Lost 4 legged family member

Genie

We're safe at home, no scars, but still in post-trauma mode. I cannot get over the outpouring of love that we have received <wipes eyes and blows nose>.

Paying it forward has a new meaning now.

Genie has always liked to wander for a few minutes at a time, but this was downright terrifying. The feeling of leaving her in the woods at dusk and not knowing what happened takes your speech away. Sardog's advice was spot on, and luckily Bob and Geri drove back. We'd just have stayed there if we'd been thinking right. Two hunters on the road also advised us to leave a blanket there, so we put her car quilt down.

Thank you all again.

--Pat and Audrey

Thank goodness I like happy endings....I bet someone is taking a BIG nap right now

Whew !

A happy outcome. Great news.

Alan

Coming to this late --what a HUGE relief!

Hugs to Genie, Pat and Audrey -- I'm so glad you are back together!

Great news, give her a hug for me.

I could not imagine my dog missing, so glad it all worked out. Earlier this summer there was a family dog missing near Blackberry crossing off Dugway rd. There where flyers all over the area with the dog's info. I looked and bushwacked for 2 days knowing that area so well to no avail. Does anyone happen to know if they ever found the dog? I wanted to call the number on the flyer later to follow up, but was afraid the answer would have been no and it would have opened a bad wound for the owners.

audrey said:

Genie has always liked to wander for a few minutes at a time, but this was downright terrifying. The feeling of leaving her in the woods at dusk and not knowing what happened takes your speech away. Sardog's advice was spot on, and luckily Bob and Geri drove back. We'd just have stayed there if we'd been thinking right. Two hunters on the road also advised us to leave a blanket there, so we put her car quilt down.

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Glad Genie is back!

Over the weekend, we had a similar trauma. Our cat was missing Friday night when we were about to leave for 2 days, and it was predicted to be down to about 15. The cat is 12+ years old, and not in the greatest of health.

To make a long story short, the cat found its way in the back door we left open and was safe and warm.

Tom Rankin said:

...To make a long story short, the cat found its way in the back door we left open and was safe and warm.

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Tom,
I am happy to hear that the kitty is safe. I know the waiting seemed like an eternity.

A nice ending! Something to be thankful for this season ... first, the happy ending and second, knowing so many people who care so deeply.

Fortunately I didn't read about this until it was over so I didn't get worried sick...

An outdoorsman's guide I have says to find lost hunting dogs you should also urinate near the spot you want the dog to stay at, not practical in urban settings but should have worked for you. It's also possible to leave stuff in multiple places if you're not sure which way the dog will head.

Roy,

Point taken, thanks. There were about 15 of us at that well-watered trailhead.

Interestingly, in my panic, I must have peed 10 times that day and felt no thirst at all (ignoring a massive headache). By the time we were happily ensconced in our beds, I developed a raging thirst that woke me up quite a few times. Good thing to remember.

I think there is some great info here. As is often the case, out of trouble comes an opportunity to educate. I had a similar situation as Audrey a few years back on the Gordon Pond Trail.

My dog had spent soo many miles with me, that I got cocky after a while. Her collar was making some noise, so I took it off. She never ventured too far, so I was never worried about her. One day, on a very rare occasion that my wife was wife me, she suddenly said "Where's Gussie?" Seems it had been a minute or two since we heard from her. We didn't see her again for nine hours.

After looking all over, and hiking out to the trailhead and giving a 'head's up' to the local restaurant, we drove our car as far up the trail as we could and waited. Several times, I walked a mile up the trail (to where we last saw her) and back out again...shaking her collar and calling her name. We had hung her blankets all over. Eventually, she came running down the trail. As happy to see us as we were to see her.

I came to the conclusion that she had found an old building and hunkered down in there during a thunderstorm. As soon as it stopped raining (which was several hours) she ventured out. I think she followed the scent of the blankets (and I did urinate several times as well) and she finally heard my voice.

I remember a story about 3 years ago about a hiker who lost his lab on top of Mt. Liberty. He went back up the next day, and found her waiting in the same spot where he left her (just off the summit). I believe this was in the winter timeframe.

So, in summary, sounds like some good advice:

-Leave your scent wherever you can
-Leave her scent wherever you can
-Return to the scene of the crime

Any other good info out there?

I'm glad to read the happy ending to this incident. Very glad.

My current dogs stay close--one always hoping for a treat handout, the other just naturally a pack creature--but two previous ones would disappear from sight for as much as 20-30 minutes, which was always worrying. However, those two dogs, who hiked most of the NH4Ks and a whole lot else, invariably showed up ahead of me on the trail, presumably ahead of my scent. Never behind. Does that mean that they actually were within sound range of me all along?

