Where's Wally?

ROSE LAKE — Eric Ross Wiksten has been at the University of Southern California since August while recovering from an emergency liver and kidney transplant.

"I felt absolutely fine and I ended up with gout one day, and jaundice," Wiksten said in a phone interview Monday evening. "I went to Kootenai (Health) and the next thing I know, they’re telling me, 'You've only got a few days to live.'"

Wiksten was coming to terms with his final days on Earth, saying goodbye to loved ones and preparing for the worst. But then a doctor suggested sending him to USC for an emergency operation.

"Two weeks later, I was having a liver and kidney transplant," he said. "I had only been to a doctor once or twice in my lifetime. Never had any sickness in my life."

In the whirlwind of medical chaos, Wiksten asked a trusted friend to watch over his canine companion, Wally. His 7-year-old border collie mix has been staying at a home on acreage in Rose Lake, a similar setting to Wiksten's Cougar Gulch country residence where the dog was used to encountering wildlife.

"He’s a country dog," Wiksten said. "When I’m awake, he has free reign of the whole area in Cougar Gulch, and everyone on the west side of Cougar Gulch knows him."

Just a week before his return journey, Wiksten received the news that Wally is missing. The black-and-white canine was last seen on his friend's property on Black Rock Road off Idaho State Highway 3 in Rose Lake. Wiksten finally returns home Saturday.

"He just ran off," Wiksten said. "There’s another large dog there that he’s been staying with and they think there were deer or something in the field behind their house."

Wally came to Wiksten out of another kind of life-or-death scenario.

"The Kellogg animal shelter had called us and we already had two large dogs," he explained. "They found a litter of puppies that had been abandoned, and all the other puppies had died except for Wally. It was kind of an emergency situation."

Wiksten said Wally grew to be the "happiest, healthiest dog you could possibly ask for," and "doesn't have a mean bone in his body."

Wally is microchipped and probably not wearing a collar. He has long, black wavy hair with white tuxedo markings on his chest, stomach and paws. He weighs about 90 pounds and is extremely friendly.

If anyone locates Wally or has information leading to his whereabouts, call Wiksten at 771-0157.