Chapet 18: Fozzie Finds Marlena
I certainly never imagined I would have a poodle. Actually, I suspect Fozzie might be a Labradoodle. He seems to have a big dog packed into his 13 pound body. Of course, he is amazingly cute, but he is also clever, funny, and talented. He took the same 18 months of training that Kelsy did, and he has been very effective and hard-working in his training sessions, following the scent trails of lost dogs. I have not used him on actual cases very often because I have Kelsy for that. On March 9th of 2014, I was driving home from somewhere, with Fozzie in the car, when I got the call about Marlena. She is a mini-dachshund, new to a foster home, and she had run off dragging a leash when her foster tripped and fell, letting go of the leash. By the time I could have driven home and gotten Kelsy and come back, it would have been dark, so I decided to give Fozzie a try.
Fozzie works differently than Kelsy. Kelsy trots along at a steady pace, looking very much like a serious search dog. Fozzie bounces. His ears flop up and down. He is very excited, and he sweeps back and forth across the scent trail, bouncing and sweeping, looking maniacal. I presented Marlena's scent article to Fozzie in a park where she was last seen. Fozzie took a quick sniff and started bouncing and weaving along the trail. This small park seemed seldom used, with grassy paths and blackberries creeping in at the edges. At a couple of points, Fozzie ran out of scent at a Y or a turn, and he came back to go a new direction on the scent trail. After about half an hour of searching, we came to a tall fence topped with barbed wire. There were warning signs all over, saying Private Property, No Trespassing. The gap beneath the fence was large enough for a dog to get under easily. I think I could have squeezed under, if not for the No Trespassing signs. Inside the fence was a complex of large office buildings, quiet and empty on a Sunday. I told Fozzie he was a good boy, even though we didn't find our quarry. We walked half a mile to the other end of the complex, to the security shack. I told them about Marlena and gave them a flier. I asked for permission to go into the complex and continue the search, but they weren't able to let me in without checking with superiors, which wouldn't happen right away, it being Sunday. So, Fozzie and I went home for the night, hoping to get a new start in the morning.
Around 10 PM, one of the security guards called me to say they had seen Marlena inside the complex, and we had permission to use the search dog to find her. Since Fozzie had done such a good job of tracking her in the first place, I felt it was only fair to let him resume the search, as opposed to starting Kelsy on the trail. It took us forty minutes to get there, and the guard escorted us to the point where Marlena had been seen, basically just inside the fence from where Fozzie had led us through the park. I started Fozzie on the scent trail by presenting the scent article to him again. He started east, and then doubled back to the west, working through the thick rhododendrons in the landscape. Marlena had probably been watching us as we tracked her to the fence in the afternoon. Fozzie continued around the building, getting excited as the scent grew stronger. Fozzie was pulling hard as a light rain fell on us, and suddenly Marlena came sprinting toward us and ran right past us. There was nothing I could have done at that moment. I couldn't just reach out an grab the little dog. Fozzie and I followed her around the building, and she had gone back under the fence, into the park. We would have to go all the way to the entrance and then back through the park, traveling a mile to get two feet away. Or else I could squeeze under. I thought about it for a while and decided it would be better not to chase Marlena out of her comfort zone. What would I do if Fozzie tracked her down again? She wouldn't come to me or let me catch her, probably. Under the circumstances, since she had found a place where she felt safe to hide out, I felt it was better to set a humane trap for her. Fozzie and I drove around to the park side of the fence and set a trap. The next day, a security guard reported that a dog matching Marlena's description was seen walking on a leash with a woman. We never did find Marlena. She didn't go in the trap, and no one responded to the many large posters we had put up in the area. I assume that someone found her and decided to keep her, which is what often happens with small, cute dogs. The fact that we never found Marlena doesn't take away from the excellent work Fozzie did on his first real case.
Fozzie just makes me happy. He seems to make everyone happy when they are in his presence. As of this writing, he still doesn't work many searches because that is Kelsy's job as long as she is able. When Kelsy decides she wants to retire, Fozzie will be ready to fill her shoes, in his own unique way. I'm sure people will laugh at me when my search dog is a little white poodle who bounces along with his ears flapping, but Fozzie will get the job done.
Fozzie works differently than Kelsy. Kelsy trots along at a steady pace, looking very much like a serious search dog. Fozzie bounces. His ears flop up and down. He is very excited, and he sweeps back and forth across the scent trail, bouncing and sweeping, looking maniacal. I presented Marlena's scent article to Fozzie in a park where she was last seen. Fozzie took a quick sniff and started bouncing and weaving along the trail. This small park seemed seldom used, with grassy paths and blackberries creeping in at the edges. At a couple of points, Fozzie ran out of scent at a Y or a turn, and he came back to go a new direction on the scent trail. After about half an hour of searching, we came to a tall fence topped with barbed wire. There were warning signs all over, saying Private Property, No Trespassing. The gap beneath the fence was large enough for a dog to get under easily. I think I could have squeezed under, if not for the No Trespassing signs. Inside the fence was a complex of large office buildings, quiet and empty on a Sunday. I told Fozzie he was a good boy, even though we didn't find our quarry. We walked half a mile to the other end of the complex, to the security shack. I told them about Marlena and gave them a flier. I asked for permission to go into the complex and continue the search, but they weren't able to let me in without checking with superiors, which wouldn't happen right away, it being Sunday. So, Fozzie and I went home for the night, hoping to get a new start in the morning.
Around 10 PM, one of the security guards called me to say they had seen Marlena inside the complex, and we had permission to use the search dog to find her. Since Fozzie had done such a good job of tracking her in the first place, I felt it was only fair to let him resume the search, as opposed to starting Kelsy on the trail. It took us forty minutes to get there, and the guard escorted us to the point where Marlena had been seen, basically just inside the fence from where Fozzie had led us through the park. I started Fozzie on the scent trail by presenting the scent article to him again. He started east, and then doubled back to the west, working through the thick rhododendrons in the landscape. Marlena had probably been watching us as we tracked her to the fence in the afternoon. Fozzie continued around the building, getting excited as the scent grew stronger. Fozzie was pulling hard as a light rain fell on us, and suddenly Marlena came sprinting toward us and ran right past us. There was nothing I could have done at that moment. I couldn't just reach out an grab the little dog. Fozzie and I followed her around the building, and she had gone back under the fence, into the park. We would have to go all the way to the entrance and then back through the park, traveling a mile to get two feet away. Or else I could squeeze under. I thought about it for a while and decided it would be better not to chase Marlena out of her comfort zone. What would I do if Fozzie tracked her down again? She wouldn't come to me or let me catch her, probably. Under the circumstances, since she had found a place where she felt safe to hide out, I felt it was better to set a humane trap for her. Fozzie and I drove around to the park side of the fence and set a trap. The next day, a security guard reported that a dog matching Marlena's description was seen walking on a leash with a woman. We never did find Marlena. She didn't go in the trap, and no one responded to the many large posters we had put up in the area. I assume that someone found her and decided to keep her, which is what often happens with small, cute dogs. The fact that we never found Marlena doesn't take away from the excellent work Fozzie did on his first real case.
Fozzie just makes me happy. He seems to make everyone happy when they are in his presence. As of this writing, he still doesn't work many searches because that is Kelsy's job as long as she is able. When Kelsy decides she wants to retire, Fozzie will be ready to fill her shoes, in his own unique way. I'm sure people will laugh at me when my search dog is a little white poodle who bounces along with his ears flapping, but Fozzie will get the job done.
