North Kinsman -- and a lost-dog scare, 1/31/10

Trails: Mt. Kinsman, Kinsman Ridge
Miles: The usual 8, up and back
Time: Extended due to circumstances

I had planned to write an oh-so-clever Trip Report full of witty (or not, depending) references to NH's most famous, and now late, resident, J.D. Salinger, but the way the day ended calls for a bit more sobriety.

We almost lost our sweet, sweet dog Polly.

She's a mutt but is mostly a breed of eastern European sheepdog (Slovak Cuvac, we think) -- a livestock guardian dog, in other words. As opposed to sheepdogs like border collies that are bred to work under the control of humans, LGDs are bred to guard flocks when there's no shepherd around. They're independent thinkers, stubbornly so. At the same time they're gentle and kind, and if you've got the yard space they make great family dogs.

Polly's a year old, so still a year away from being an adult. I've been working with her every day to learn how to hike off-leash, and she's done really well. Our other dog, the hound Tuckerman, whom many of you have met, is a champion off-leash hiker and I never have to worry about him; he and Polly had seemed to develop a trail relationship that kept her relatively close. Sometimes she'd wander off, but Tuck would usually go find her and bring her back. Other times Polly would make her way back to the trail within a few minutes.

Yesterday, as we came down the Mt. Kinsman Trail after reaching North Kinsman, Polly wandered off the trail near the sugar house on the lower portion of the route, a half-mile or so from the trailhead. No amount of calling brought her back. Tuck couldn't find her scent either. We walked down to the trailhead; I thought she might meet us there (it's happened before). No. We hiked back up the trail to where I last saw her, calling and calling; nothing. Nothing on the way back down, either. Now I was really worried, because Polly isn't familiar with the area we were in, not like she is with our yard and neighborhood. Tuckerman by this time was exhausted, so I quickly drove the three miles from the trailhead to our home in Franconia -- Polly had disappeared about 3 p.m., so there was still some daylight left -- to drop off Tuck, told Cindy the terrible news, then she and I returned to the trailhead. Still no Polly. While Cindy drove up and down Highway 116 looking for her, I re-hiked the Mt. Kinsman Trail past the point where I'd last seen her, calling and calling; still nothing. Full of anguish and why-didn't-I-watch-her-more-closely? second thoughts, I slowly returned to the trailhead. By now it was dark and getting cold.

We drove home again and began making calls -- to people we knew in the area, to the Franconia police department and the state troopers (the trailhead is technically in Easton, which is trooper territory), and anyone else we could think of. There were some frightening worries: coyotes are common in the area and, perhaps worse, so are coyote traps hidden in the snow by pelt-hunters. But there was tremendous encouragement, too. Franconia and Easton are dog-loving towns, and it felt to Cindy and I that within minutes an entire local army had enlisted in the search for Polly. I wish I could say I thought immediately of what turned out to be the best idea but I can't, a dog-loving local reminded us to hang a familiar article of clothing at the trailhead and, because of the snow, to leave her bed there too. So I went back to the trailhead once more --still no Polly and no response to my calling for her -- and hung my hiking sweater and put her lovely soft bed down in the snow. By now it was a little after 7 and the temperature had dropped to below 10 above. My plan was to return to the trailhead every couple of hours through the night, but as I showered at home Cindy couldn't stand the waiting so she drove on her own back to the trailhead, about 7:30. And there was Polly, laying on her bed -- confused and very cold. Thank God.

In those terrible four and a half hours that Polly was gone, I thought about the photos I'd taken during our Kinsman hike, and every time I did I teared up. There were a couple of especially sweet shots, and looking at them without Polly being part of our family would bring a terrible grief. But with luck, our grief when Polly is no longer with our family will come far in the future, after she's lived a long, full life of happiness in the mountains. She seemed to be looking forward to just that as we reached the North Kinsman summit:


And Tuckerman is again in the company of his best friend, who he loves romping in the snow with more than he loves life itself, it often seems:


About the hike itself... very nice right up to 3 p.m. The Mt. Kinsman Trail is packed hard enough right now that Microspikes work great. The Kinsman Ridge Trail is a bit more powdery; I wore snowshoes up there. The three brook crossings are all frozen and getting over is no problem. The spur to Bald Knob is broken out and so is the short spur to the flume at the third brook crossing. We had no views from the summit's view ledge, but what the hey, it was still looking to be a mighty fine day in the mountains. We removed a blowdown; there are still a handful remaining and they all need a chainsaw to be got out of the way. There's one, about a quarter-mile up from the Bald Knob spur, that's at juuuuuust the right height to be troublesome to shorter hikers (be careful on that straddle, Rocketman!).

