University of Michigan graduate Jennifer Cannon visited Ann Arbor this week to help educate the public about a rare breed of dog.

Cannon brought her coal-colored pet named Eden, a berger picard, and a friend’s berger picard to attend a “meet the breed” event running as part of the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Show on Saturday and Sunday at Cobo Convention Center.

There are about 400 of the dogs in the United States.

But Cannon’s trip took a tragic turn after the dogs escaped from a Days Inn in Pittsfield Township. Eden died after being hit by a car late Thursday on Washtenaw Avenue near Carpenter Road, said Cannon, who now lives in North Carolina.

Cannon, an endocrine surgeon, said she is devastated and thinks the dogs may have jumped up and unlatched the door before running out the hotel’s automatic door while she was at dinner.

“I made sure the door was shut,” she said. She left the dogs out of their crates so Eden wouldn’t howl and disturb other guests, she said.

The hotel manager said video footage shows the door hadn’t been pulled completely shut after Cannon left. Video footage show that the dogs got out of the room at 6:40 p.m. Thursday, Days Inn manager John Hakim said.

Hakim spent the tail end of his shift trying to round up the dogs and called a Pittsfield police officer to help. After about a half hour, the dogs bolted from the hotel through an automatic front door.

While Cannon’s friend’s dog eventually came back on its own, Eden did not.

Cannon and others set off to search for Eden. Cannon found her pet on the side of the road on Washtenaw Avenue in a snow bank at 1 a.m., she said.

Hakim, a dog owner, said he feels for Cannon’s loss.

“I’m sympathetic to the lady, and I feel horrible for her,” he said.

Cannon had Eden cremated Friday morning and still plans to head to Cobo and help educate the public about the breed.

She got Eden five months ago, she said, rescuing him from a family in Canada who found the breed to be a little overwhelming. Picards that aren’t heavily socialized early on with lots of other dogs and people might show aggression out of fear, Cannon said, and that was the case with Eden.

Raising awareness about the breed’s tendencies and needs was a main reason she came to educate the public about berger picards.

By working with Eden over the last five months, teaching him sports like fly ball, a relay for dogs and a “glorified game of catch,” he thrived, she said.

“I put my entire heart into helping him sort through some of the issues he’d developed, and he had been coming along so beautifully,” she said.

“He was my canine soul mate,” she said.

Lisa Naert, the president of the American Berger Picard Alliance, said Eden was one of just 4,000 worldwide. It’s a tight-knit community of dog owners, she said.

The dogs, she said, are loving and attentive. The rustic French herding breed can be aloof to strangers and protective of owners. They need structured training to thrive as pets. And they’re smart.

While Cannon said her dog will be missed, she is looking forward to receiving a new berger picard puppy in April.

Juliana Keeping is a health and environment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter