Owners of lost dog thank community with barbecue

When Candy the Shetland sheepdog went missing five nights ago, the Karratha community rallied around her owner in an effort to find the wandering pooch.

Now the owners of the dog are offering up a community barbecue on Saturday as a thankyou.

Owner Stacey Jones said 1 ½ year old Candy had managed to crawl and dig her way out of her home's boundaries.

"We tried looking but couldn't find her," she said.

Ms Jones said she was overwhelmed with responses from people who responded to a post about the missing dog on social media.

"We had loads of people respond and everyone was looking out for," she said. "We put lots of flyers out and lots of shops were willing to take the flyers, which was very kind of them."

Although there were numerous sightings of Candy, no one seemed to be able to catch the mini escape artist.

Ms Jones said the Sheltie had been on a bit of a mission with her being spotted from Peg's Creek to Bulgarra and back to Peg's again.

Eventually after four nights on the lamb, Candy was seen again in Bulgarra yesterday night.

Ms Jones said heaps of people went out to go get her and managed to corner her into someone's yard.

Recognising the voice of Ms Jones' partner Carl Schoettner, Candy ran up to him and the dog-hunt was officially over.

Ms Jones said she was amazed at how the community had worked together and, as a local primary school teacher, was proud of how her students had also helped out by spreading the word and leaving out water and food in case Candy got hungry and thirsty on her travels.

Ms Jones and Mr Schoettner will be holding a barbecue this Saturday at Cattrall Park in Peg's Creek from 10am as a thankyou to the community for their efforts.