Freestate Pet Tracking

04/03/2025

We didn’t expect to be sharing this kind of news today, but life never moves along as we think it will and today is no exception. Sadly, Freestate Tracking’s first tracking K9, Duck passed away suddenly this morning after a brief illness.��

Duck came to us on February 3, 2020, just before the start of COVID by way of our dear friend, Leah Biddinger of Bring Em Home Animal Rescue & Trapping Inc. Duck had been a stray, running for at least several weeks in the eastern part of Baltimore County, evading capture until Leah became involved. He was ultimately secured on January 28th 2020 when he entered a yard to play with another dog. After clearing his stray hold at Baltimore County Animal Services, he came to our family as a temporary foster but quickly became an integral part of our family, instantly bonding with our daughter Eve (7 years old at the time) and becoming a permanent member of our family on March 7, 2020.

As COVID ramped up, we became more involved with missing pet recovery, developing a strong working relationship with Carmen Brothers of Professional Pet Trackers who encouraged us to follow our longstanding dream of training a tracking dog by training Duck for this work. This pursuit was an amazing project for all of us. Friends and family all helped us along the path, training Duck to achieve things that he would never otherwise have had the chance to do. As a stray who had been abandoned by his previous owners in the dead of winter, Duck’s story was inspirational as he worked to reunite families, having successfully located a cat during his very first track in January 2021, less than a year after being brought in as a stray.��

Duck’s career was a bit short lived though as it was clear he coveted retirement. He did great work, but his body language always indicated that he was only working because I was asking him to and he was always prepared to call it a day! His nose was precise and his talent undeniable, but he just wasn’t into the whole working thing. In that sense, he is everyone’s spirit animal!��

In his retirement, he enjoyed undying love and devotion from all of us, but particularly from our daughter Eve. We used to tease her that she ruined a perfectly good tracking dog by constantly kissing his butt, but he certainly ate up the luxury and paid back her generosity with incredible friendship. Every time we’d buy Eve a new blanket for her bed, within a week or two it was added to Duck’s dog bed. He sleeps on a pile of no less than 15 blankets every night. For years he has followed her everywhere, sleeping in her room and watching over her around the clock. Their bond superseded the bond I had with him as my working dog and as devastated as we all are by this loss, its Eve who has clearly lost her best friend.��

Thank you Duck. Thank you for teaching all of us. Thank you for working with me. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for taking me places I would have otherwise never seen. Thank you for trusting me when I took you places you probably didn’t want to go. Thank you for always doing your very best no matter the circumstances. Thank you for being my best friend. Thank you for being a friend to all of us. Thank you for the memories, being a hero and for proving beyond a doubt that no matter their origin, all strays have the potential to become something larger than themselves. We will always miss you and will always love you, friend.

03/31/2025

😂

08/15/2024

GLEN ARM, MD – Freestate Tracking is thrilled to share that lost dog Ron is home safely after a 11 day adventure!

Ron went missing the night of August 3rd when he was frightened by a noise near his home and after a short pursuit on foot, he vanished out of sight. Ron’s family contacted Freestate Tracking right away to talk through the situation and receive advice on the best ways to proceed. Tracking was scheduled for day two and it was apparent that while Ron had roamed quite a bit, he was sticking fairly close to home with his scent path winding through his neighborhood and ending up at a spot along a nice clean stream on a farm a little over a half mile away. Over the next day, an abundance of physical evidence of Ron’s presence was found in the area K9 Goose identified but sadly, Ron wasn’t initially responsive to the feeding station in the field. After a few days without any sightings, the flyers Ron’s family had posted throughout the area began to generate sightings showing that he was moving back in the general direction of the feeding station being maintained at home and that he had returned to an area where tracking showed he had previously visited.

Fast forwarding to day 9, after staying in constant contact with us throughout, the floodgates of information began to open up with not only multiple sightings along an area Ron was known to have traveled previously, but with Ron remaining in this space while his owner practiced information shared about the use of calming signals to lure a missing dog to its owner. Unfortunately, in the end the calming signal recovery routine was interrupted when a neighbor’s dogs, unleashed, rushed the area for a visit and once again, Ron vanished, not showing himself again for another worrisome 24 hours.

Finally, on the night of August 14th, all of the family’s hard work paid off. Acting on a sighting about ¼ mile up the same road where Goose documented his early travels and where his owner had interacted with him a day and a half before, a trap was set and thankfully, Ron entered the trap in search of food and was successfully captured!

