The hunt for Hoedies’ Sugar
Soon a horde of students from the school joined in the search. The large throng of chasers caught glimpses of Sugar, but she remained beyond reach as she continued to run westwards.
Nicola Leitch of Hoedspruit Wildlife Estate was so excited she could hardly stop talking long enough to take a breath. She was getting a lovely pedigreed long-haired dachshund puppy, called Sugar.
Sugar was being sent on the Airlink flight by her breeder in Johannesburg. Nicola collected her from Eastgate Airport and took her straight to ProVet for a check-up, her inoculations and the best puppy food.
And then tragedy struck. As Nicola opened the car door to pick Sugar up, she slipped past Nicola’s hands and started running. Nicola watched despairingly as her brand-new beautiful puppy headed west, scampering easily under the fences.
Hearing her cries, the folks at Provet, being Dr Debbie English, Chloe Caister and a security guard joined the chase, which led them to the fence of the Hoedspruit Christian School. But Sugar had already got under the fence and disappeared.
Soon a horde of students from the school joined in the search. The large throng of chasers caught glimpses of Sugar, but she remained beyond reach as she continued to run westwards.
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The chase was hopeless and was called off. Nicola was distraught. Having been persuaded by Dr Debbie English that there was nothing more she could do – she went home for a fortifying cup of tea – without Sugar.
However, Chloe Caister loves dachshunds and could not let Sugar go, so she swung into action. Knowing that the little dog would probably not survive the night on her own among the hyenas and leopards, she started phoning the working dog units in the area.
The Van Wyks in Kampersrus immediately understood the problem and offered to bring Bella, their bloodhound, to track down Sugar. Nicola brought the blanket Sugar had used on the flight down for Bella to get the scent.
They started the search using Bella on the school grounds, but the old bloodhound could not find her, so they moved through onto Zandspruit, where Bella picked up Sugar’s scent at a small gap beneath the fence.
With the chasing posse thinned down to just Chloe, Ilana Van Wyk and her husband, JP, Bella had no problem tracking down Sugar. She was discovered hiding under a bush at the base of a large tree.
She made one last desperate dash up a road but Chloe was able to cut her off – and with the agility of Chester Kolbe, she dive-tackled Sugar – who had been slowed by long grass.
This time Sugar did not get away and she was reunited with an ecstatic Nicola. Sugar is a timid pup, possibly still a little traumatised by her big escapade through the South African bushveld, but she is being spoiled and pampered by Nicola, who is immensely grateful for all the help that was so willingly and freely given to recover a terrified little dog.
