Little Puppy Gets Lost In Colorado Wilderness For A Month And Survives

On June 18, 2021, Betsy and Jim Chaffin were strolling down Capitol Creek Ditch Trail with their three dogs. Suddenly, their ten-month-old Cockapoo named Bella got separated from them.

The young pup weighed 8 pounds and was quite small, so the thought of her getting lost in the wilderness had her family biting their nails. After a few sightings of her and help from the community, she was found and reunited with her family. A day after Bella’s disappearance her parents headed back to the trail to put up posters, but sadly a week passed with no responses. Guilt began to consume the retired couple, so much so that they assumed Bella was attacked by a coyote.

Their hopes were renewed on the tenth day when a hiker spotted a dog that matched Bellas description; sadly, the dog fled before anyone could try rescuing them. With a renewed hope the couple went all out in their efforts to bring their Bella home safely. Calls were made to an animal shelter, a self-proclaimed dog psychic, and a radio to spread the word.

A month filled with poster hanging and trekking through trails came to a head when a worker named Ochoa from a ranch nearby spotted Bella and got close enough to her to read her tags. After identifying her he left Betsy the voicemail she had been longing for; she would then make an hour-long journey to have Bella in her arms again.

Betsy recalled that Bella had lost half her body weight which made her envision her pup making a daily effort to survive in Colorado’s wilderness. Did she drink water from the creeks? Did she hunt down vermin to soothe her hunger, and how did she protect herself from the mountain lions, coyotes, and bears? These questions wouldn’t be answered, but the community and her parents were glad to have her back.

Image Credit: Aspen Times