Ten thousand bucks is a lot to pay for a lost pooch, but George Holley of Norwalk, Connecticut, will gladly fork it over to whoever finds Brandy. Locating the 6-year-old German shorthair pointer was the final wish of his stepson, Daniel Cole, who died of AIDS October 7 at age 34.

With the help of 10 volunteers, Holley has spent months hunting down the hound, who jumped out of a car window last fall. “Losing Danny and then Brandy, who were so central to our family, has been devastating,” said Holley, who has been walking the streets with a bullhorn, calling out the canine’s name.

Bent on keeping his promise to his stepson, Holley hired a pet detective. In a six-county, 30-square-mile sweep of the Norwalk area, the National Pet Recovery distributed 5,000 color posters along with dozens of “I’m not Brandy” bandanas for other short-hairs in order to weed out false alarms. The agency fields about 30 Brandy calls a day but so far no luck, said prez Jan Fipple. Holley, however, vows to “continue for as long as we get positive sightings.”