Family hires pet detective to locate pup

CORRALES, N.M. (KRQE) - A Corrales family is going to extreme lengths to get it's beloved dog back.

They've hired a California pet detective who is already hot on the trail of the missing 1-year-old Schnauzer named Jill.

"You're mission should you decided to accept it, take this scent and find this one," whispers pet detective and former Orange County Deputy Sheriff Judy Britton.

She's talking to her highly trained search-and-rescue dog named Melanie. The pair traveled all the way to Albuquerque from California. Jill's owners, the Blakelys, hired them to find their beloved pet.

"She's ridiculously full of energy, and she always loves new people even if she does pee on their shoe when she meets them," said Robert Blakely when describing Jill.

He explained the pup was his mom's birthday present. Jill been missing for a week after his father let her outside and she didn't come back.

The family called the team from California after researching pet search-and-rescue teams.

Melanie is a unique K-9 specially trained to distinguish different dogs' scents and when they were left behind. Britton said this must be done in cases where there are multiple pets in a home and multiple scent trails.

"In coming I have two primary goals. The first would be to establish a direction of travel, and the second would be if the pet was deceased, if we could find some remains and establish some closure," Britton said.

Tuesday morning Melanie picked up Jill's scent about a mile from her family home along the Rio Grande bosque north of Corrales. They spent the morning on the trail of the precious pup. Now they're interviewing neighbors in the area and are posting flyers.

"Her tail is clipped down to a stub, but she has really weird ears," said Blakely. "They're clipped but they're only half way clipped. We call her the flying nun."

Anyone who thinks they might have seen the dog is asked to take a picture and contact the Blakely's at 505-401-3606. There is also a $1,000 reward paired with a year's supply of free Menchie's frozen yogurt for anyone who returns the dog.

Click here to find out more about Pet Search and Rescue .