Lost Border Collie Catches Bus Alone To Get Home

Can you blame the genes? This story is about Pepper, a 2-year-old border collie, and her solo adventure that involves using public transportation all on her own.

Pepper was rescued by Charlotte Jones when the dog was just five months old. The owner describes Pepper as a dog who is very full of love and very active. Border collies are known for being bright and energetic, and their Pepper is no different. She underwent obedience training at Knebworth Dog Training Club, which is owned by Julie Jones, Charlotte’s own mother.

It is common for Pepper to spend time with Julie, her husband, and her 3 other dogs. It was when the group was taking one of their many regular walks in Fairlands Valley Park that the incident happened. It just so happened that there was a flock of geese at the park, and Pepper, probably giving in to the border collie’s instinct to herd, suddenly ran off towards the flock.

Charlotte’s parents tried calling and searching for Pepper in the park for more than half an hour but had no luck. Julie also made her own dogs try and help find Pepper in the hopes that they’d be able to sniff her out, but the weather was awful that morning, so they decided to go home after a while to check if Pepper somehow found her way back to their house. She was nowhere to be found.

“Suddenly, she was gone, and I couldn’t see any sign of her. The weather was atrocious, which didn’t help,” Julie Jones recalled.

It seems that, at this time, the owners were unaware of what had happened to their Pepper. Charlotte narrated in an interview with BBC that people were trying to catch Pepper in public and that her mother called her to inform her of what had happened. Nobody knows what happened in between the 2.5-mile trip from the park to the bus station located in Stevenage town centre, but Pepper somehow found her own way to the bus station and onto bus number seven.

Dogs can’t pay for transportation, right? Thankfully, the bus driver allowed Pepper to get on the bus, because a very kind passenger vouched for the dog and told the driver that she recognized Pepper, who was normally with her owners.

Pepper’s collar had her name and Charlotte’s phone number on it, so it was no problem when the bus driver asked if they could call the owners so that they could reunite with the tired dog.
The kind lady passenger and the bus driver then decided to keep the dog on the bus to wait for the owners, Charlotte Jones and Saffron Caps, until they got to the bus stop, which was just a 2-minute walk from their house.

“We were so grateful that we offered to treat the lady for looking after Pepper so well and reuniting us, but she wouldn’t take anything,” Charlotte said.

The owner also shared that even before the lady could ring the bell on the bus, Pepper knew that it was her stop and was already getting ready to get off the bus. Dogs are amazing, and it is unbelievable that Pepper knew how to get to go home on her own.

“It was such a sigh of relief that we actually got her back. You just never know these days what dogs can do, but, obviously, Pepper does know what to do and how to get home,” Charlotte said, “She just completes us, really. That is all. She is just such a lovely dog. I just wouldn’t have her any other way, even after that.”

Pepper isn’t the only dog who knows how to take the bus. Check out Eclipse’s story if you want to read more doggy adventures!

Written by Louise Peralta