Anne O’Dwyer’s tears for 15-year-old dingo-Kelpie cross Cosmo lost in outback for 10 days

Courageous dingo-Kelpie cross Cosmo has survived for 10 days in the tough SA outback. Read his incredible survival tale.

It’s an outback survival story with bite.

Cosmo the 15-year-old part Kelpie part dingo spent 10 nights alone in the South Australian bush after wandering off during a trip from Melbourne to Darwin.

Travelling with owner Anne O’Dwyer and her friend Karl Brand to their Darwin River holiday home where they spend half the year, Cosmo went missing when they arrived in Glendambo, SA.

“We’d been in the car for hours and he’s busting to go and relieve himself,” Ms O’Dwyer said.

“He’s very polite and he doesn’t do it anywhere near where you are and he’s got confused and just went the wrong way.

Cosmo the dingo-Kelpie cross went missing for 10 days in the Territory outback. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“We drove all around the back roads everywhere we can think of calling and calling and absolutely no sign of him — he hadn’t done anything like this.”

Ms O’Dwyer and Mr Brand held out hope that Cosmo would return, but after searching for hours they decided to continue north.

But when they arrived at Tennant Creek a few nights and thousand kilometres later, they received news of Cosmo’s whereabouts.

A picture was texted through of him with some food left by tourists who had spotted him in the bush near Kingoonya, about 43km away from where he was last seen.

“I burst into tears and we turned around and went back to get him,” Ms O’Dwyer said.

With another thousand-odd kilometres under their belt, Ms O’Dwyer and Mr Brand arrived in Kingoonya, population 13, only to discover Cosmo had wandered off again.

Cosmo the old dog went missing on the drive up to Darwin and was returned by Karl Brand to owner Anne O’Dwyer 10 days later. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“We searched Kingoonya and all around it for a couple of days, talked to all the locals, no sign of him — by this stage he’s been gone for a week.

“We thought there’s no way he could survive so we turned around and headed back to Darwin,” Ms O’Dwyer said.

The pair had made it all the way to Adelaide River before they got another update on their beloved pooch.

“This guy Lenny sends me a text saying we’ve found your dog — so I burst into tears again,” Ms O’Dwyer said.

Map showing Kingoonya in the South Australian outback, about 43km from Glendambo.

The pair then had the tough after having already travelled up and down the Stuart Hwy twice this trip.

But Mr Brand heroically stepped up, volunteering to spend long hours on the road and sleep in his car to get back to Cosmo as quickly as possible.

Despite an initial reluctance to hop in the car, Cosmo was returned safe and sound to an emotional Ms O’Dwyer.

“I burst into tears again — it’s been a teary time,” she said.

“He was really happy to see me but he was tired and he was skinny.”

It’s not known what Cosmo ate to survive his ordeal but Ms O’Dwyer said it was lucky there had been rain recently and he could drink water from the puddles.

And she says she doesn’t think he’ll be venturing out too far anytime soon.

“He sticks close by me now, he’s not taking any risks,” she said.

Originally published as Anne O’Dwyer’s tears for 15-year-old dingo-Kelpie cross Cosmo lost in outback for 10 days