In the search for their English Labrador Retriever, Mark and Jeanie Fahey have put flyers all over Teller County, in gas stations and businesses.  The dog, Ealr, disappeared Jan. 8 from a training facility where the owner said a child had inadvertently opened a gate.

Along with the flyers, the Faheys are offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to safe rescue of Ealr. The five-year old Lab, who is chipped, was wearing a thin red collar.

Alerted by the trainer upon discovery of the dog’s disappearance that morning, the Faheys raced to begin the search before snow started falling that evening.

“We were out most of the night, looking, calling,” Mark said. “Then the storm hit. And even then, we went out. It was just miserable.”

Despite the snow, the couple continues to search the area around Divide with the help of dozens of volunteers, including one with a trained search-and-rescue German Shepherd. Two residents employed drones to widen the scope.

Mark has drawn a map of the area, with a line showing how the dog could perhaps find home on a straight path through the woods.

“We have volunteers keeping up on social media, because we don’t do Facebook or any of that,” Mark said.

The dog has been with the Faheys since she was six weeks old when they brought her home from a kennel in Kansas. Last year, Jeanie was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and found comfort and a measure of solace in the dog’s companionship. The trainer intended to include training Ealr as a service dog for Jeanie.

For the Faheys, who have been married 47 years, the dog helped ease the pain of adapting to the change in their lives.

But Mark still wanted a second opinion and was able to secure an appointment at Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora in July.

“We started packing to get ready to move closer to the hospital and maybe get treatment and be closer to our two-year-old granddaughter,” Mark said, adding that the little girl and her family live in Cherry Creek in Denver.

Because Ealr had been in the rural environment all her life, the Faheys thought the dog would benefit from training on how to adapt to life in the city.

“We wanted her to be used to crowds,” he said. “After long conversations with the trainer, we thought it would be a good fit, so we let the trainer take the dog to her facility.”

In the meantime, the Faheys had listed and sold their home to people who live in the neighborhood.  

“Now we have to rent our home – the neighbors said we could stay there as long as we need to,” Mark said. “With the $2,000 reward we wanted something that would catch people’s attention. We can’t go anywhere until we know something.”

While grieving the loss of Ealr, Jeanie talks of being comforted by the community support and empathy. By now their story is well-known and has reached Trixie Hudspeth, the county’s animal control officer, as well as the staff at Teller County Regional Animal Shelter in Divide.

“It’s been devastating and heartbreaking on so many levels,” Mark said.

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To report any news of possible sitings of Ealr, call the Faheys at 805-856-8458, or animal control at (719) 687-9652.