On June 27th, 2018, we went to search for Phoebe, a six year old dog who was rescued from abuse and neglect three years ago. Although she is much better than she was at first, she is still skittish and shy, and reactive to unexpected movements. Something spooked her when she was out for a walk with her family in a wilderness area, and she bolted. Fozzie has the most experience searching for lost dogs, but he sometimes has difficulties getting through rough terrain, being a 15 pound poodle. Also, Phoebe’s family had seen a mountain lion and a black bear while they were looking for Phoebe. Tino is 97 pounds and looks like a wolf, which might be less inviting for a large predator than a fluffy little white poodle. So, I took a can of bear spray, and Tino and I set out to go search the wilderness for Phoebe.
We were able to drive right to the top of Amabilis Mountain, 4508 feet, the point where Phoebe bolted. After presenting the scent article to Tino, he took off, pulling hard, down the primitive road. I couldn’t let him go, and I couln’t run as fast as he can, so I had to put all my energy into holding him back. This was exhausting, and after a mile, my legs felt like rubber. I imagine I will hardly be able to walk tomorrow. It was great that Tino had such a strong scent and followed it so well, but either I will have to get in much better shape, or Tino will need to calm down a little. We followed the scent for 5 miles down the hill, until the scent stopped and it appeared Phoebe turned back up the mountain. At five or more locations, judging by Tino’s tracking, Phoebe got off the road, into the woods. Where she left the road, a dog could easily go, but a human holding a dog’s leash could not easily or safely get through. Either the brush was too dense or the slope was too steep and slippery, with loose gravel. Although I couldn’t be certain, without actually tracking the scent in these difficult areas, it seemed to me that Phoebe went up and down the main road more than once, and she got off the road to avoid people or to sleep under a tree. Because she used the road for most of her travels, and only got off the road now and then, the strongest scent was along the road. We probably passed her, possibly 100 feet off the road, but the scent trail along the road was stronger than the scent of the branch path she took because she went up and down the road several times. Tino and I checked all the walkable ways off the road, and Phoebe didn’t go any of those ways. Based on Tino’s tracking, I reported to Phoebe’s family that she was probably still on the mountain, probably near the road, and would likely return again to the place she last saw her family.
Besides the bear and the cougar, coyotes were present in the landscape, judging by the coyote scat Tino found in at least a dozen places. Even with so many predators in the area, I felt that the chances of Phoebe being taken by a predator were pretty low because she is 45 pounds, healthy, and athletic. Also, we found no signs that she had been attacked by a predator. Tino’s nose probably would have found remains if she had been attacked. We found plenty of places she could find water, and I remain hopeful that her owners can find her.
As we were up near the top, searching, two fighter jets flew low over Lake Kachess, 2,000 feet below. Out in the middle of the wilderness, suddenly two jets screamed by. Then silence again. Later, when our search took us to the bottom of the mountain, closer to the lake, the jets came by again. This time, they were maybe a quarter of a mile away, basically at eye level. The first one coming through was a shock. I figured there would be a second one, and I put my hands over my ears, but also I felt like I needed to hold my head together to keep it from exploding because of the noise. As the second one went by, and I clamped my hands on my ears, I looked down at Tino, looking up at the jet roaring by, with his big radar-dish ears facing the jet, just looking at it like, Hmm, interesting. His hearing has got to be much better than mine, but he was not the least bit alarmed by jets shattering the silence. I asked how Phoebe would react to the jets, which fly through regularly, and her owner said Phoebe was not bothered by jets or fireworks, which is good news.
One of the reasons I chose to take Tino on this search was that I thought the elevation would keep it cool enough for him to not overheat. Tino gets too hot all the time. Before we left, as I was walking Tino and Viktor before dawn, I brushed Tino with the Furminator, and I got several kittens out of him. Although I had bought him an expensive cooling vest, I have my doubts about its effectiveness, and I didn’t put it on him this time. At higher elevations, he seemed cool enough. The lower we got, the warmer it got, and Tino was panting heavily. I think he is learning how to work while panting because when he really wanted to investigate a scent, he would stop panting and sniff closely, and then resume panting. He didn’t seem to have any trouble following the scent, even with the warmer temperatures. I brought plenty of water for him in my backpack. However, Tino seems to want to always drink all the water available, and I get concerned about hyponatremia, or water toxicity, where sodium levels drop too low if a dog drinks too much water. It can be fatal for dogs, and we were miles from a vet. I tried to give him plenty of water while also preventing him from having too much. Tino searched a long time, over five miles, and I started resting him as he got hot and tired. The radar image showed a shower coming to us, which would have helped, but it much have evaporated before it reached the ground. Only on the drive home did we encounter steady rain.
