It’s every dog owners nightmare – your dog runs off and you don’t know where he is, how he is or if you will ever see him again.

This nightmare became a reality for Cramlington resident Danielle Slade and her family when their much loved whippet Otis ran off and didn’t return.

Danielle, along with her family and friends, turned to social media for help and the plight of their missing pet was shared thousands of times.

After Otis had been missing for fourteen hours there was a sighting of him running in the High Pit area.

Despite being midnight the family prepared to head out to start looking for him again, when Danielle’s Dad David Burn opened his door to find Otis just sitting there.

After much relief all round that Otis was safe, he didn’t seem to be too fazed about being on the run for so long.

Reflecting on his adventures and imagining what Otis had gone through, Danielle, a freelance writer, teamed up with illustrator Tom Kindley and they have just published “Otis the wandering whippet”.

The  book’s summary says ‘Otis was troubled. He didn’t understand why 2020 had been so different to other years. No one was hugging or out with friends and family any more. This made him sad. So he had a plan to make it all better. Based on the true tail of Otis the missing whippet and his 14 hour journey to find his way home.’

The book is dedicated to everyone who helped search for Otis as well as Iris, Danielle’s daughter and Otis’ best friend.

As a way of acknowledging the support the family received while searching, 20% of the profits from the paperback and kindle sales will go to Cramlington-based animal charity Dog’s First.

A link to the book can be found HERE 

Otis pictured with his owner Danielle, recovering at home and with his ‘best friend’ Iris.