Missing Dog Found Alive at Pine Lake Marina and Returned

If the Solomon family of Orchard Lake Village ever needed a helping hand, their neighbors and friends were there for them. Earlier this week, when the favorite family dog went missing for three days, they sure needed it.

Not only did they get a big lift from the community, Laura Solomon said, but a deeper power may have played a part in helping return the dog home and in good health.

Lulu became the object of search at the Orchard Lake Road/Pine Lake Road intersection on Sunday night after running away from home and possibly being hit by a car, Solomon said. 

Lulu was found on Wednesday night, trying to brave the elements underneath a dock at the Pine Lake Marina, but in fairly good health. Jody Rose Friedman, a West Bloomfield resident and retired psychic medium, said she was able to feel that the dog was still alive, urging the Solomons to keep looking.

The Solomons' three acres typically allows Lulu the freedom to run, a freedom which Solomon pointed out that the five-year-old Yorkshire Terrier exercises often. On Sunday afternoon, Solomon said that she was told by a driver that Lulu had been hit on the road nearby and apparently walked away.

However, three days of exhaustive search, including advertisements online and around town, failed to produce results. By Wednesday, Solomon had began to consider life without Lulu.

"Lulu is our son Jordan's favorite dog," Solomon said. "In the family portrait we took last summer, Jordan had to be holding the dog. ... But I had started to talk with my husband that day, 'Should we get another dog? Should we just stop looking?'"

Friedman urged her friend to continue searching, claiming that images of leaves and water which she was able to glean from her extrasensory perception skills indicated the dog was still alive somewhere.

"Normally, when I see someone who is passed on, I see the sky. This time, I saw leaves - dark, brown, torn up, Michigan leaves. ... I realized I was looking for those leaves when I saw Lulu that night," Friedman said.

Friedman armed herself with a flashlight and set off on her own at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday night, eventually being drawn to the marina. There, she found the eight-pound Lulu, who was wearing identification but not a pet microchip.

A subsequent exam by the veterinarian revealed injuries to be nothing more than some bruising, Solomon said. However, she added dryly, the experience hasn't curtailed Lulu's energy much.

What it has done instead is inspire her appreciation for her neighbors.

"I know that in the scope of things, it’d be far more traumatic if it were a person and not a dog, that would have been a 10 on the scale of concern. But to see everyone come out and support my dog, you realize how much people care. I didn’t ask any of these people to look, they just did it," Solomon said.