After I reported our findings to Phoebe’s family, and set a trap near the last known sighting, Tino and I drove slowly down the long road down the mountain. Around each turn, I expected I might find Phoebe trotting down the road. As we made our way slowly down the mountain, I did take time to enjoy the many native wildflowers. We saw bear grass, columbine, pearly everlasting, yarrow, alder, vanilla leaf, salmon berry, thimbleberry, grand fir, Douglas fir, Douglas maple, devil’s club, lupine, penstemon, strawberry, and native blackberry. We encountered no himalayan blackberry, our nemesis on most searches near the city. We also did not see any red huckleberry, which I was hoping to eat. I’m sure they were around, but just not near the road. The sky and the clouds were amazing on this day, too. Although I was focused on finding the lost dog, I did take a few moments to notice the amazing natural beauty of the place, and snap a few pictures.
As we were driving away from Lake Kachess, toward the freeway, I saw a large animal near the side of the road. Since I’m always looking for stray dogs, my first thought was, What kind of a dog is that? It was huge, about 200 pounds maybe. It had a bear’s face, but the body was covered in a light brown coat. When it turned and ran, the motion was definitely that of a bear. I later learned that black bears are not always black. Tino never saw the bear. I was happy I got to see a bear, and also that we were in the safety of the car.
On the ride home, I stopped at a drive-through, and the woman at the window offered Tino an ice cream cone. He had never had one before. I offered it to him, and I expected him to chomp it and gulp it down in two seconds. Instead, he licked and nibbled at it, and he looked very thoughtful as he slowly ate the ice cream cone I held for him. He wasn’t sure what to do about the cone, but he eventually figured out he could eat that too. On the 60 mile trip home, he mostly slept with his head draped over my right hand. He likes to capture my hand and rest his head on it. When we got home, I imagined that he looked at me with a question in his eyes. He may have been puzzled as to why we didn’t find the dog. In training, we always find the dog. Over the course of his career, it will be the case that we don’t find most of the dogs we search for, probably, through no fault of ours. He doesn’t know that yet, and he expects to find the lost dog every time. Tino seemed to enjoy the big adventure, but he seemed disappointed that we didn’t find Phoebe.
We were able to drive right to the top of Amabilis Mountain, 4508 feet, the point where Phoebe bolted. After presenting the scent article to Tino, he took off, pulling hard, down the primitive road. I couldn’t let him go, and I couln’t run as fast as he can, so I had to put all my energy into holding him back. This was exhausting, and after a mile, my legs felt like rubber. I imagine I will hardly be able to walk tomorrow. It was great that Tino had such a strong scent and followed it so well, but either I will have to get in much better shape, or Tino will need to calm down a little. We followed the scent for 5 miles down the hill, until the scent stopped and it appeared Phoebe turned back up the mountain. At five or more locations, judging by Tino’s tracking, Phoebe got off the road, into the woods. Where she left the road, a dog could easily go, but a human holding a dog’s leash could not easily or safely get through. Either the brush was too dense or the slope was too steep and slippery, with loose gravel. Although I couldn’t be certain, without actually tracking the scent in these difficult areas, it seemed to me that Phoebe went up and down the main road more than once, and she got off the road to avoid people or to sleep under a tree. Because she used the road for most of her travels, and only got off the road now and then, the strongest scent was along the road. We probably passed her, possibly 100 feet off the road, but the scent trail along the road was stronger than the scent of the branch path she took because she went up and down the road several times. Tino and I checked all the walkable ways off the road, and Phoebe didn’t go any of those ways. Based on Tino’s tracking, I reported to Phoebe’s family that she was probably still on the mountain, probably near the road, and would likely return again to the place she last saw her family.
Besides the bear and the cougar, coyotes were present in the landscape, judging by the coyote scat Tino found in at least a dozen places. Even with so many predators in the area, I felt that the chances of Phoebe being taken by a predator were pretty low because she is 45 pounds, healthy, and athletic. Also, we found no signs that she had been attacked by a predator. Tino’s nose probably would have found remains if she had been attacked. We found plenty of places she could find water, and I remain hopeful that her owners can find her.