We’d like to offer our sincere congratulations to Ron’s owner on successfully bringing him home! After following our advice on the use of feeding stations, application of flyers, how to vet sightings as well as trapping techniques, they received the payoff they worked so hard to achieve. Ron is resting at home, safe and sound this morning because of their persistence and adherence to proven techniques. CONGRATULATIONS on a job well done!

07/19/2024

HANOVER, MD - Freestate Pet Tracking and Professional Pet Trackers are happy to share that missing cat Donnie is back home safe and sound!

Indoor-only cat Donnie has been sunning himself without issue on his family’s back deck for years, but on the morning of July 10th, he became frightened by tree removal activity happening at a neighbor’s house, leaping off of an approximately 10 foot high deck and bolting from the area without a trace.

After speaking with Donnie’s family the day after his disappearance, we were able to share some advice in hopes of coaxing him into a trap or convincing him to turn around and come home while scheduling a track for day four.

Once we were on site, K9 Goose took scent from some of Donie’s belongings and in spite of the oppressive heat, took off at full speed on Donnie’s trail. Goose quickly identified that the pet he was seeking had chosen a tight space underneath a neighbor’s deck to camp out.

For the next three days, Donnie made no appearances at the feeding and trapping stations which had been set up. Given the heatwave that was suffocating the Baltimore region at the time, this was of even deeper concern than normal.

On the afternoon of the 7th day, Donnie’s family approached the space Goose had identified and found him packed tightly into a tiny spot underneath a ramp leading up to the neighbor’s deck - exactly where Goose said he would be found. He had just stuffed himself in so tightly that on previous checks he couldn’t be detected. Donnie quickly engaged with his family and was able to be picked up and brought home where he received fluids, food and a chance to rest up and recuperate from his unplanned adventure.

We want to offer our sincere congratulations to Donnie’s family as we know firsthand how hard this experience is on everybody involved. They followed literally every suggestion with enthusiasm, from setting up traps, placing a camera, posting flyers, running chum trails and everything else and absolutely gave it 100% effort. Goose and I can’t thank them enough for doing everything they did as it all led to their beloved family member returning home safely!

One point we’d like to make - there has recently been a persistent and ill-informed effort to promote the use of drones over the use of well-trained scent specific tracking dogs in the recovery of missing pets. This is just one of a multitude of examples where a drone would have been absolutely useless. Holed up under 2-by decking, there isn’t a consumer-grade drone in the world that would have picked him up given the ambient conditions. To be clear, we’re certainly not implying that drones have no place in rescue. Clearly they do as there have been successes and in the right situation, they can be a fantastic tool but if a drone had been used to search for Donnie, the “pilot” would have generated absolutely no actionable information for the family. No sighting, no direction of travel…absolutely nothing. If a missing pet is out in the open or at least in minimal cover, there’s a chance the pet could be identified but that’s more of a function of luck than anything, especially this time of year. The bottom line is that when it really counts and the situation is critical, bringing in a skilled tracking dog is the only way to go! Paws on the ground beat eyes in the sky almost every time!

07/06/2024

Professional Pet Trackers & Freestate Pet Tracking are pleased to announce that Buttons is home safely after five days in 𝗔𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗘, 𝗩𝗔‼️

Buttons, a 𝟭𝟳 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗢𝗥 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 cat with no previous experience being outdoors initiated her escape through a door which had been left ajar and exhibiting very typical behavior, secured a great hiding spot and vanished from sight.

On 𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝟯, John and K9 Goose were brought out to the area to help sort out where Buttons had gone and to develop a plan to secure her - ideally before the 4th of July festivities began in her neighborhood.

Goose quickly picked up Buttons’ scent and it was clear that she had not ventured far from home but rather to the rear of the home across the street I a densely wooded space. Once the work was wrapped up, we advised her owners on placement of traps and scent materials with the goal of securing her as quickly as possible given the commotion which was likely to occur in the coming days with the holiday approaching. A trap was placed at home as well as one in the space Goose had identified during the track, connecting the two spaces with a liberal application of chum.

Waiting patiently for several hours, Buttons’ owner spotted her moving late at night along the chum trail where she disappeared into a small hole by the foundation of the next door neighbors’ house. A trap was relocated to this point and after several hours, Buttons entered the trap, ultimately retiring home no worse for the wear!

05/15/2024

After 𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗩𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦 of missing in action, Professional Pet Trackers & Freestate Pet Tracking are happy to announce that Matilda is home once again‼️

Matilda, an 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗢𝗥 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 cat since moving to the area took the opportunity to head out back on May 2nd, quickly running past her owner as the trash was being taken out.

