered in ticks and fleas on a ranch near Horseshoe Bend. Glankler posted photos of the dog on Facebook and as comments poured in, she found the Camerons and was able to reconnect them with their dog after 288 days apart.

Cindy Cameron said that Mo is recovering slowly but surely. "She's doing OK. She has arthritis but we're giving her some medication, she's walking a little better, she's gained some weight and it's wonderful to have her home," she said.