Dog Missing After Car Crash Found Herding Sheep At Nearby Farm

A two-year-old dog who had gone missing after a car accident in the US state of Idaho has returned home after an eventful 48 hours. Linda Oswald's family and the border collie were traveling in a car on a highway when the vehicle collided with another on Sunday. The crash shattered the car's rear window and the dog, named Tilly, jumped out of it unharmed. Stunned, it immediately ran across the highway and was then lost. Ms Oswald then put out a message on social media that the family has decided to reward whoever found or informed them about Tilly.

Thanks to the locally viral post on Facebook, Tilly returned to the Oswald family by Tuesday morning and spent most of the day curled up and asleep on his favourite couch. It transpired that the border collie had found its way to a nearby farm and had been herding sheep after the accident, reports USA Today.

In her Facebook post, Ms. Oswald described the dog as a shy reddish-brown male with back markings on his face. Tilly also has a medium-long fur and bobtail. She also posted a photograph of Tilly with the post. The family had also offered “a reward”.

The post went viral and was shared over 3,300 times, and had over 150 comments, that ranged from users expressing a sense of relief to those finding an element of humour.

One user, Susan Burdett, was happy that the family got their dog back “unharmed”, and added, “Glad Tilly had fun herding sheep”.

Sandy Deanne Jones, another user, liked this “amazing story” and went on to add that “dogs are so resilient and smart”.

A third user, Sarah Wadkins, found the situation very “scary”, but was “glad to hear” that Tilly was back safely.

Dennis Tipler felt the whole incident had a huge life lesson. “Most people could learn a lesson from the dog — when you get knocked down, brush yourself off and get back to work,” he wrote.

There were also those who thanked the “community”. Karen Gallion was thrilled that the post got over 3,000 shares, and added that she was glad it's such a “caring community”.

The hunt for Tilly had begun after the highway accident on Sunday. Several strangers, who stopped their vehicles after the crash, also helped the Oswald family look for Tilly. They scoured the area near the crash site.

Later a family found Tilly at their farm, about 2.5 km from the crash site. Since they had seen the Facebook post, they knew about the dog. They handed it over to the local authorities who returned Tilly safely to the Oswald family.

"I think that dog was trying to herd," Travis Potter, one of the men who found the dog, told the Spokesman-Review. 

Once Tilly reached home, he ran and drank out of the toilet, “which he's never done,” Ms. Oswald was quoted as saying by Spokesman-Review, a local media outlet.

“He was so thirsty.” Then he just slept like a dog, quietly.