A 93-year-old man and his rescue dog were reunited after nearly two weeks apart, thanks to the owner’s unwashed socks.
Norm Feigenbaum is 93 years old. He lives in Los Angeles with his yellow lab named Sunny. She’s a rescue dog, about seven years old, and she’s his best friend.
On October 4th, Norm left his house to go grocery shopping. When he came back home, Sunny was gone.
Turns out, Sunny didn’t want to stay behind. She jumped over the backyard wall and tried to follow Norm to the store. But she got lost somewhere along the way.
Norm searched everywhere. Days went by with no sign of Sunny. “After several days, I really thought she was gone,” Norm said. “The house was barren without her.”
But Norm refused to give up. He reached out to a group called Dog Days Search and Rescue. They help people find their lost pets. The volunteers jumped into action right away. They made flyers and posted them all around the neighborhood.
The flyers said “93 year old owner missing his best friend!” They also warned people not to chase Sunny if they saw her.
A whole week passed. Then finally, someone called with good news. A woman had spotted Sunny in a nature preserve about a mile from Norm’s house. But there was a problem.
The preserve had coyotes roaming around. There wasn’t much water there either. A volunteer named Justice explained the danger: “There’s no water. There’s coyotes. We knew she was on borrowed time.”
The rescue team had to move fast. They got permission to set up traps in the preserve. But they needed something to draw Sunny in. That’s when someone came up with a brilliant idea.
They asked Norm for his dirty socks.
Now, you might be thinking that sounds strange. But dogs have powerful noses. They can smell their owners from far away. Sunny knew Norm’s scent better than anything else in the world.
“The whole thing is probably due to my smelly socks, actually,” Norm said later.
The volunteers took Norm’s unwashed socks and created a trail. The trail led right into one of the traps. Then they waited.
It only took thirty minutes. Sunny picked up the familiar scent of her best friend. She followed the sock trail straight into the trap. The door closed behind her. After nearly two weeks of being lost, Sunny was finally safe.
The volunteers took Sunny to the vet first. She had some minor cuts and bruises from her time in the wild. The vet patched her up and made sure she was healthy. Then came the moment everyone had been waiting for.
Norm and Sunny reunited. Video of their reunion shows Sunny smiling wide. She leaned into Norm for head rubs and cuddles. You could see the pure joy on both their faces. Two best friends, back together again.
The volunteers at Dog Days Search and Rescue went above and beyond. They didn’t just rescue Sunny. They bought her a new bed. They’re even working to secure Norm’s backyard fence so this can’t happen again.
As for those socks? Norm has special plans for them. “I’m not going to wash them,” he said. “I’m going to put them in a frame and hang them on the wall.”
This story makes us smile. But it also reminds us of something important. God cares about the things we care about.
When Norm’s heart broke over losing Sunny, God saw that pain. He worked through dedicated volunteers who gave their time to help. He used something as simple as dirty socks to bring a lost dog home.
WATCH: 93-Year-Old Man Reunites with Lost Dog — Thanks to His Dirty Socks
