Elvis Is Back In The Building

After five long weeks missing in the tangled trails of Archallagan Plantation, Elvis the German Shepherd-cross has finally returned, not to the stage, but to his favourite spot on the sofa, safe and sound in his owner’s living room.

Elvis, a 10-year-old German Shepherd-cross with a dramatic flair for hide and seek, did a vanishing act back on May 28 when he slipped his lead while staying with family friend Bert Bakker.

Owner Janet Smith was abroad when she got the ominous text: ‘Please get in touch regarding Elvis.’

‘I thought, “Oh no, what is it?’” Janet said. ‘And then he told me he’d slipped his lead two days before.’

Cue five weeks of drone flyovers, soggy tree stumps, and emotional breakdowns in the car park.

Despite volunteers, DEFA workers, and even a sniffer dog named Noodle (absolute legend), Elvis pulled a full stealth mode, spotted once, then not again for weeks.

‘I thought, “That’s it,’” said Janet. ‘He’s ten. I couldn’t eat or sleep. It was dreadful.’

But then… a blurry pawprint. A motion sensor camera. A bark in the distance.

Janet and a friend went up with food. One sat under a tree stump. Then came ‘bark, bark, bark, bark, bark.’

‘It was unmistakably him,’ Janet said. ‘”I called, ‘Elvis, Elvis, Mum’s here!” ‘I turned around and walked away… and he followed.’

No lead. No collar. Just pure doggy devotion.

Elvis jumped into the back of the car like nothing had happened. A vet check gave him the all-clear: no injuries, no smell, just one worming tablet and a dental bill.

‘He’s just settled back in like he’s never been away,’ Janet said. ‘I think he quite liked his forest holiday!’

So it turns out, even in the wild, you can’t keep a good dog down, especially not one named Elvis.