As we were up near the top, searching, two fighter jets flew low over Lake Kachess, 2,000 feet below. Out in the middle of the wilderness, suddenly two jets screamed by. Then silence again. Later, when our search took us to the bottom of the mountain, closer to the lake, the jets came by again. This time, they were maybe a quarter of a mile away, basically at eye level. The first one coming through was a shock. I figured there would be a second one, and I put my hands over my ears, but also I felt like I needed to hold my head together to keep it from exploding because of the noise. As the second one went by, and I clamped my hands on my ears, I looked down at Tino, looking up at the jet roaring by, with his big radar-dish ears facing the jet, just looking at it like, Hmm, interesting. His hearing has got to be much better than mine, but he was not the least bit alarmed by jets shattering the silence. I asked how Phoebe would react to the jets, which fly through regularly, and her owner said Phoebe was not bothered by jets or fireworks, which is good news.
One of the reasons I chose to take Tino on this search was that I thought the elevation would keep it cool enough for him to not overheat. Tino gets too hot all the time. Before we left, as I was walking Tino and Viktor before dawn, I brushed Tino with the Furminator, and I got several kittens out of him. Although I had bought him an expensive cooling vest, I have my doubts about its effectiveness, and I didn’t put it on him this time. At higher elevations, he seemed cool enough. The lower we got, the warmer it got, and Tino was panting heavily. I think he is learning how to work while panting because when he really wanted to investigate a scent, he would stop panting and sniff closely, and then resume panting. He didn’t seem to have any trouble following the scent, even with the warmer temperatures. I brought plenty of water for him in my backpack. However, Tino seems to want to always drink all the water available, and I get concerned about hyponatremia, or water toxicity, where sodium levels drop too low if a dog drinks too much water. It can be fatal for dogs, and we were miles from a vet. I tried to give him plenty of water while also preventing him from having too much. Tino searched a long time, over five miles, and I started resting him as he got hot and tired. The radar image showed a shower coming to us, which would have helped, but it much have evaporated before it reached the ground. Only on the drive home did we encounter steady rain.
After I reported our findings to Phoebe’s family, and set a trap near the last known sighting, Tino and I drove slowly down the long road down the mountain. Around each turn, I expected I might find Phoebe trotting down the road. As we made our way slowly down the mountain, I did take time to enjoy the many native wildflowers. We saw bear grass, columbine, pearly everlasting, yarrow, alder, vanilla leaf, salmon berry, thimbleberry, grand fir, Douglas fir, Douglas maple, devil’s club, lupine, penstemon, strawberry, and native blackberry. We encountered no himalayan blackberry, our nemesis on most searches near the city. We also did not see any red huckleberry, which I was hoping to eat. I’m sure they were around, but just not near the road. The sky and the clouds were amazing on this day, too. Although I was focused on finding the lost dog, I did take a few moments to notice the amazing natural beauty of the place, and snap a few pictures.
As we were driving away from Lake Kachess, toward the freeway, I saw a large animal near the side of the road. Since I’m always looking for stray dogs, my first thought was, What kind of a dog is that? It was huge, about 200 pounds maybe. It had a bear’s face, but the body was covered in a light brown coat. When it turned and ran, the motion was definitely that of a bear. I later learned that black bears are not always black. Tino never saw the bear. I was happy I got to see a bear, and also that we were in the safety of the car.
On the ride home, I stopped at a drive-through, and the woman at the window offered Tino an ice cream cone. He had never had one before. I offered it to him, and I expected him to chomp it and gulp it down in two seconds. Instead, he licked and nibbled at it, and he looked very thoughtful as he slowly ate the ice cream cone I held for him. He wasn’t sure what to do about the cone, but he eventually figured out he could eat that too. On the 60 mile trip home, he mostly slept with his head draped over my right hand. He likes to capture my hand and rest his head on it. When we got home, I imagined that he looked at me with a question in his eyes. He may have been puzzled as to why we didn’t find the dog. In training, we always find the dog. Over the course of his career, it will be the case that we don’t find most of the dogs we search for, probably, through no fault of ours. He doesn’t know that yet, and he expects to find the lost dog every time. Tino seemed to enjoy the big adventure, but he seemed disappointed that we didn’t find Phoebe.