Episode
The Dog Who Walked 2,500 Miles Home
In 1923 Bobbie the collie was lost in Indiana. Six months later he walked into Silverton, Oregon. What do we actually know?
Updated
Case Files · Episode 2 · 15:30. Long-form episode; the video player arrives at public launch.
What the episode is about
In August 1923 a collie called Bobbie was lost at a gas station in Wolcott, Indiana. Six months later he walked into Silverton, Oregon, about 2,500 miles away. We look at the investigation that followed and what science can and cannot say about how animals find their way home.
Key facts
- Bobbie reached home on 15 February 1924.
- Nobody recorded his real route; maps of it are reconstructions.
- A 2013 study found dogs tended to align north-south in calm magnetic conditions (Hart et al., 2013).
Scenes are painted and dramatized from the sources below. Where accounts disagree, the episode says so.
More from Case Files
- The Bird That Flew 7,000 Miles Without Landing
- She Was Banded in 1956. She's Still Coming Back.
- This Dog Waited at a Train Station for Almost 10 Years
Sources
- Bobbie: Oregon, family (Frank and Elizabeth Brazier), Wolcott, Indiana, three dogs, the Red Bird car, return 15 Feb 1924, 2,551 miles / ~14 miles a day, Ripley's estimate, Humane Society route reconstruction, Portland Home Show, film, 1927
- Oregon Encyclopedia, "Bobbie the Wonder Dog" (Susan Stelljes), Oregon Humane Society investigation, ~2,800 miles, hundreds of letters, keys to cities, burial: ; book: Stelljes, S. Wonder Dog: The Story of Silverton Bobbie (2005)
- Station search, honking, notice in the newspaper, daughter and family reunion, letters answered, Des Moines and Tippecanoe River reports (unconfirmed): America Comes Alive, "Collie Travels 2,500 Miles to Return to Oregon Home"
- Route evidence (followed them north-east first, exploratory trips, stations where the car had parked, hobo camp, Portland and an Irish woman, accident): Amusing Planet, "Bobbie, The Wonder Dog Who Walked 2,500 Miles to Home" (quoting Offbea
- 2,551 road miles Silverton-Wolcott: Roadside America
- Daughter saw him on Main Street: KOIN, "Jeff Gianola's Journal: Bobbie the Wonder Dog"
- Dogs and the Earth's magnetic field (70 dogs, 37 breeds, 1,893 + 5,582 observations, N-S alignment under calm field): Hart, V. et al. (2013) Frontiers in Zoology 10: 80. ; critique: SkeptVet
- 1952 Manx shearwater transatlantic experiment (Lockley, Mazzeo, Skokholm to Boston, back in ~12.5 days): Boston Public Library, "A Fateful Meeting" ; Wikipedia, "Ronald Lockley" ; The 1952 Transatlantic Manx Shearwater Homing Experiment Arc
- Coastlines, lakes and state borders: Natural Earth (public domain)
This is general information, not veterinary advice. If anything about your pet's behavior or health worries you, ask your vet.