The great Gaston returns home after 19 day 'adventure'

Gaston, a 4 year old Bull Terrier owned by Donna McClelland, was lost along with his younger counterpart, Hella, on a day trip east of Margaret River.

"It was just me and the puppers and a friend, and I took them out to the bush near Glengarry Road," Ms McClelland told the Mail.

"It's a pretty spot that we often visit - a nice walk on the trail to the footbridge, and back. Especially on sunny days like that one.

"As I pulled up they were both in the front passenger seat and I opened my driver's door - they both just lunged out.

"By the time I gathered myself and hopped out, they were simply gone. My friend Yasmin's dog and kids were with us so we walked to the bridge along the usual route, calling."

The group spent the afternoon searching, calling and speaking to people in the area, to no avail.

"I went home and grabbed their bedding and some food and brought it back to the spot - which we now call 'Base Camp', and went walking and calling again," Ms McClelland said.

"Then another friend, Bec, came out and met me and we started combing the trails again. We drove around to the airport side of the trails and explored as far as we could from that side, then came back and started again.

"The day was wearing on, and another mate, Mick Wescombe joined the search.

"I was at a bit of a loss... both of them normally sleep in the house with us - not even in the garden - so I was pretty concerned by 9:30pm that night when it was time to head home.

"I stood for a last moment in the bush and the whole world was still and silent."

Determined to bring her family members home, Ms McClelland began spreading the word on social media, relying on her fellow residents, friends and workmates to keep their eyes peeled.

Soon, the help began coming in thick and fast.

"The search blew up pretty quickly. I am sure nearly everyone on social media saw my first posts," she said.

"I was at the dam early and I ran into a couple of folks I knew, who had heard and decided to search.

"That same morning a mountain biker told me he'd seen a little brindle dog cross the path - so we had a sighting.

"He mapped it out for me and we worked out it was along River Road, a walk/cycle track that follows the river and ends on the Osmington side at Stoner Road, almost all the way to the Colonial Brewery.

"The weather was beautiful and sunny and it was school holidays so there were loads of mums with kids heading out and about anyway.

"On that first day my step-son's grandparents tried searching with their drone, but the bush was too thick.

"After the sighting we got on our mountain bikes and began to ride the trails, too.

"I made up my first lot of flyers and dropped them everywhere I could think of, from the Hairy Marron to Darnell's Store."

By Monday evening, Donna's partner Mick - who had been holidaying up north with the kids - had decided to pack up and head home early to join the search.

At home, Ms McClelland's search team grew by the minute.

"More and more people were messaging and calling me - covering a wider and wider area.

"One friend who drives during the day was combing the roads from Rosa Brook to Bramley River Road to Osmington.

"Another friend was following leads of barking in the night.

"The amazing Mick Wescombe rallied his staff on their days off, borrowed motorbikes and had them combing all the pine plantations by the airport.

"Another friend used all of his time off and dragged his little children from one side of the bush to the other as we sent each other screen shots of where we were.

"Friends who actually don't even dig dogs that much were out, too."

The increasingly worried pet owner was surrounded by support from her closest friends to perfect strangers.

"We spent an evening at the dam cooking sausages on the BBQ and three other people came through looking and calling without realising it was me," she said.

"But the most amazing thing was the messages from strangers - vaguely familiar names from the community noticeboards on Facebook - who had spent and hour or two or five, criss-crossing bits of the bush looking for my dogs.

"I was pretty emotional those first couple of days, and the kindness of these wonderful folks set me off every time!"

Donna's partner Mick arrived home after 16 hours of driving, and the pair retraced the search area with renewed energy, leaving food in strategic spots hoping to attract their missing dogs.

On the sixth day of the search, energy was low and hopes were beginning to fade.

"Mick left his car at Glengarry Road at the base camp and rode slow-and-steady to the Colonial Brewery.

"I went to pick him up, and we did some door knocking along Bramley River Road and swung back round to check his car right on nightfall.

"Mick yelled with excitement and I saw it at the same time he did... it was Hella, waiting for us at the exact same spot she'd been lost. She'd had a snack on the food and was playing with her blanket!"

