Adopted Dog Takes Long Road Home

When a five-year-old yellow Labrador named Nora walked up the steps of her home on Marion Ave., her owner Max Pollack’s utter joy was matched only by the exhausted relief of Larkspur dog walker Brian Bullard.

Nora had been missing for four days, a span that had Pollack’s friends, Bullard’s clients and fellow dog walkers and a host of Tam Valley residents scouring the area surrounding Heavenly Way, from where Nora bolted from Bullard on Aug. 10.

Making Nora’s miles-long journey across town even more amazing was that she couldn’t have known the area as well as her fellow Mill Valley canines – Pollack adopted her just three weeks earlier.

“I’m probably the happiest man in the world that she came back to me,” Pollack said. “I can’t believe she came back.”

“I just started crying,” Bullard said of hearing the news from Pollack Saturday morning. “It’s absolutely amazing she made her way home. That was the worst week I could imagine - scary and frightful. I was ready to give up the business.”

From the moment Bullard lost Nora as he was loading her and a number of dogs into his car, he posted flyers all over town. Pollack’s cell phone started ringing off the hook with Nora sightings around Tam Valley, as well as loads of calls of concern. On two occasions, construction workers in the area detained her briefly.

Given the topography and the lack of a grid between Heavenly Way and Marion Ave., it’s hard to estimate the distance Nora traveled – anywhere from four to nine miles, Bullard estimated.

According to Trish King, director of behavior and training at the Marin Humane Society, many dogs have the sensory ability to find their way to a particular place.

“But (Nora’s) behavior would indicate that the dog bonded very quickly with her new guardians and felt compelled to find them,” she said. “Very rare and very wonderful.”

Upon her return, Nora received a clean bill of health from Mill Valley veterinarian Cynthia Steele.

“It’s incredible,” Bullard said.