***UPDATE***
Just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, Phillip Rose got a call that Lucky Dog was in a Whitehaven home’s front yard.
Rose and Lucky Dog were reunited shortly after. Rose said Lucky was found in good condition and is in good spirits.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Phillip Rose is headed into the New Year without his old friend.
Rose’s Black Lab, Lucky Dog, has been missing since Monday after thieves stole his truck while Lucky was inside.
“One of the worst feelings I’ve had in a good while,” Rose said. “If you have a kid, it’s the same thing. It’s the same identical thing. He’s just in a dog form.”
The theft happened around 7 a.m. when Rose stopped at a gas station on East Brooks Road near Interstate 55.
“Went inside to get coffee,” he said.
But he did something with his keys he normally doesn’t do.
“I made the mistake and threw them down in the cup holder in the middle of the console,” Rose said.
He left the truck unlocked, and that gave thieves a chance to jump in and take off.
Using the vehicle’s tracking service, police followed the truck to a park near Lamar and Kimball, where the thieves tried to speed away but got stuck in the grass. Officers arrested two 17-year-old girls who told police they left Lucky Dog somewhere near Graceland.
“I’ve spent the day up and down pretty much every side street around Graceland,” Rose said. “And no luck so far.”
Rose got his faithful companion 10 years ago when he was just a puppy after the little guy turned up at a friend’s house on Christmas Day.
“My buddy already had four dogs, and he’s like, ‘I can’t keep this dog,’ and didn’t know what he was going to do with it,” Rose said. “After a couple weeks, he got adamant that he was getting rid of the dog, and I said, ‘Well, I guess today’s your lucky day. So your name will be Lucky Dog.”
And he’s been by Rose’s side ever since.
“He’s with me every day, day in and day out,” Rose said.
But now he’s not, and it’ll take some luck to get Lucky Dog home.
“I hope somebody sees him and sees this story and can relate or not relate and do the right thing and give somebody a call and hopefully, we’ll get him back home and get him in his bed and back to his normal life,” Rose said.
If you’ve seen Lucky Dog, or if you know anything that can help, call police at 901-636-3943.
