Homeward Bound for one tiny Chihuahua—just not the right home

This amazing story started in June, 2009. Tony Fricano, a resident of Oakdale, California had been doing business in Stockton when he stopped to do some grocery shopping.

He left his 9-year-old Chihuahua, Odie, in the car, but while he loaded the groceries he let the obedient dog out to roam in a safe place as he always did.

When he went to retrieve her she was gone, along with some teens who had been loitering in front of the store. One had said something about stealing her, but he hadn’t taken it seriously.

He searched the neighborhood and over the next months returned to the area to put up reward posters, but came up empty.

Six months later in late December of 2009 he got a call from the police department in Ripon, a town 25 miles from Stockton, about his dog Odie.

As it turned out Fricano and Odie had lived in Ripon for six years before moving to Oakdale. Odie had found her way back to the old Ripon residence and was captured and turned in by their past neighbors. Fortunately, when they relocated to Oakdale, Fricano had put in a microchip with the new location.

Somehow the 10-pound Chihuahua had gotten away from her captors and made the 25 mile trek to Ripon, arriving in the dead of winter.

Odie was malnourished and had severe hair loss. “I nursed her back to health,” Fricano said of Odie. “Now look at her, she’s healthy and feisty as ever.”

Being without Odie for six months prompted him to get another deer faced Chihuahua whom he also named Odie.

“Now I have Odie 1 and 2,” he said. “And when I take them for a walk they are never far. When I go in a business I lock their two leashes. So they can’t be taken from the pole.

“They’re just amazing animals,” he said of his love for his Odies.

More from the Oakdale Leader

Comments

[Rhea]

Absolutely amazing! I love these stories. Makes me think my pup needs a microchip, too.

[cube]

Good for Odie. I'm not too happy with her owner for leaving her outside the store in the first place. And don't get me started on those vile punks for stealing her.

[Khyra]

I hope he realises what he did was wrong and that the dogs were smiling on him THIS time.

[jackie]

i think i might get a chip in dexter since he keeps trying to escape..

[Lynne]

Dogs can be miraculous!

[Denny]

That’s a nice heart warming story. I have a friend who takes his little dog everywhere he goes. They are inseparable. Every day he takes it to the restaurant and leaves it in his late model pickup while he eats. He even leaves it in his pickup while attending church. BUT…he has a nice small doghouse inside his pickup, checks on it frequently, and most importantly he keeps the engine running and air conditioner/heater on THE WHOLE TIME.

[Lindsay]

A good reminder to all of us to pay attention to our dogs, even obedient ones.

[jimmy]

I love this blog!

[Dennis the Vizsla]

Glad he got Odie I back, but we would never, ever, leave our dogs unattended like that -- especially if someone had "joked" about stealing one of them. My wife would probably shiv anyone who said that to her.

[george gomez]

I amazed this person did not learn enough the first time losing his dog for months. He later stated: When I go in a business I lock their two leashes. So they can’t be taken from the pole. I don't feel sorry for him AT ALL.