Queens, Duct Tape and Rose

New, no-nonsense fliers

What a day! Thanks to those who went out today to drum up #findmyrtle business. We fliered the hell out of Queens, saw many black cats (or was that the same one each time?) and a few black bags that pretended to be Myrtle. And every garbage man in NYC should know about missing Myrtle by Monday. 

Sorry Ma'am, haven't seen 'er. 

Pretty good day, which sounds a little weird, but today I managed to "keep my chin up". All I can do is my best, and with your help, I think I will find her. And if not, I know I did all I could, and met a lot of really great people along the way. Thank you for supporting me through this, I'll keep going as long as there's ink in the printer, coffee to be poured, neon pink duct tape, and a bit of hope.

Rose was a bit sad to not sleep in a comfy bed in a bit over a week, so I am now fostering her. 

She is a Badass Brooklyn rescue and she's gorgeous. You should adopt her. 

Thank you Emily and Caesar, Neil, Christy, Valeda, Renee, Emma, Gwendolyn, Ted & Julie, Rudha, Elisa, Johanna, Roseann, Barry (who suggested I contact Pat!), Ken - who keeps checking in with ideas, Jim "Sunnyside" Chesters and many others who I am probably rudely excluding - pardon my foggy tired brain!

Ok, already. Find Myrtle!

feral cat party zone

This week brought no leads. Wednesday night I couldn't sleep, so I biked around the industrial areas in Greenpoint and Queens and called for her. Silence. No little tip tapping paws, no bushes rustling from a big wagging tail... Rough night.

Dana, a nice stranger from the internet!,  volunteered to drive Jim and I around and we found this area not far from where she was last seen – a place where someone regularly feeds feral cats. Jim and I had the exact same image of seeing her come to us, head down, tail wagging, trotting over. We both thought, "This is it. She's got to be here!" Silence again. Sometimes you just really feel like she's going to be there.

gangsta granny aka alien dog

Tomorrow, the search for Myrtle continues, but more than searching – posting fliers! It has been nearly 2 weeks, with no sightings of her after the night she went missing. I'm hoping she is safe and warm with someone who took her in as a stray, and has no idea we are frantically looking for her. It just takes one person, a friend or relative of the person who may have took her in, to see one of our signs and call!

Amazing 75 year old Clinton Diner. This man was so kind, and had been working at the diner for 25 years. 

Fliers ANYWHERE can help - you never know who might see the sign and put it together that their Aunt, friend, coworker has a new shy black chihuahua who is the sweetest little alien dog on earth!

It feels too weird to not have a dog in the house, so I'm fostering the cutest little rascal, Diaz, a Badass Brooklyn foster dog. He's keeping me company. He definitely will never measure up to my sweet Myrtle, but this is a great dog! Super mellow inside, but likes to play when we get to the park. He's not a great snuggler, sleeps at the bottom of the bed (???), but I suppose many normal dog owners would enjoy that. He also has a cute full body mullet and a raccoon mask face.

Thank you and love to Ashley, Ally, Claire, David, Rebecca, Morgan, Michelle, Jim, Dana, Liz, Jason, Rose, Bryan, Annie, Elisa, Gwendolyn, Bob & Carter, Kathleen, Emily, Starpoli & Katie Rose for supporting me this week. You have managed to put a smile on my face - and kept me moving and searching, thank you! Also thank you to those who are out there looking and thinking about Myrtle daily.

12 days of Missing Myrtle

It's been 12 days. I didn't think I would need these stickers I ordered, thought - by the time they got here Myrtle would be home safe. I hate to be wrong, especially this time.

I can't stand her not being here. This week was tough, and there have been some things that have happened that I don't want to talk about, I only want to ask – how can people take pleasure in seeing someone suffer? My heart is so far from that, that it just shakes me to my core.

I love this photo. You can't tell, but her tail was mid-furious-wag.

I think it's time to focus on Long Island City and Queens (we got a reliable call that she was seen crossing a bridge to Queens the night she went missing). With the help of a friend, I'm working on a Saturday morning search party/flier posting party. If you want to help, please log on to Facebook and comment here. The details will be shared to a smaller private group.

Note: The lot Myrtle was last spotted in seems to be some kind of parking for buses – I wonder if a trucker/driver found her in the lot and took her out of the area? Out of NY completely?

Just a big thank you to Animal Haven, ABC channel 7, Newsweek, Alyssa Milano! (crazy, right), and my friends. This is not getting easier, your love and support is appreciated and keeps me sane.

Cemeteries, bunnies, trying to stay strong.

I got a lead that myrtle ran over the bridge from Greenpoint to Queens (down Greenpoint Ave) last Saturday early, early morning (thats when she was lost). That's all I have that's real right now. Biked around that area and there are lots of spots to hide. Called her name, kept expecting to see her. Nothing. I did see an entrance to the cemetery over there and went looking for her. Nothing but two frightened bunnies who hopped out of a hiding spot. A slight moment of panic followed by cuteness and then, of course, by disappointment.

My friend Annie snapped this pic, which I swear was not planned. I'm not looking for America, but my sweet little myrtle.

