Some stories really do have happy endings, even for little dogs who lose their way.
Poncho, a mixed-breed rescued from Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria then lost in Palm Coast on Thanksgiving, is once again safe and sound — this time in a home just north of Ormond Beach. He now has a new home, and a new name.
Many dogs were left to fend for themselves after Maria ravaged the U.S. territory in October. Poncho was among those rescued and brought to Florida.
Megan Blizard of Tampa adopted Poncho from the Suncoast Animal League just before Thanksgiving. While she visited family in Palm Coast on Thanksgiving Day, he dashed out of the home and had been on the lam ever since. Blizard searched high and low, posting signs and ads trying to find the dog.
She’d get tantalizing bits of information. Poncho was spotted in Palm Coast and volunteers from the Flagler Humane Society tried to catch him. He was also spotted in Ormond Beach, and as far south as Port Orange. But every time anyone got close to him, the little dog would dash away.
Finally, in a phone call last week, Blizard was thrilled to learn Poncho had found his way to the 8-acre homestead of Greg Heck and his family, located north of Ormond Beach off U.S. Highway 1. The Hecks had been on vacation several weeks ago, when they received a message from a friend watching their place and their chocolate Labrador retriever. The message: “Look, you got a new dog.”
When they returned home, it was obvious their lab, Sundae, had made a new friend.
“He was charmingly running around,” Heck said. “It was like he owns the place. We kind of laughed about it and thought it was the neighbor’s dog.”
But it wasn’t. It was Poncho.
At first, none of the Hecks could get close enough to pet the little visitor with the impossibly short legs, who was wary when anyone got too close.
“He’s impossible to catch,” said Heck. “He’s a little prancer.”
Heck suspects the dog might have been on his own for a long time before he was rescued in Puerto Rico, which helped him survive nearly three months roaming around Flagler and Volusia counties. He doesn’t respond to commands, doesn’t look for rewards, and isn’t even interested in playing fetch like Sundae.
The little black dog continued to hang around, laying around in the yard with Sundae. “They’re buddies,” said Heck. The family gave him food and allowed him to stay. Not aware that he was called "Poncho, they began calling him "Black Dog."
Finally, Heck’s mother happened to see one of Blizard’s notices about the missing dog named Poncho. She called her son, and Heck called Blizard, who was thrilled to learn the little dog had been found.
After talking to Heck and giving it "careful consideration," Blizard asked if he’d be interested in keeping the dog. Heck happily agreed.
Black Dog, the pooch formerly known as Poncho, “is very happy in his new home — he chose it himself,” Blizard said. “We are overjoyed for Black Dog and his new family!
“Now he has his forever family in a home that is the perfect environment for this very unique and special dog. Although he has proven he can handle his own, we are so relieved and grateful that he doesn't have to.”
For Blizard, it was “a very sweet outcome” for “a very heartbreaking and challenging experience.”
Heck suspects the dog might have been able to fend so well for himself because he was a street dog in Puerto Rico.
Once Heck found out the dog had Latin roots, he tried speaking to him in Spanish, but the dog didn’t respond to the name Poncho, or any other typical commands a dog might learn from a family.
“When you lean down and extend your hand it’s like he thinks you’re going to trick him,” said Heck. “We’re just kind of easing into things with him.”
“There’s a fence but the gate is always open and he could walk right out any time,” he said. “He’s not ever confined here and I think that’s what he likes,” he said. The Hecks have three children, so the dog is often surrounded by the sound of children playing and the 8 acres is filled with birds and other wildlife.
And, it turns out, the Heck homestead's history kind of matches the dog. “It was abandoned for 10 years and we fixed it up,” said Heck. “We’re inviting to whoever shows up, whether it’s deer or little Puerto Rican dogs.”
Now, Black Dog runs to the car when Heck arrives home and he allows family members to pet him.
“He has a charmingness about him, and there’s something in his eyes that makes you want to take care of him,” said Heck. “He looks like he has been through it.
“I lived in Homestead during Hurricane Andrew. I know what a hurricane can do to you,” said Heck. “If we get a hurricane this summer, I’m going to take care of him, even if we have to trick him to bring him inside to take care of him.”