You’ve probably found or seen some interesting things while out walking your dog. When you spend a lot of time outside, you’re more likely to come across things that are unusual. Walking the dog gives us an excuse to get outdoors where who-knows-what can happen.
During my time as a professional dog walker, for instance, I once found $60 on the ground in a park. Sure, it wasn’t a fortune. But it made for a great date night, and I wouldn’t have seen it if I stayed at home indoors.
Some people have come across some much more valuable, odd, and amazing things while out walking their dogs. Here are eight of the wildest dog walker finds you’ve probably ever heard of.
1. Ancient Artifacts
It’s not too uncommon for people to come across arrowheads and ancient stone tools while walking their dogs. There are many places where these fascinating and historically valuable items can be spotted out in the open without the need for excavation.
One of the more valuable finds, however, happened in Ohio in 2010 when Tim and Kathy Cannon, a married couple out walking their dog, came across a shiny, pointed object. It was gray-blue in color with hints of pink, and it was only about two and a half inches long.
Kathy first thought it was a kid’s toy, but she picked it up and found it was a sharpened rock. She assumed it was an arrowhead from a Native American tribe, so she sent a picture to the Ohio Historical Society.
It turned out that the object was actually much older than Kathy assumed. The item was a spear point from the Adena culture, which predates the Native Americans in Ohio. It was likely between 2,800 and 3,000 years old and may have been used by a hunting party that lost it.
This fascinating find probably wouldn’t have been possible if the Cannons hadn’t been out walking their dog, but now they have an interesting part of history.
2. A 300 Million-Year-Old Fossil
Fossils aren’t that uncommon, either. However, really, really old ones tend to be more difficult to spot, as they’re usually buried a bit deeper.
Patrick and Susie Keating were out walking their dog, Kitty, in Nova Scotia when they came across what looked like a chicken breast encased in rock.
Of course, it wasn’t a chicken. It was a fossil of a partial sail, rib cage, and backbone of a long-extinct sail-back reptile, and the fossil was between 290 and 305 million years old. The couple later found the animal’s skull on the same beach.
The fossil was turned over to the Nova Scotia Museum and later displayed at Halifax’s Museum of Natural History. It was a significant find because it helped paleontologists fill in some gaps in their understanding of ancient life in the region.
Similar fossils were found in Europe and Texas, which were connected to Nova Scotia 300 million years ago, and footprints of the sail-back reptile had been found in the area, too.
This significant historical find was made possible because Kitty the dog needed a walk.
3. A Valuable Meteorite
Most objects that enter our atmosphere burn up before hitting the ground, so it’s unlikely that you’ll find a space rock just lying around. However, some people get lucky, as Brenda Salveson of California found out in 2012.
Brenda was walking her Collie in a local park when she spotted the small rock that weighed only 17 grams — not much bigger than a tablespoon of sugar.
A meteor shower had rained down space rocks just a few days earlier, and many people were visiting the area just to collect these rare meteorites. The one Brenda found could be four to six billion years old, and some estimated it might be worth up to $20,000 or more.
So Brenda, of course, let her son bring it to school for show and tell. Now it’s safely locked up, and Brenda isn’t quite ready to part with it.
The chances of coming across such a valuable hunk of rock are pretty slim, but apparently the odds are a bit better if you’re out walking your dog.
4. A Whole Lot Of Money
People come across lost money all the time, like I did with my $60 windfall in my dog walker days. However, some people have even better luck.
A man walking his dog near the Spalding River in the United Kingdom spotted something strange floating down stream. What he saw was thousands of pounds in cold, wet bills adrift.
What would you do if you saw that much money? Buy a luxury bed for your dog who led you to the cash? Well, the man did the right thing and reported the money to authorities.
In all, 60,000 pounds of bills were fished out of the water, equal to about $100,000 in American dollars at the time. Hopefully the man at least snagged a few damp notes out of the river for himself so he could buy some dog treats.
5. $10 Million In Gold Coins
If you think the last find was a lot of money, stick around for this story.
A couple in California were walking their dog on their property in 2014 when they came across an old metal can sticking out of the ground. They dug it out and found that it was full of gold coins. In fact, there were many cans buried on their property, all full of valuable gold coins from the 1800s.
How did the coins get there? No one knows, but the cans were buried in different locations and at different depths, which suggests that they were not all buried at the same time. The coins were also remarkably well preserved, and one coin in the collection was worth $1 Million all on its own.
All in all, the coins were worth about $10 Million. The couple and their dog did not wish to be identified for fear that people would come and dig up their property searching for more treasure.
Hopefully their dog got plenty of new toys for finding the goods.
6. A Bunch Of Kittens
Not all valuable things are worth a lot of money.
A dog named Aragon was out for a walk with his human in Greece when he came across a box full of kittens. Apparently this is not an uncommon thing in Greece, and abandoned pets often become targets of hungry foxes who hunt in the area. These kittens got lucky.
Aragon’s mom was a volunteer for a local rescue group, and she brought the kittens home to foster them. It turned out that Aragon became their foster dad, though, as the pup showered them with love and adoration.
Aragon and his human aren’t the only ones who come across abandoned animals and pets. If you come across animals in need on your walk, call your local shelter, rescue group, or animal control so they can make sure the creatures are brought to safety.
7. Paranormal Creatures And Aliens
Now we’re just getting silly, right? Do dog walkers really come across paranormal or supernatural beings on their walks?
Well, maybe they do if we are to believe their eyewitness accounts. I mean, if you are going to have a strange encounter, it’s probably going to happen when you’re outside, and there’s no shortage of reports of strange sightings out there.
Bigfoot
For example, a North Carolina man who was out walking his Yorkie, Zippy, filmed what he claimed to be Bigfoot walking nearby. Zippy bravely barked at the creature who wandered off.
Was it just a guy in a gorilla costume? Probably. But Zippy was there to save the day, regardless.
Alien UFOs
A man named Robert Taylor in Scotland claimed to have seen and been abducted by a UFO in 1979 while he was out walking his dog on a forest path. He said he spotted a large metal dome hovering above the ground, and several small domes dragged him toward it.
Taylor lost consciousness, and when he awoke, his clothes were torn. He walked home and reported the incident to police, who found strange markings on the ground where it took place.
They treated the incident as a criminal assault, and it became the only UFO sighting that was the subject of a criminal investigation. Some say Taylor suffered from hallucinations brought on by epilepsy. We’ll probably never know for sure.
However, if you’re out walking your dog, don’t forget to look up once in a while and avoid unknown objects.
The Mothman
You may have heard of the Mothman from movies, books, and reports of sightings. This creature is said to be tall and winged, and it only appears before a major disaster.
Well a woman walking her dog in Oz Park in Chicago claimed to have spotted the monster in 2017. She said she came across a man at least seven feet tall, pitch black, with wings folded on his back. She claimed it felt like the man could see through her and read her thoughts.
Is there any truth to these spooky claims? Can people out walking their dogs prove that paranormal entities exist? Probably not. But they prove you can see weird things when you walk your dog, and sometimes those things can’t be explained.
So be careful and stay alert when walking your dog. You might find something important, valuable, or totally weird when you’re spending time with your pooch.
Have you ever found anything unusual on your walks with your dog? What’s the most interesting thing you’ve come across on a dog walk? Let us know in the comments below!
