Dog owner sleeps in woodland and even sniffs animal poo

A determined dog owner is going to extreme lengths to try and find his beloved pet and has slept outside, hired a helicopter and even smells animal faeces.  

Stuart Smith, 46, has vowed nothing will stop him finding Kahn – a one-year-old Leonberger – who vanished during storms three months ago.

He and his partner Sharron, 55, from Hockley, near Rochford, Essex, have put their life ‘on hold’ until they are reunited with his pet.

In his bid to find his pet, Mr Smith has climbed a church tower with a camera on his back and boiled tripe on the back of his van to try and lure the pet.

Stuart Smith is determined to find his one-year-old Leonberger, Kahn, who weighs 5ft 8ins (pictured together) 

His dog (pictured) vanished from their home near Rochford in Essex during storms three months ago

Mr Smith has even started smelling faeces (left) and has hired a drone (right) to help with the search 

He is also sleeping on a fly tipped mattress in woodland near his home in the hope it will create a scent which will encourage Kahn to come back.

Mr Smith is even sniffing dog poo traces in the hope that he can recognise his Kennel Club-registered, micro-chipped animal.

He said: ‘I have done absolutely everything I can think of to find Kahn – and if anyone suggests anything else new to me I will do that too.

‘He is very special to me. I’ve had him since he was a puppy. I don’t have any children, so when he went missing it just broke me.

‘Some people will no doubt think that I am crazy but I have so many people willing me on and helping to put up posters for Kahn that I will try anything to let him know we are looking for him.’

Kahn disappeared from his home at around 11pm on October 15 when a storm blew down a bit of fencing.

He could have travelled hundreds of miles by now but his owner still believes the dog, which stands at more than 5ft 8ins when on his hind legs, is in the local area.

Kahn is eight stone and just under 3ft long when standing on all fours. He is likely to be eating food left out for cats and dogs if he is scavenging in residential areas.

Mr Smith has enlisted a volunteer canine tracker to try and locate Kahn and analyse animal prints to see if they could belong to the missing pet.

He said: ‘I’m 100 per cent sure he is out and about as I have certainly seen his footprints in the mud around some of the earlier sightings.

‘They’re like finger-prints, but not quite as accurate, so when someone finds a paw-print, I compare it to a print of Kahn’s.

‘I just don’t believe that anyone wouldn’t do all of these things for their dog, to be honest.’

Mr Smith (left with a drone operator) is desperately trying to track down his Leonberger dog, called Kahn 

Kahn (pictured left) is eight stone and just under three feet long when standing on all fours

He is also sleeping on a fly tipped mattress in woodland near his home in the hope it will create a scent which will encourage Kahn to come back

The devastated owner has even started smelling animal excrement he finds in the local area in case it could be Khan’s.

He added: ‘The reason I’ve smelt animal poo is because badger poo looks similar to dog poo – and fox poo is generally smaller, but the main big difference is the smell.

‘They smell totally different, you can distinctly tell them apart.

‘I have chased plenty of sightings and even found other lost dogs that are German Shepherd types but Kahn is larger than that, his tail by breed is fluffy but usually down not up and he is dark brown and we believe now muddy and less recognisable.

‘But I will follow up any lead until I know it is not Kahn. We just need that one call or photograph that will be the one that gets him home.

‘We’ve also had the RNLI search the river ban k- customs and the port authority have been advised too and obviously the railways too.’

He has set up a Facebook page, Help Find Kahn Lost In Hockley – Essex Any Sightings’ which now has over 5,000 members.

Celebrities including Peter Wickes from TOWIE and Love Island’s Olivia Buckland are also helping to put up posters to help find the missing dog.

Businesses have been supporting the search by offering things like free tea or coffee plus food discounts to customers with a Kahn poster in their car.

Mr Smith, a former professional yacht skipper, starts every day with a renewed lease of motivation to find his beloved pet.

He added: ‘It is tough. Both myself and Sharron have had some real down times and plenty of tears because we miss him so much.

‘He is our baby, he does everything with us. He travels with us, he sits on us for a cuddle which was quite something given his size and we have just got to get him home. 

‘When Kahn is found we will have a big party for him.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk