Gay Scanlon's husband was shoveling the driveway Wednesday afternoon when he noticed one of his dogs, Willow, up at the end of the driveway, dancing and just about doing flips.
Willow was the first to realize that Iris, the red Golden Retriever who went missing Monday, was making her way home.
Gay Scanlon--who put out a plea for help on Facebook, in local Patch sites, and with more than 100 flyers all over her hometown of Killingworth and nearby Madison--was absolutely thrilled.
"Oh my God!!!!!!!! Iris is home!!!! iris is home!!!! iris is home!!!!! she just showed up in the driveway!!!!!!!!!!!" she immediately posted on Facebook from her cell phone.
"She just came in about a half hour ago," said an elated Gay Wednesday afternoon. "My husband was down shoveling snow. And he noticed our other dog was dancing at the end of the driveway. Willow was doing flips."
Gay said she is so very happy to have both of her dogs home safe and sound. And she said the response of people helping to look for Iris was absolutely unbelievable and totally heart warming.
"Thousands of people have been looking for this dog," she said. "People locally have been driving around with their kids in the car, just driving around for two days. There were people from Milford, and Orange. And Stony Creek. People were contacting me from Florida and Scotland."
The woman from Scotland just called to say how happy she was that Iris had been found. "She said we'll both have our goldens to cuddle with tonight," Gay said. "It's been unbelievable. Unbelievable."
Gay said Iris looks like she'll be fine, but that it was a tough two days.
"I said to one of my friends, it looks like Iris has aged. My friend said I look like I had aged," Gay said.
Gay said Iris is eight years old and generally stays pretty close to home, but that on Tuesday, both dogs were gone for about two hours.
"And only one came back. Iris must have gotten lost. I thought somebody took her," she said.
Iris went missing near Paper Mill Road in Killingworth. Wednesday she was sighted in Madison on Route 79 and other locations in town, according to Madison Patch readers.
Gay wanted to thank everyone who helped.
"We put out about 100 flyers, all over town, all over Madison. And now we'll have to go take them down. And we're happy to do it," she said.
She said if they miss any, and if anyone sees any, to take it down and stuff 'em in the trash.
