Im-paws-ible return

Jeff Immediato and his dog Bobbi share a big hug on their lawn. It’s a sunny day in Corona del Mar, Bobbi’s bronze fur glistening in the light as she wraps her paws around her owner. She hardly leaves his side as he sits out front, much like his father did before he died.

It’s hard to imagine that eight months ago Bobbi disappeared, stolen from Immediato’s backyard. It took six months before Immediato and his family found out where Bobbi was — shockingly, miles away in Oregon.

It’s an amazing feat that Bobbi ever found her way home. She was missing eight months, six without a clue where she could be. But Immediato never let that hankering feeling his dog wasn’t just lost slip from his mind. He credits the fact she is home now to one simple mantra:

“I never gave up,” Immediato said. “I simply never gave up.”

Persistence isn’t a strong enough word to describe Immediato’s efforts.

His dog was stolen in November after she was chained outside, sitting in Immediato’s golf cart — a spot Bobbi enjoyed. Immediato has a camera watching his backyard, but the cart was parked out of sight that day.

From there starts a tale of spirit, mystery and a long-awaited homecoming.

“This dog means a lot to me,” said Immediato, a single father who takes care of his elderly mother.

Immediato’s quest to find his dog began where any person’s would: by making tons of posters. But the regular 8 ½ -by-11 posters weren’t enough for Immediato. He went larger, plastering color posters around his neighborhood in Corona del Mar.

“I knew my dog wasn’t lost,” he said. “I had to do something extraordinary.”

He garnered a lot of support over time, as months passed and the posters kept coming. Immediato changed pictures, wrote short stories about his dog and after spending thousands of dollars at Kinko’s, he eventually bought his own poster maker so that he could save money and start a mini-Bobbi-poster- manufacturing operation.

He rallied support from neighbors and local businesses. Volunteers started putting up posters at local shops, pet stores and veterinarian offices. Word got around — including some important conversations that got back to Immediato.

“I got a phone call that said, ‘The person who took your dog lives close to you,’ and then click,” Immediato said.