Mo’s home for Christmas

There’s something so special about being home for Christmas, there’s even a song about it. 

This year, by a twist of fate, “Mo” the dog will find herself at home for Christmas...although she may not have many complaints about where she’s been staying for the last several months. 

Mo has spent the last several months living the good life at the home of Mike and Alyson Carlson just outside of Grant.

“Our daughter Elisa found this dog while she was hiking in the mountains in Colorado,” Alyson said. “She came out of nowhere and just started following Elisa around.”

Elisa began the search to find the owners of the dog she had found, but to no avail. 

A trip to the vet found the animal had been spayed and well cared for. She did have a micro-chip, however, it couldn’t be read. 

After calling around to see if the dog had been reported missing, Elisa asked her parents, Mike and Alyson, if they’d like to give her a home. 

The Carlsons had lost their sweet black lab, Sam, one year to the day prior. They also had Audrey, who was sure to enjoy a new friend after spending a lonely year without Sam. 

The Carlsons took in the lost pup at the beginning of August, and named her Mo. 

“For us, she was one ‘mo’ dog, and the name Mo just really seemed to fit this sweetheart,” Alyson said. 

“She’s a great dog, and has been a wonderful companion for Audrey,” she added. 

The Carlsons left for the weekend and upon arriving home on a Sunday afternoon, they discovered Mo was missing. 

They called for her, and drove around and looked everywhere they could but couldn’t find her. 

Alyson reached out to Perkins County Animal Shelter, but they hadn’t seen her or heard anything.

“I worried all night that she had been hit by a car, or that she was lost and freezing somewhere,” Alyson said. 

They continued searching the next morning, but there was no sign of her. 

Alyson received a message from the vet that a deputy had picked her up and brought her in to the shelter. When they read her chip, they discovered the contact info for Mo’s lost family in Denver. 

Not all micro-chips are readable by all scanners, but the reader at the Perkins County shelter was able to read Mo’s. 

The owners were shocked and delighted at the new and said their 7-year-old boy had been praying every night since they lost her that “Morgan” would come home. 

That’s right. The dog that had been named Mo, was named Morgan! 

Monday, Dec. 17, Alyson took Audrey to the shelter to let Audrey say goodbye to her friend, and send Morgan home to her boy.

Morgan was waiting for him Christmas morning with a big red bow around her neck.

“Although we are going to miss her, we’re so glad she’s safe and we are absolutely thrilled to know that she is going home to see her boy!” Alyson said, adding “A real Christmas story if I do say so myself.”