TOLONO — In a made-for-TV ending to the only apparent negative aspect of the Extreme Makeover saga of a Philo family, the family’s missing dog was found Wednesday afternoon.

Darlene Schweighart, her husband, Bob Schweighart, their daughter, Angela Schweighart, and Bob’s brother Bill Schweighart were instrumental in locating Samson, a 170-pound English mastiff, on the west side of Tolono.

The dog had been staying in Tolono, about a mile from where he was found, with relatives of Nathan and Jenny Montgomery and ran away last weekend.

About 2 p.m. Wednesday, Darlene said Bill was working on the family’s computer and they were all talking about where the dog could be when Bill looked up and said: “Like that horse?” in reference to a large dog that ran by their home on Broadway Street.

“You never seen four people move so fast in your life,” Darlene said.

Her husband, daughter and brother-in-law jumped in Bill’s truck while she got in their car with an extra leash. The Schweigharts are the proud owners of a beagle.

Darlene said she went one direction and Bill went another. Once they regrouped, her husband instructed her to go around the block.

“I went down a street and I seen Samson go into a corner. He was so scared, he just sat there,” Darlene said, describing how the dog sat next to a house on Marshall Street.

Darlene said knowing her family members were nearby, she yelled for them.

“We couldn’t coax the dog out of the corner,” she said, adding that cheese and dog treats weren’t working on the tired, hungry, scared member of the Montgomery family.

“My daughter finally coaxed him out. We got him in the car and took him to Philo. He was tired, just laying in the car resting. He drank two bottles of water, he was so thirsty.”

Once back in Philo, Darlene Schweighart said, one of Jenny Montgomery’s relatives got Samson out of her car with a “big ole’ sandwich.” Schweighart said she didn’t get to meet the Montgomerys, who were in the midst of taping sessions for the ABC television show to be aired in October.

Tolono Police Chief Rick Raney said there had been several Samson sightings in the last few days and he and other village employees were out looking for the dog again Wednesday.

“One of my maintenance guys had a whole box of donuts he was going to feed the dog because he heard he liked donuts,” Raney said.

Darlene Schweighart said her husband was “determined to find this dog.”
“We are dog people. We know what it’s like to have a dog,” she said of their beagle, which they’ve had 2½ years.

“It was exciting. We had a good time,” she said of her family’s role in the happy ending. “We’re just glad Samson is OK.”