A four-and-a-half year old Maremma sheepdog has captured the attention of hundreds of people in WA's South West region after going missing for two weeks.
Apollo is believed to have become spooked while spending his first night in his new home at Treeton.
He ended up journeying about 150 kilometres alone, with a social media campaign filled with community sightings helping his desperate owner follow his trail.
Apollo's tree change ends in escape
Cathy Hill had made the heartbreaking decision to rehome Apollo during April after becoming concerned about his behaviour around her young granddaughter, and sent him to live with Evelyn McLeod on her free-range egg farm near Margaret River.
"Rehoming him was very distressing for all of us but I found a beautiful place with Evelyn and Apollo fell in love with her straightaway," she said.
After spending one night with Mrs McLeod in Perth, Apollo travelled south to his new home in Treeton.
There were reports of a gunshot being heard during the first night at his new home and, despite being in a gated and secure area, Apollo was nowhere to be found the next morning.
Neighbours were enlisted to help with a search and Ms Hill rushed from Perth as soon as she could.
A 'silly' suggestion proves vital
Friend and neighbour Vicky Lucas answered Mrs McLeod's call for help and joined the search party, camping out together in farming paddocks.
"Vicky said we should Google, 'How to catch a Maremma', and I said, 'That's the silliest thing I've ever heard'," Ms Hill said.
But a quick internet search suggested catching a lost Maremma would not be straightforward.
"These guys don't come to people because they're essentially bred to live on their own and they don't rely on humans," Ms Hill said.
"You have to bribe them to bring them in."
Apollo takes flight
Apollo had been sighted repeatedly at a farm so food traps were laid, but after a handful of days it appeared the dog had moved on.
"We'd be camping, set up the food traps and then he would move again and would be sighted 10-20 kilometres somewhere else," Ms Hill said.
"It's like we were always one step behind him."
People started sending detailed maps and photos online with arrows showing the direction they had seen Apollo travelling — community support Ms Hill said blew her away.
Busselton local Joanne Abbott heard about the search and became the unofficial coordinator of the online activity.
She posted to individual community pages as Apollo continued heading north, driving around in her car to look for him despite never having met the dog or his owner.
Concerns for Apollo's health and safety peaked when he ventured near Bussell Highway.
The main link between Perth and Margaret River was busier than usual due to school holidays.
The dog was spotted on different sides of the dual carriageway during his adventure, and he wandered into the Ludlow Tuart Forrest, which had been baited with 1080 poison in the past.
Hit by a car travelling 110kph
Apollo's luck ran out once he reached the next town of Boyanup.
A number of people contacted Ms Hill after they saw Apollo hit by a car on a 110 kilometre per hour section of highway, describing him as being flung into the air.
Ms Hill and Ms Lucas began camping on a nearby farming property after the accident, and days went by with no further sightings.
Exactly two weeks after Apollo ran away, the pair were about to give up when Ms Lucas spotted some hair caught in barbed wire, and footprints.
"A trick to trying to find them is you cook up as much food as you can," Ms Hill said.
"So we got up in the morning and I'm cooking up bacon and eggs and thinking, 'He hasn't come now, he's not here, he's probably dead'.
"And Vicky has remained optimistic, saying 'I know, he's alive'."
'I don't understand what I'm looking at'
Ms Lucas wandered off to check on some footprints and suddenly her screams filled the air.
"He was right there so I dropped to the ground and grabbed onto my [own] dog," she said.
"I was on the floor trying to get the phone out of my pocket and in the end I just yelled."
Ms Hill could not help but break down in tears, feeling in complete shock.
"I looked at him and I thought, 'I don't understand what I'm looking at. How he can be standing?"
Unfortunately, Apollo was also feeling shocked and ran away a few paces before Ms Hill calmed and began quietly whistling to the dog.
He slowly returned, eventually realising who was calling for him.
A miraculously healthy dog
After running at full speed into Ms Hill's arms, the joyful group made their way to the vet for a check-up.
"We thought there would be internal injuries or one possible fracture in his leg," Ms Hill said.
"But he was surprisingly well, a bit sore and stiff and he lost about six kilograms but he remained well hydrated."
For a while during his journey, Apollo's movements had seemed random, but when it became clear the dog was persistently travelling north towards his original home, Ms Hill decided there was no other place he should be.
He is consequently back at home in Perth with Ms Hill, with precautions in place to keep him at a safe distance from her granddaughter.
"Without the support from all the communities and Facebook groups, he would not have been found," she said.
"Whether it be people that sighted him or physically helped, and even the people that followed the whole thing and sent love and hope.
"It just touched so many people and we were right behind him so many times."
