Black-and-White Dog Roams Elkridge Three Weeks After Leaving Columbia

An Elkridge man told Suzanne Zolnick that he saw her dog sleeping on a pile of leaves in his neighborhood last Friday. For Zolnick, this was good news.

That’s because tracking her dog, Bayla's, haunts is key to hopefully bringing her home. “She’s running from everybody that she sees," said Zolnick.

Four-year-old Bayla, a beagle mix, came from Howard County Animal Control and Adoption Center. Zolnick and her husband adopted the dog on Sept. 20. "When she came to us, she was very quiet and if there were loud noises, she would jump," said Zolnick.

After a follow-up trip to the vet in Cradlerock on Oct. 1, Bayla took off, setting off a countywide hunt.

“When we left [the vet], she didn’t want to get in the car,” said Zolnick. “Rather than yank her leash, I tried to pick her up. I don’t know if I let loose of the leash or if she heard a loud noise that was normal to me and then pulled the leash out of my hand..."

The next thing she knew, Bayla had run across Cradlerock Way into Lake Elkhorn Park.

“I ran across the street after her,” said Zolnick. “Two guys saw me chasing her and they took off, and they lost her." 

In the ensuing days, Bayla was spotted in other parts of Columbia, like Swan Point Way and Homespun Drive.

More recently, “she decided she likes the Elkridge area,” said Zolnick. 

There have been Bayla sightings at Waterloo Elementary, Maryland School for the Deaf, , Old Stockbridge Drive and Willowood, according to a map tracking Bayla sightings on Facebook.

“We think she’s following the power lines to get to different places,” said Zolnick, who hopes to figure out Bayla’s next step by tracking where she’s been. “It seems like that’s how she ended up in Elkridge.”

Zolnick said she may get five or six calls a day about Bayla’s whereabouts, and people also report sightings on Facebook.

“But I do have a job, my husband has a job and we can’t spend 24/7 dealing with this,” said Zolnick.

That’s where Columbia dog specialists Camp Bow Wow and nonprofit search organization Dogs Finding Dogs have been critical, she said.“They’ve had some experience working with this stuff and they’ve been absolutely amazing.”

, which helped after he took a 44-day journey to Gaithersburg earlier this year, has assisted with the Find Bayla Facebook page and Craiglist postings.

“For an old dog here, it’s been an amazing use of that technology,” said Zolnick. 

Dogs Finding Dogs, which dispatches trained handlers and tracking dogs throughout the mid-Atlantic, has a search team on the case too. Last week, a German shepherd mix visited Old Stockbridge after a Bayla sighting there.

Said Zolnick: “The dog got the scent, and it turns out she wanted to go across Meadowridge Road—and that’s where we got the next sighting.”

Bayla was next spotted on Wimbledon Court near Arbor Way in Elkridge.

“She’s been hanging near paths and in yards,” said Zolnick. “Otherwise, we think she would’ve gotten her leash caught on something.”

When she ran off on Oct. 1, Bayla was wearing her bright blue collar and matching leash. According to the latest reports, she still had both on.

“Most people think, ‘Oh, the dog’s got a leash. All I have to do is get close and step on the leash,” said Zolnick. “But she runs too fast.”

If you see Bayla, who is a black-and-white beagle mix approximately four years old, Zolnick offers the following advice:

• Close your gate (if she’s in your yard) so that she stays contained.
• Don’t make eye contact with Bayla; she scares easily.
• Call Suzanne Zolnick at 410-730-6637 or 443-802-6066. Note where and when you saw Bayla and whether she was wearing her leash (it helps searchers know what to look for).
• Offer her food and back away.
• Get low and call her calmly. She may not answer to "Bayla." Her name in the shelter was "Trumpet," so try either name.
• Don’t chase her. “It may chase her out of that area because it becomes threatening,” said Zolnick.

Bayla's owners and search experts are also trying “traps,” which Zolnick explained are cages with food inside. "Two possums and a cat later, we haven’t had too much success.”

But, she continued: “If we can find a place that she’s been a lot, if you put a ‘trap’ there with food in it…hopefully, she will feel safe enough to eat the food." 

Twenty-three days after Bayla's initial disappearance, her owner said that she has hope of reuniting with her dog soon.

“There’s an awful lot of people who are sending out positive thoughts,” said Zolnick. “I can’t say enough about how the community at large has been amazing and kind and helpful.”

Related Topics: Find Bayla and lost dog Elkridge