I think many people give up after a few days because this part is the toughest. It's like being at the airport waiting for a loved one to get off the plane and they never do and you're left there not knowing what to do next.

I think most of you know about my love for all dogs. I have always connected deeply with them. When I was little, during a bad point in my childhood, I had a guardian, she was a doberman named cushion. We would both curl up together and nap in her dog bed - it was a wicker basket. She followed me around and seemed to see me as a puppy. I felt so safe with her.

With Myrtle, I felt like her guardian.

myrtle aka chi-chi aka squirtz aka little tiny

Must keep moving, keeping positive, even in the face of some really rough obstacles. I'm heading over to pick up a Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue pup who needs a foster mom, I hope she doesn't mind an emotional, sometimes pathetic temporary mumma. Maybe this will help me to obsess a little less, I don't think it's helping me any more right now. This could take weeks, months... and I feel like it's already been at least 30 days since she ran away, even though it's only been just over one week. I won't be able to go at this pace emotionally or physically for much longer.

Please say another prayer for Myrtle, hang one more flier, post one more positive comment over on Facebook. I'll need your help to keep going.

From one dog lover to another.

Myrtle has been gone for so long, with no leads. If you have her, please, just drop her off at a vet or contact me and you'll get the reward no questions asked for keeping her safe! We know anyone who might have her has got to be a dog lover too.

It's Sunday, come on Tom Colicchio! Let's #FindMyrtle!!!

Woke up alone again. Someone told me yesterday that in the 1800s, royalty would own large packs of chihuahuas that would sleep with them at night and keep them warm. I think they just knew what it's like to wake up with a sweet little chihuahua and wanted all the chihuahua snuggles they could get! (Myrtle always gets up last, sometimes as late as noon. Always makes me laugh to hear her worm her way out from under the covers and then hop down to tap dance her way into the living room and ask for breakfast.)

(Quick story, last night I bumped into the amazing Tom Colicchio and gave him a flier. I was going to a wedding and went into Manhattan when the location was in Brooklyn! Perhaps I was meant to bump into him and he will be the one that helps us Find Myrtle?)

Desperately need more fliers to get out there – hopefully someone has Myrtle safe and warm and doesn't know there's a army of #FindMyrtle heros looking for her, so we NEED them to see a flier.

Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bushwick and beyond, it's been a week and Myrtle is FAST so she really could be anywhere. Signs on and near subways, near grocery stores, in laundromats, gyms, rec centers, churches, delis, shopping centers can also help get this search in front of the eyes of the right person.

Download and print Myrtle fliers here. 

Pick up Myrtle fliers at  Norman and N. Henry- the entrance to McGolrick park, Cafe Grumpy on Meserole, and  Site in Astoria.

If you are a business owner in Bushwick or Williamsburg and can host Find Myrtle fliers, please let me know. I will drop some off!

There was a strange sighting of a dark, small black dog running loose - and scared out in Canarsie. So if you happen to live out there, it wouldn't hurt to keep your eyes peeled and put up a few fliers!

If you are following along and are not in NYC - here's a list of things you can do to help:

• Share images of Myrtle online: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, on your blog, to your email list, etc.
• Like the Facebook Page. 
• Donate to the Find Myrtle Search Team: Giving $1k to the team who has been out every single night, all night looking for Myrtle. They are volunteering their time and have a dog training business, I would like to help them. $500 has been spent on printing fliers, $300 on ads in papers and on Facebook. $200 on taxis to false leads. Whew, this is a costly endeavor! 
• Text the story and an image to your phone contacts. 
• Pray! Send good energy! As your dogs to keep an ear to the ground, those dogs talk! :)
• MORE ways to help here: 21 Ways to Help #FindMyrtle

Here is what I have next to me when I work, how will I get back to work without this little chi to consult with? She's really good at coming up with solutions when I get stuck.

Update: Astoria Chihuahua is NOT Myrtle

I received 2 calls about a found chihuahua in Astoria that was given to a woman in a building up there. I needed to find this woman and make sure she did not take Myrtle in as her own. I think I will become an FBI agent. My team consisting of Liz, Jim and my new friend Audres, and I tracked down 2 leads and knocked on a woman's door until she answered. She did lose her chihuahua a few days ago and it was returned to her, she said. "Let me go get her." She brought the little chihuahua over and it wasn't Myrtle. She looked at lot like Myrtle, but not my baby. The woman was in tears, tell me she would pray for me.

Check out Audres and his sweet, sweet pup. He helped me track this woman down so we could make sure this wasn't Myrtle. 

I am meeting the most loving, helpful and generous people during this whole endeavor. Thank you all. Dog people, you are crazy and awesome and I love you. Thank you all who are out there on the streets fliering – I hope someone is keeping her warm and just hasn't seen a flier yet.

I suppose we should keep looking in Greenpoint, Bushwick, maybe she even made it over the bridge to Sunnyside. Fliers are going to get her found, but also, how can I get in contact with all the industrial businesses up there in North Greenpoint? I tried to call and flyer around those businesses, left some in mailboxes, tried to talk to as many people working there as possible.

***However, there is still the story of a woman who told a pet store clerk in Astoria that she found a chihuahua and might keep it. I do not know the color of that chihuahua so, not a great lead.