It’s National Dog Day, and the perfect day to tell the story of a dog who once walked home more than 2,500 miles.
Bobbie was a collie who lived with Frank and Elizabeth Brazier of Silverton, Oregon, which is east of Salem and about an hour south of Portland.
The Braziers were headed east to visit some relatives, so they got in the car to Wolcott, Indiana, almost halfway between Chicago and Indianapolis.
The dog usually rode on top of the luggage.
But one day Frank was filling up the car’s gas tank in Wolcott, and three local dogs started chasing Bobbie away from the service station.
He figured after a while Bobbie would either come back to the station or back to the house where they were staying.
But he didn’t.
The dog just disappeared.
The Braziers looked all over town, put ads in the newspaper, but nobody reported anything.
So the couple sadly continued their road trip and eventually drove back home to Oregon.
This was in the summer of 1923.
The following February, a relative was walking through Silverton and saw a ragged-looking dog headed through town.
It was Bobbie, who had somehow walked 2,500 miles over half a year, including winter, to get back to his hometown.
The story made national news; there were even investigations to confirm that the dog had actually walked all that way.
But of course they made the most hay of the story in Silverton, where Bobbie was dubbed Bobbie the Wonder Dog.
He got a fancy new dog house, special medals and a key to the city.
And he had express permission to walk anywhere he wanted in town without having to worry about the dog catcher.
Bobbie only lived a few more years, but he was so famous that Hollywood dog Rin Tin Tin laid a wreath at his funeral.
And today in Silverton there’s a 70 foot long mural telling the whole story of a very, very good dog.
Mackinac Island, Michigan is celebrating its signature food today.
It’s day one of the three-day Mackinac Island Fudge Festival.
Today you can learn the ins and outs of fudge making.
Tomorrow night you can watch a special outdoor screening of – what else – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Bobbie, The Wonder Dog Who Walked 2,500 Miles to Home (Amusing Planet)
Mackinac Island Fudge Festival
We would walk 500 miles for our Patreon backers, and we would walk 500 more
