ARLINGTON — Cheri Dieckman prepared for the worst when her highly trained Blue Merle Sheltie escaped.

Dieckman and her husband John, who live in Allen, Wash., were in Arlington Aug. 23 getting a new windshield put in on their RV, when Lamor, a highly trained agility dog, slipped out of the vehicle and into downtown Arlington.

“(Losing him) would have affected more than just our family,” Dieckman said. “For a while, I was taking him to a local retirement home. Elderly people just loved to have him visit. It would have also affected the agility world, our friends and our family.”

About three hours after 3-year-old Lamor snuck out the door, he was back with his family thanks to the help of Theresa Larson, a community member who managed to grab the roaming family pet.

Larson took the dog to an Arlington veterinarian’s office to scan Lamor’s microchip, Dieckman said. She called and left messages for Dieckman and her veterinarian, and kept Lamor in her living room until she could get in touch with his owners.

“I’m so glad somebody got him,” Dieckman said. “I was screaming my head off with his name and the whole community got involved with this panicked woman”

Dieckman offered the woman a cash reward, but she declined.

“She could have kept my wonderful dog, but chose to find his owner instead and that speaks highly of the kind of person she is, she said.”

Lamor is not only a purebred Sheltie, a breed of herding dog, he understands six American Sign Language signs and 200 English words, Dieckman said.

Dieckman said that she hopes her story can be a lesson other pet owners.

“Please make sure you have a collar on your pet with ID when you are away from home and microchip your animals,” she said. “Lamor is living proof — the information got him back to me.”