Homesick sheepdog finds his way back to old owner...240 miles away
WHEN Welsh farmer Alan James sent one of his 16 sheepdogs off to a new home 240 miles away, he did not expect to see him again.
But just a month after arriving in Cumbria, four-year- old Pero ran off while out herding – and days later baffled his old owner by turning up on his doorstep.
Father- of-five Mr James, 54, said it was a ‘mystery’ how the dog had managed to make the arduous journey in just 12 days.
But he added that Pero has been welcomed back on to the farm in Penrhyncoch near Aberystwyth. Suggesting the dog must have a ‘satnav in his brain’, he added: ‘A sheepdog can go all day and cover a lot of ground.
‘But it is a mystery how he found his way here. We don’t know how he was fed or if he hitched a lift. But it was incredible when he turned up.’
Pero’s adventure began in March when he was given to a farmer in Cockermouth. It was thought he would take well to being the centre of attention, rather than one of 16. However, he went missing and was presumed lost on April 8. His new owner put food out each night for him, but Pero was already heading south to rejoin the Jameses.
He would have had to average about 20 miles a day to make the journey. His route is likely to have taken him through the Lake District, the moorland of the Forest of Bowland and the old industrial towns of Lancashire, before passing Merseyside, Chester and the mountains of Snowdonia.
Finally, last Wednesday, Pero greeted Mr James as he went to feed the other dogs. The farmer’s wife Shan, 47, said: ‘He wasn’t hungry or weak, so he must have managed to find food … he was going crazy after seeing Alan.
‘ My daughter is absolutely delighted, but the boys are flabbergasted. They’re waiting for someone to pop round the corner and say they dropped him off.’