Sask. couple seeks help finding dog scared away by fireworks on Canada Day weekend

Darla Ponace · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 08, 2025 2:43 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

A mates from Tisdale, Sask., are asking for the public's assistance uncovering their missing aureate doodle.

Payton Gessner, and her spouse Tsar Hester went to Fishing Lake, astir 170 kilometres northeast of Regina, with their five-year-old canine Merv to get distant implicit Canada time weekend. They accidental they've done it galore times before, but this clip it was different.

Gessner, Hester and Merv were sitting connected the deck enjoying the evening earlier the scheduled fireworks connected Saturday, June 28. Disaster struck astir 10:30 p.m.

"We're conscionable putting [Merv] wrong due to the fact that helium does get a small timid and frightened with the fireworks," Gessner said.

"He got truly worked up erstwhile they archetypal started. They were beauteous large and abrupt for the archetypal going, and truthful helium benignant of darted backmost and distant connected our platform and past jumped close disconnected the back."

As soon arsenic Merv jumped, they couldn't spot him anymore.

"We instantly started looking around, and calling him. But the fireworks spooked him truthful overmuch that I don't deliberation immoderate calling would person brought him back," she said.

Hester said the mates started searching astir a nearby row of lakefront cabins and trailers.

"We were looking nether trailers and worldly to commencement with, and past riding successful the truck, and we drove down 310 southbound and looked and called him until it was late," helium said.

The mates looked for arsenic agelong arsenic they could successful the dark, but decided to telephone it a nighttime to slumber for a mates of hours.

"We went retired the adjacent greeting and started talking to people," Hester said. "We talked to 1 antheral really astatine the Foam Lake Golf Course and helium said he's seen our canine moving southbound connected 310 astatine similar 1045-11."

Gessner said they went doorway to doorway and talked to people, and past printed posters and posted them connected bulletin boards wrong a 60 kilometre radius.

"We got a batch of enactment online, a batch of radical checking in," she said. "We've conscionable benignant of been hoping that connection of rima keeps traveling and that helium comes retired of the bush soon if that's wherever helium is."

They said Merv is simply a larger dog, with a affable demeanour.

"Biggest radical canine you astir apt volition ever meet. He's truthful friendly," Gessner said. " He'll travel you everywhere. He's similar your shadow. If you're going successful the car, helium wants to beryllium successful the car."

Now backmost successful Tisdale, Gessner is hopeful that idiosyncratic tin spot Merv and assistance him find his mode home.

She said they expected him to tally to radical due to the fact that that's his comfortableness zone, but the fireworks frightened him badly. She said helium is simply a big, affable teddy bear.

"We're disquieted astir him, and we privation him to travel home," Gessner said.

"We convey everyone for each of the enactment and continued assistance successful looking for him. We truly bash judge he's successful the bush, hunkering down until helium gets bare enough. We're not giving up connected him, and he's astir apt not giving up connected us."