San Francisco rescue dog finds her way home after spending only four hours with her adoptive family

Upper Noe Valley was thrilled when news broke on NextDoor that a little lost rescue dog name Maeve was found. Upper Noe Valley was thrilled when news broke on NextDoor that a little lost rescue dog name Maeve was found. Photo: NextDoor Screen Capture Photo: NextDoor Screen Capture Image 1 of / 45 Caption Close San Francisco rescue dog finds her way home after spending only four hours with her adoptive family 1 / 45 Back to Gallery

A San Francisco rescue dog named Maeve was at her new adoptive home in Upper Noe Valley for only four hours before she bolted out the front door.

The 18-month-old poodle-bichon mix took off for four days and was spotted miles from her home.

While the adventure-seeking pooch was gone, the community came together to track her down.

But it wasn't a neighbor who found her. She found her way back — and then it was a neighbor who calmly caught her right outside her front door.

"She didn't have a scent to trace when she had left because she was in the house for only four hours, and we carried her from the car into the house," says Kathleen Pabst, Maeve's owner. "Somebody suggested that she retraced her own steps — that quite possibly she had traced her own scent from where she started and then she could follow it back."

Pabst adopted Maeve from the Milo Foundation and its adoption center in Point Richmond. Maeve was originally from the Central Valley and Pabst brought her home on Feb. 19.

"It went great for the first four hours," says Pabst, who has had dogs with her husband all her married life. "She likes people. She was inquisitive, and wandered around the house, loved the backyard, was more than happy to jump on our laps. She seemed to take direction well. She wants to please."

Family was visiting that day, and Pabst says when they left, Maeve ran out the front door.

"She was out before we could even realize she was out," she says.

After several hours of searching, posters were put up around the neighborhood, the Milo Foundation spread the word on social media and a friend started a thread on NextDoor.

The neighborhood rallied around the effort and everyone in Upper Noe Valley and Glen Park seemed to know about this little lost dog.

Pabst was at the grocery store and the checker commented on the cold weather; Pabst mentioned that she was concerned about her lost dog being outside in the frigid temperatures.

"She said I've been following this story on NextDoor," Pabst says. "I said, 'Holy smokes, the whole world knows my dog.'"

News of sightings quickly surfaced: Someone saw her at Market and Sanchez. But nobody could catch her.

"I saw a dog that looked like this just now on Tiffany and 29th," wrote one neighbor on NextDoor. "I was across the street with my dog. When I was trying to cross the street, a car zoomed by and the dog ran away and I couldn't find her again."

Laura Bellow Schwartz of San Francisco saw this posting on NextDoor right when it went up, and she immediately called Cafe78 near that location and asked their staff to keep an eye out for Maeve.

"I think it was an all-out effort from the neighbors and so many different communities to find this little dog," Bellows Schwartz says. "My heart went out to the owner because we foster dogs with the Milo Foundation. It's devastating to lose a pup within four hours."

ALSO, San Francisco spots where dogs are allowed off-leash

Crissy Field: Dogs are allowed off-leash everywhere except the Wildlife Protection Area at the west end of Crissy field beach where leashes are required all year except from May 15 to July 1. For latest information less Crissy Field: Dogs are allowed off-leash everywhere except the Wildlife Protection Area at the west end of Crissy field beach where leashes are required all year except from May 15 to July 1. For latest ... more Photo: Katie Meek, The Chronicle Photo: Katie Meek, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close San Francisco spots where dogs are allowed off-leash 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Maeve had been away for two nights and three days when someone suggested Pabst put her dog bed on the front porch with food. She couldn't sleep that night and, around 3 a.m., opened the front door and saw the dog food was gone.

"I could see that she had slept on her bed," she says.

On Thursday morning, Pabst went out for coffee and when she returned home, Maeve was at the bottom of the steps to her home.

"I called her by her name, and she ran up the hill," she says.

Maeve is now happy at home and her fur, which was covered in stickers and weeds afters days in the wild, has been cleaned. She has a new name, Maisy, which Pabst feels is more reflective of her spunky personality, and the family is keeping a close eye on her.

Pabst says while the situation was stressful, she now knows a lot more of her neighbors and she's so thankful for all the support from the Milo Foundation and Animal Care and Control.

"You don't realize the friends you have until something like this happens," she says. "It was just a roller coaster for all of us. Somebody called me yesterday. She had my phone number from a poster and she said, 'Did you find your dog yet?' I said, 'I'm not sure who you are and what kind of help you gave but you and so many people have been concerned and helped. Thank you.'"

She adds: "We read the newspaper every day and it's communities against each other... This is a story of communities coming together."