Follow Up: The Missing Minnesota Dog Found Before Christmas Is Recovering

Leading into the Christmas Holiday a lot of people in Central Minnesota followed the story of Huevo, the missing 2-year-old Yorkie that was missing from the St. Joes area.  

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The little fella was gone for around a week, and then was found right before Christmas which made for a joyous Holiday for his family. Huevo was injured somewhere along the way during his journey and had to have surgery.  

Yesterday I caught up with Kalina Skillingstad, Huevo’s owner. I wanted to follow up and check in on Huevo and see how he is recovering. “Huevo’s actually doing great, he’s recovering, he’s about a week out and started putting some weight on it, yesterday actually”.  

Kalina said that Huevo, who had lost a pound while he was loose, was eating and drinking again like before and was back to his baseline weight. “He’s a happy pup waging his tail like he always did”.  

There is one major difference that is noticeable by the family, “he’s definitely more cautious around other dogs or other animals. He was very social, but now he doesn’t bark or get too excited about that” meaning if he sees another dog.  

Huevo went missing from a dog sitter while the family was out of town. Kalina and her family had gone to Missouri to meet with family, they had 19 family members from Guatemala coming in. “We were almost in Branson Missouri when we got a phone call that Huevo had slipped out.” Kalina said it was a freak accident that Huevo got loose from the sitter.  

The family thought he would come back after a few hours, but when he didn’t, Kalina returned home leaving, her kids with her family. “It was tough, we had a lot of family down there that had been planning this for months, our car, my kids, everything was down in Missouri. So, a lot of flights and extended drives I did come back to the area after a couple of days to see if I could find him”. “Unfortunately, it took another five and a half days, we got a run for our money with this little bugger”.  

Kalina says her kids “were amazingly strong during all this”. Her daughter is 13 and kept reminding her mom that they needed to keep faith Huevo would be found and offered strength to her mother. She and her 9-year-old brother were obviously very excited to have Huevo home.  

There were a lot of people in the Community who helped search for Huevo and offered support to Kalina and her family. “I’m so shocked and surprised by the support that this community has provided. This is above and beyond what we could have ever expected”. and she says that she has made lasting friendships from this experience.  

The surgery on the dog's leg required plates and screws and cost more than expected. Kalina’s friend and dog sitter, Megan, started a Go Fund Me page for those who would like to contribute. Even though there’s been good support there, there’s still more needed.  

Kalina, who isn’t from Minnesota originally, is so Thankful for those who helped in searching for Huevo, offering prayers or words or encouragement, or contributing to the Go Fund Me Page.  

This story could have had a tragic ending, but thankfully it didn’t. Hopefully Huevo heals quickly.  

Hear the complete interview with Kalina here:

I don’t mind telling you this is one of those times I wish dogs could talk, I’d love to hear what Huevo had to say about his time on the run.