NEED TO KNOW

• A Wisconsin woman and her family adopted a dog from a local shelter on Jan. 16

• Moments after the woman brought the dog home in her car that day, he escaped and ran off into a nearby field

• The dog remained on the loose for 37 days before he was reunited with his worried family

Emily Rendall-Araujo and her husband, Andres Araujo, weren’t looking to add a new member to their family. They already had a full house with two kids, two dogs, five barn cats and 10 chickens.

Then, one day in January, Emily, 37, saw a posting for an “adorable” rescue dog named Sly at the Sheboygan County Humane Society in Wisconsin and found herself smitten. Andres, 40, encouraged her to go meet the Great Pyrenees mix at the shelter, but ultimately Sly wasn’t the right fit due to his “high prey drive and bad history with cats,” Emily tells PEOPLE.

But at the shelter, she encountered another dog, named Zero. At the time, little could she imagine the wild adventure he would eventually take her family on over the course of 37 days.

According to Emily, the 3-year-old Australian cattle dog had been surrendered by his former family because he had been “a little too rough” with their toddler but did well with older children. Staff told Emily that Zero was having a hard time at the shelter and was reluctant to open up to people.

While Emily observed that he was anxious, Zero warmed up to her quickly and even surprised her by planting “a smooch” on her face. “I have a close friend who volunteers at the shelter and knows all of the dogs, so when I told her about Zero’s affection, she responded with, ‘OMG! That’s actually so amazing, Emily! He definitely picked up that you’re a real one because he doesn’t do that for just any person,’ ” Emily recalls.

“When I took my kids — Freddie, 9, and Josie, 7 — back the next night to meet Zero, I had the same connection with him,” she continues. “We agreed to adopt him pending a successful meet and greet with our other two dogs, [Harvey and Rocco].”

The meeting between the three dogs went well, and Emily finalized the adoption paperwork and took Zero home on Friday, Jan. 16. She herded all three dogs into the third row of her car, tying their leashes down.

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When she arrived at the family’s house, she parked in the garage and opened the back of the car. That’s when disaster struck.

“I did not realize Zero’s leash had come untethered during the 30-minute drive, and he hopped out of the car and immediately trotted down our driveway and ran straight into the field across from us,” she tells PEOPLE. “Our property is 12 acres, and we live in a very rural area with a lot of farm and marshland.”

She tried calling Zero back and ran down the driveway and into the field, but she eventually lost sight of the dog. Emily and her daughter, Josie, went out in the car to look for Zero, to no avail. Emily’s father, Paul Rendall, soon arrived to join the search.

Emily and Paul “hiked on foot” for two hours, following Zero’s tracks in the winter snow. “We followed tracks through thick brush in the frozen marsh, over a running creek, and accidentally followed the tracks under a fenceline and into our neighbor’s cow pasture. When we realized we were in the field with full-sized bulls, we quietly abandoned Zero’s tracks and got out of there,” Emily recalls.

Meanwhile, volunteers from Jeff’s Way Home, an organization that helps search for lost dogs, were assembling a team. They drove out to the family’s home and left scent trails in the area that Zero ran to, trying to lead him back to the house.

The search continued until about 9 p.m. that night, and then Emily “called it,” sending the volunteers home and leaving the garage door open with food out in the hopes that Zero might return. “But that did not happen,” Emily says. “We went to bed, and then the following day, many of us went out again trying to pick up his tracks. But we were unsuccessful.”

The search continued through the weekend, now with more than a dozen people — including local residents — pitching in to help. A thermal drone was used, and volunteers put up flyers and contacted local businesses to get the word out about the missing animal.

As temperatures dropped to dangerous levels by Sunday, Jan. 18, Emily and her family were “really scared that he wasn’t going to make it.” Then, on Wednesday, Jan. 21, there was a spark of hope — a sighting of Zero. More sightings followed as the days went on, and the Jeff’s Way Home group worked with area property owners to set live traps and move them each time Zero was spotted in a new location.

“If we hadn’t gotten so many regular sightings, it would’ve been easy to assume he had gotten into trouble and passed away,” Emily tells PEOPLE. “Fortunately, because we never really went more than five days or so without a sighting, I just kept thinking that eventually he would get tired and hungry enough to let his guard down and go into the trap.”

On Feb. 21, more than five weeks after Zero went missing, the desperate search finally came to an end when the dog went into the trap and was safely caught. Emily says the Jeff’s Way Home volunteers were “shouting with joy” in the moment.

One of the volunteers, Jessica, drove the trap to Emily’s home, where the family finally reunited with their lost pet. Zero was given kibble, fresh water and a warm bed with a blanket.

Emily says he is “doing remarkably well” after his 37 days out in the wild. “Despite losing 16 lbs., he’s in great shape. He didn’t have any frostbite or scratches or scrapes, but the vet did detect a heart murmur. He had a follow-up echocardiogram, which indicated that there is a murmur, but they mostly attribute it to the stress of his adventure and don’t expect any long-term issues,” she explains.

Reflecting on his great escape and what may have triggered it, Emily says, “Zero really did not do well in the shelter. He was very timid and anxious, and all of the volunteers who worked with him have told me similar stories. I think he saw the opportunity to run and took it, fearing that I might be taking him back to the shelter.”

She adds, “I did not know this at the time, but it is not uncommon for recent rescues to run like this. Zero barely knew me and definitely didn’t know our home or our area.”

Now, Zero is slowly settling in and getting comfortable with his new forever family. In a series of Threads posts recounting the ordeal, Emily shared a sweet photo of Zero lounging on her son Rocco’s bunkbed.

“He is such a good dog, and it’s amazing seeing more and more of his personality come out every day. He’s fitting in well with our other dogs and doesn’t seem to have any issues with the cats or chickens either. He is so goofy and loving and sweet, and I just love having him around!” Emily says.

Her family has “immense gratitude” for all the volunteers with Jeff’s Way Home “who spent an incredible amount of time and dedication tracking him down and bringing him home.”

“They saved his life!” Emily says, also acknowledging the support they received from their “tight-knit” community in Sheboygan County. “I heard from so many folks who were rooting for Zero’s safe return.”

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