Goessel dog makes 20-mile trek home

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
When it comes to a courageous canine having a heart for home, Lassie of Hollywood has nothing on Sasha of Goessel.

Denise and Kevin Goertzen and their two children, Jessica, 10, and Stephan, 8, could write their own happy ending to a heart-wrenching saga when they were reunited Friday with Sasha, their 14-year-old purebred Siberian husky, who endured a 20-mile, week-long odyssey to be with them again.

The story began when the Goertzens decided Sasha would be better off living with Denise’s parents, Ted and Marlys Berendt, who farm two miles east of McPherson along U.S Highway 56.

“We took her to my mom and dad’s place because when we live in town here in Goessel, we have to have Sasha tied up all the time,” Denise said. “She could run on the farm, so we took her out there.”

The Berendt farm was no strange place for Sasha, who had lived there for several years while Denise was away at college. In recent years, Sasha had been bordered there for a few days at a time while the Goertzen family was away on vacation.

All went well for a week. Then, on Friday, Sept. 13, Denise’s father noticed Sasha was gone.

“They let us know right away on Saturday and kept on looking through the weekend, but couldn’t find her,” Denise said.

The news was devastating, especially for Denise, who had grown up with the dog since it was a pup.

“I had her longer than I had my husband,” she said.

Denise said she wasn’t ready to give up on Sasha right away. But as time passed with no sign of the dog, she suspected the worst. After all, her parents lived along a busy highway, and Sasha, at 14, was a senior citizen in dog years.

“I waited probably four days to tell the kids,” Denise said. “I told them she was probably dead.

“They were very sad, especially Stephan, our son,” she added. “He had become really attached to Sasha in the last year. It was really hard. I think I actually cried more than they did.”

This past Friday, the phone rang at the Goertzen home.

“We got a call about 11 a.m. from Perry Klassen, who lives three (miles) west and one south of Goessel,” Denise said. “He said, ‘I have a dog here with the tag number (that matched Sasha’s).”

Denise immediately went out to pick up the dog, but by the time she arrived at the Klassen farm, Sasha had taken off again.

A few hours later, Denise and Kevin decided to conduct their own search.

“We probably drove 10 miles, driving around in circles around the sections,” Denise said.

The couple were heading back home when, two miles south of Goessel on State Street, they rounded the corner and saw a familiar sight.

“There she was, headed north- which would have brought her right back to home,” Denise said. “So we picked her up and brought her home.”

When the two Goertzen children came walking home from school later that afternoon, they had a surprise waiting for them.

“Stephan was walking ahead of me, and he yelled to me, ‘Jess, Jess, Sash is home!'” Jessica said. “So I ran down there and looked, and there she was.”

“Jessica got a blanket out and laid down under the tree, right next to Sasha,” Kevin said. “She laid there all afternoon and read.”

“I liked it that she was home,” added Stephan, who was finding it impossible to repress a huge grin even two days later.

Denise said she marvels at the determination of her long-time canine companion. Several years earlier, Sasha had almost died of heart worms.

“We had her in the hospital for three days, and we thought we were going to lose her then,” she said. “And then to think that she’s been on the road for a whole week says a lot about her character. Dogs can have character.”

Sasha has been a pampered pup since her return, including spending some rare moments inside the house with the rest of the family.

“Like Kevin said, she’s probably thinking she should have run off a long time ago,” Denise said with a chuckle.

The Goertzens said Sasha is home for good.

“She’s going to stay here,” Denise said. “I don’t think I should try to take her anywhere else. We’ll keep her here. She has to be on the leash, but she seems accustomed to that.”

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