A winning pooch in this month’s Nicola Valley Kennel Club Dog Show slipped his collar and went missing during the Merritt Canada Day fireworks.

Kody, a one-year-old flashy brindle boxer, broke loose after hearing the loud bangs.

“They were taking him out to go to the bathroom and he slipped out,” said co-owner Karen Knox, who returned to her home in Surrey while a team of volunteers including her husband, the dog’s other owner and members of the NVKC continued the search.

“They are still out there looking,” she said on Tuesday. “They’re doing everything they can think of.”

Wayne McMurray, the dog’s other owner, was returning home to Kelowna on Tuesday after 10 days of steady searching.

“We are heading back to Kelowna right now,” he said in a phone interview. “We put food out for him and his bed and articles of clothing to lure him back, but there’s been no sign of him.”

McMurray stayed at the Ramada Inn during the nights and searched Merritt and its outskirts each day.

During his stay, there was one possible sighting on a logging road near River Ranch.

“We’ve saturated the Merritt area,” he said. “He could still be in there but I’m kinda doubtful on that. He could have been picked up, but if enough people know about it, there’s still a chance [to find him].”

Nicola Valley Kennel Club Secretary-Treasurer Lori Jacobson and two other volunteers from NVKC are still on the prowl.

“We’ll continue the search until we find him,” she said, noting he is likely continually walking in and out of town. “I think he’s pretty terrified. Boxers are skittish, anyway, so unless someone has a leash and collar when they see him, he would be very hard to retrieve.”

The team has informed those who frequent the roads, such as truck drivers, about the missing dog.

She said the search party has recently received tips about the dog’s location.

“We are out in the middle of the night searching,” she said. “We’re grasping at straws at this point and we’re getting pretty tired.”

Posters and a notice on a rescue mailing list are also part of search efforts.

The Nicola Valley Kennel Club show ran for three days at Voght Park from June 29 to July 1.

Kody won first place in the boxer competition.

Anyone with information about Kody’s whereabouts is asked to call Karen at 778-688-0564.