There may be a few tips to be gleaned from SAR air scent dogs. These are not the bloodhound-type tracking dogs that search for and recognize a specific scent (your blanket, jacket, for instance). These are dogs that look for any out of place scent, e.g., the smell of human off trail. Your pooch and mine are not trained to do this kind of air scenting, of course, but the tip is that air scent dogs function well at night, when winds tend to be calmer and scents drop and travel along the ground. Tracking dogs probably work this way as well. The dog has to be down wind, naturally.

I'm not suggesting that people start wandering around at night on trails searching for their lost dogs. That may just compound the search problem and create lost humans as well as dogs. But I would not be overly worried if the dog is out at night, which may be the optimal time for it to pick up the scent of the article you have planted during the daylight.

The dog doesn't care for finding its own scent; it already knows where it is. It wants desperately to find YOU. Hang clothing with YOUR scent, the stinkier the better. (A dog blanket that has been in your car has your scent on it as well as the dog's, but your clothing is a better scent article.) Hang it as high as you can get it. However, don't put it on the top of a breezy tall ridge; the dog might not be able to work into the scent source if the scent travels high overhead. (SAR dog handlers train for this and know that the dog will need help locating the source in such circumstances.)

Trust your dog's instincts for scentwork even while you worry frantically. Even if it's not a SAR dog, it "probably" knows how to use its nose for air scenting and/or tracking/trailing. (Yes, some dogs have more natural talent for this. I have had dogs that excelled at determining the direction of a track and others that never could figure that out.)

Pat always travels with treats in his pocket and Genie knows that very well. We were with a group who were entertaining her constantly and keeping her engaged. That's why I am so baffled. The only variable I can think of is that it was a bushwhack. Usually when she goes off on her short jaunts, she finds us again as she is running down the trail towards us, and I am assuming that the trail is loaded with people scents (whatever that may mean to her). This time there was no trail up ahead for reference.

We'd only taken her on a short whack once before and I did not like the almost frantic running back and forth that she was doing. I had vowed we'd stick to trails when she was along. But we figured with all those people on Saturday, she would happily stay to us.

Dug told me that his dog seemed to stick closer to him after her solo adventure, and we are hoping that Genie will do the same. Otherwise we will have to get a trainer, I couldn't take another episode.

Terra took off on two occaisions when she was younger -- once after a herd of deer, the other time after a coyote--both times she was gone about 15 minutes.

A couple times on a hike she's taken off after something; and come back after a few minutes of calling with her tongue hanging full-out, obviously *very* winded (which for her takes ALOT). Thankfully its been really rare, because its a scary situation. Sometimes the lure is just too great for them.

You guys are awesome dog parents and I wouldn't second guess anything you are doing.

audrey said:

We were with a group who were entertaining her constantly and keeping her engaged. That's why I am so baffled.

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When we had a dog, it would also run back and forth with the group so it was important if some people were to split off to make sure the dog stayed with the right people. It sounds like your dog was near those that went ahead and became confused when you weren't with them.

Last time we were dogsitting we took the dog on an AMC hike and it briefly took the wrong turn, we were going to split up to hunt it but fortunately it reappeared.

Last spring (a different) we had a local dog follow us a couple miles on a rail trail, it seemed to like us and we couldn't get it to follow anybody who was going back the other way. At the parking lot we looked at its tag which said its home was about where it started following us, so we just drove it back there and let it off!

Roy, that is funny. I had that happen with me on the Mt. Kinsman Trail. My buddy and I got out of our car, with our dog one November and two dogs appeared from across the street. One was an older German Shepard/Husky mix, and the other looked like his son or much younger sibling. We spent the entire trip with three dogs. The older one staying on the trail and moving along, the other (with mine) playing in the snow all day. We got back to the trailhead, my dog hopped in the car, and the other two walked across the street and scratched at the front door and soon after were let in. They were out with us for about 8 hours. "What a life!" I thought.

Those dogs at the Mt Kinsman trailhead are legends. I've hiked with them several times; they just trot along with you until the end of the day when they walk back home and lie down. It's really a good life.

A very happy ending.

My Lab, Boo is a good hiking partner, but loves to visit with everyone in the group throughout the day. When I'm out with friends who move at a quicker pace, I'm try to pay attention about breaking contact with her, though. She'll stay with the leaders, crisscrossing the route. I know I can recall her if she spots a porky(sometimes), but I get concerned about her jumping a deer, bear or moose running alongside the leaders who may not know how to recall her.
Usually though, when I'm being poky, she trots back to check on me. Unfortunately, some of her favorites are lil' speedsters like Rik or Jay and I'm lucky if I get an occasional sniff by Bookah when they're up front.