Thrilled to be reunited with Hella, the family enjoyed a burst of positivity and set out more determined than ever to bring Gaston home.

The pair are both self employed - Donna a celebrant and freelance graphic designer, and Mick the operator of the Margaret River Climbing Co - they relied on the flexibility of their work hours to spend all day, and camp overnight in the search zone.

"Mick's mates took turns visiting him at night and keeping him company on his long walks out in the dark," said Ms McClelland.

"We went off-track in the undergrowth. We were lent motion sensing trail cameras and a loud hailer. We bought a high pitched dog whistle..."

After another week of futile searching, the family's hopes again began to dwindle.

The messages of hope and support continued to roll in.

"Sean Blocksidge canoed the river while his co-pilot Erin called out and looked.

"Bec and I put on wetsuits and waded through the river. We were lent a bitch in heat to walk around, and another one was brought to us.

"Dozens of locals - lots of whom I've never met before -met me at base camp on Sunday the 28th in the morning and fanned out to cover more ground.

"The Margies Trail running club changed their usual route and went searching, too. I had messages from Bull Terrier club members in Perth who had been down independently as well."

By week three, the search party knew the tracks by heart.

"I mapped out the tracks we'd covered and just couldn't think where else to go," said Ms McClelland.

Finally, last Friday, a miracle occurred.

"I had a call mid-morning and it was Mick Wescombe - he said 'We've got him, Ryan's got him!'

Mr Wescombe had been out looking again, when he received a call from Ryan Nielsen, who lives on a farm close to the Base Camp.

Mr Nielsen had heard his dog barking and when he went to investigate, a cowering, tired and stinky Gaston was discovered in the garden.

"He was exhausted but just so excited," Donna said of the ecstatic reunion.

"He cuddled me and wagged his tail and trotted around and loved us.

"We took him straight to the vets - he had lost 8.5kg going from 26kg to 17.5kg, almost a third of his bodyweight.

"But he was his beautiful, snuggly self, tired but so pleased to be home!"

Ms McClelland said the support and encouragement from the community spurred them on every day.

"Not only did we see the same folks over and over again out there on our daily laps, with their dogs and kids, mums with toddlers in prams yelling out and kids on bikes screaming themselves hoarse!

"We met a whole bunch of strangers willing to give up their own time.

"One gorgeous lady came straight from work at 5:30pm from Cowaramup, another fellow came late at night even though they live at Forest Grove.

"One guy took time off work and walked his own dog for kilometres, and another girl travelled up from East Augusta combing the bush and still others I ran into walking the tracks on the Osmington side with their kids in tow.

"Every business in town displayed the flyers for me happily and everyone followed our progress. Messages of hope flowing in daily - hugs in the supermarket and even prepped meals delivered to our house. Strangers were offering to clean my house for me so I could keep looking!"

Staff at Yahava Koffeeworks and the Margaret River Hotel were particularly passionate about spreading the word of the search, and Ms McClelland said the list of individual locals who needed thanking was an enormous one.

"Huge thanks to Ryan and his family who all kept searching, Mick and Ange, Michelle, Rossy, Dash, Jemma, Jaeger and Marlo, Bec and Kellie, Kellie and Anna, Sean and Erin, Sara and Keelan, Rene and Adrian, Brad and Sabina, Fiona, Leone, Merle, James, Soph and Hannah, Pam, Beaudine, Issy and Indi, Jac and Kel, Suzy, Neva, Jilly, Jarrad, Jed and Anita, and all the awesome folks who came out on that Sunday - and of course all the gorgeous people I've forgotten, too!"

Ms McClelland said they planned to introduce Gaston and Hella to their newfound fans at an informal meet and greet planned in a few weeks.

"We would like to say thank you from the very bottom of our hearts. We could not be happier that they are both back with us.

"Gaston is the first dog I have ever owned and I didn't quite realise what kind of an impact his absence would have in my life.

"We all shed a tear or two but we just felt like he had to be out there somewhere - to quote every second person on the last few days... If only they could tell us where they were and what they were up to!"

To keep up to date with their adventures, visit Gaston and Hella on Instagram at @gaston_theybully