Tino and I searched for a six month old puppy in Issaquah. Her name is Nahla, and she looks very much like Mu looked as a puppy. We started about sunset and searched well into the dark. It seemed that she was searching for her family, the pattern she was moving. We searched so long in the pitch dark forest that both my flashlight batteries and phone batteries got low. I switched off both and worked in the moonlight for long stretches, which worked well. Tino doesn’t need light to use his nose.
When I’m on a case, my focus is on the lost cat or dog, appropriately. However, sometimes I can’t help but enjoy working with my dogs. Tino does great work, even when we don’t find the dog. His behavior is very readable, and he goes on forever, continuously focused on the goal. Searching in the dark forest in the moonlight with Tino, I was aware of what a rare and special opportunity it is, to work closely with a magnificent animal toward a worthy, nontrivial goal. That we didn’t catch up to Nahla takes nothing away from the work. Of course, we would both always prefer if we found the lost dog every time, but you could never convince me that we aren’t doing good work when we ultimately fail.
When I’m on a case, my focus is on the lost cat or dog, appropriately. However, sometimes I can’t help but enjoy working with my dogs. Tino does great work, even when we don’t find the dog. His behavior is very readable, and he goes on forever, continuously focused on the goal. Searching in the dark forest in the moonlight with Tino, I was aware of what a rare and special opportunity it is, to work closely with a magnificent animal toward a worthy, nontrivial goal. That we didn’t catch up to Nahla takes nothing away from the work. Of course, we would both always prefer if we found the lost dog every time, but you could never convince me that we aren’t doing good work when we ultimately fail.
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