After a sighting on the opening days and with a cat that would not respond to feeding stations at first, Matilda’s mom reached out for advice on how to proceed.

John & 𝗞𝟵 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗦𝗘 headed to Alexandria on 𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝟵 to help get some clarity on exactly where Matilda was camping out and what could be done to help bring her in.

Within minutes of receiving the scent article, 𝗞𝟵 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗦𝗘 identified a wooded 🌳 area where the missing cat was staying, offering clear, insistent indications of her presence in one specific space. Once the remainder of the track was completed, we talked over the best methods for how to proceed.

Fast forwarding to three days after the track, Matilda’s owner was out setting up the traps 🪤 for the night when she received a 📞 call from a neighbor that Matilda was sitting exactly in the spot 𝗞𝟵 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗦𝗘 had indicated she had frequented recently. A quick walk around to the sighting and Matilda surrendered her muddy self directly to her mom!

A big 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 to Matilda and her family on bringing her home safe and sound!

05/15/2024

04/14/2024

𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞: 𝙉𝙤 𝙆9'𝙨 𝙉𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙‼️

Luna is finally headed home after 𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦 of running 🏃in the 𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗔𝗛 𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧 where she initially took off with a buddy ( 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘨 )chasing a 🦌 deer‼️ Unfortunately, neither dog was familiar with the 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 - and animal control managed to reunite the neighbors dog 4 days ago - but Luna was still MIA.

Lunas mom reached out to Professional Pet Trackers seeking some guidance on bringing her girl home. Knowing that time was of the essence, we looped in John with Freestate Pet Tracking to come up with a plan to bring Luna home 🏠.

Luna must have been on to us, because no sooner than we all started chatting we had a sighting at Big Meadow (a part of the SNP). We knew that Luna was likely looking for mom as much as mom was looking for Luna - thus, mom had to go against all the natural instincts of physically searching and 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗬 𝗣𝗨𝗧. We made sure she had food, liquid smoke - and a strong understanding of calming signals.

About 3 hours into the day a new 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 came in… super close to Big Meadows… roughly 0.3 miles from where Donna had set up for the day - and this time she had made her way to a house that bordered the park.

Several hours later, the text came in that we had been waiting for - "𝗜 𝗚𝗢𝗧 𝗛𝗘𝗥"‼️

Welcome home Luna‼️

04/12/2024

😂 truth!

03/10/2024

MIDDLE RIVER, MD – Freestate Tracking is happy to share that after a four day unplanned excursion, PJ has returned home!

PJ is an experienced indoor/outdoor cat who has a long history of going out and returning later in the day but when he didn’t make his scheduled reappearance last weekend, his family became very understandably concerned. Since we’re local to the area, Freestate reached out to help PJ’s family try and troubleshoot the situation. After listening to his story, we were hopeful that with a few adjustments to the setup at home, he would make his way back on his own terms. After a couple of days without any clear progress, a track was scheduled, but before Goose could get on-site, we received the message we were hoping for all along! The tailored advice we were able to share was enough to attract PJ back home where on day four he patiently waited outside the door to be let back in. no worse for the wear! He’s now been fitted with a GPS collar so if he chooses to take another multi-day adventure, his family will have a bit more peace of mind!

From PJ’s Family - I am so very thankful for you and I will highly recommend you to anyone in need. Not only did you offer great advice, and respond so quickly, but you gave me hope and confidence that it was all going to be ok.

Welcome home, PJ and congratulations to your family on their success!

01/29/2024

Freestate Pet Tracking provides search and recovery assistance to owners of missing pets.

01/27/2024

Did you know that both of our tracking dogs, Duck and Goose were rescues?

Duck was abandoned one winter by his previous owner. It was only thanks to some quick work by several great people and an amazing rescue that he was trapped, brought to us to foster and later to adopt. Of course that rescue was Bring Em Home Animal Rescue & Trapping Inc. Duck is the sweetest, grumpiest, most lovable best-boy ever.

Goose was an owner surrender. We thank All Shepherd Rescue for bringing him into our lives and the lives of so many people he has helped. Our juggernaut is amazing and we love him to pieces!

Tell us about your pets! We love hearing about them!

01/24/2024

Good morning! If we have helped you, would you please consider leaving us a review on our page? Just click the review area in “Details” and recommend us. Then you can enter a review. It would help us out. Thanks!

01/17/2024

These are hilarious - thanks Leah Biddinger