Our family is complete again. Perhaps only our cat, Attitash, is not fully happy about it. Polly will snarl at him at night, and I'm sure he was thinking that he'd finally got rid of at least one of those bothersome dogs. Too bad, Attie. We're a fivesome again -- and this time for good.



A few more photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99682097@N00/sets/72157623326360360/

Steve B
The Feathered Hat
stevebjerklie at yahoo dot com
_______________________________

Tuckerman's and Polly's report for dogs:

Not much running water right now. Just one small stream about a mile up from the trailhead, so tell your Big Boss Person to carry extra.

Totally excellent sliding down that short steep part of the Kinsman Ridge Trail just below the summit.

We found no animal poop, darn it.

We don't understand complaints about blowdowns -- we think they're fun!

Big Boss Man is talking about re-thinking this whole off-leash deal for Polly. Say it ain't so!

*** Three sniffs (out of four) until 3 p.m. Then no sniffs because we were scared. But T-Dog and P-Dog say check it out -- and keep close by your Big Boss Person!

I wonder if you can get a Spot device that would survive a dogs abuse? Either that or an Ipod with a dog tracker ap . By the looks of her fur, I expect she could sleep in a snowbank overnight.

Good to see it all came out well in the end.

Your report brought back some very painful memories. It was about a year ago when Lauky broke loose from me at the Valley Way trailhead and headed up Mt. Madison on his own full speed ahead.

He was going after a couple that had left an hour before with their dog. He caught up with them and stayed with them. After Madison they had been planning on continuing on to Washington, but when I didn't show up they started back down. It was about 3 and a half hours after Lauky's escape that I met the couple and my dog near the tree line. I'll have to admit I was so distraught that when I ran into that couple again this fall I didn't even recognize them. At the time of the incident I only had eyes for my dog. It was nice to have another opportunity to properly thank those folks for what they had done.

Lauky now stays attached to me with a belt that holds the leash to my waist. Some folks seem to get upset when they see he is not running free, but I don't care. The stress from that incident was too great and anyway, I know it would happen again.

The upside of having your dog on a leash is that he's always there with you. I think with Duffy I only saw him about half the time. I never worried about losing him, but he was often up ahead out of sight. Lauky and I have spent some great quality time together.

Ed'n Lauky said:

Lauky now stays attached to me with a belt that holds the leash to my waist. Some folks seem to get upset when they see he is not running free, but I don't care. The stress from that incident was too great and anyway, I know it would happen again.

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Ed, five green squares to you for doing the right thing and knowing Lauky's limitations when it comes to freedom. Unfortunately not all dogs are meant to be off leash and it can be a difficult decision to make. But I can imagine that in your case the 'Madison Incident' made the decision easy.

I still am impressed by the responsibility showed by those hikers who, instead of going on towards Washington, changed their plans to help out.

PS: Feathered Hat ~ I'm glad Polly is okay.

Thank you for the comments, suggestions and, Ed, the story about Lauky. I remember when that happened. When I first read your report I couldn't imagine the feeling of looking for your lost dog for hours and hours; now I can. And anyone else who's ever been in that situation: you have my complete empathy.

Cindy and I have already discussed implanting both Polly and Tuckerman with location chips. Perhaps they'll do no more than give us a bit of piece of mind, but that's something.

It's so easy to dwell on your own feelings at a time like this because they're so powerful and conflicting. I admit that while Polly was gone I was both angry at her for running off and scared to death for her. But poor Polly -- she must've really gone through an emotional wringer. (She's still somewhat tense today.) I think yesterday afternoon/evening's episode may have jogged her memory of some old, terrible fears. She's a rescue: when she was just a few months old she was found starving and covered with ticks at a cattle yard in Tennessee, begging for food. The yard's owner was going to shoot her, but at the last minute a kind-hearted truck driver took her in until a proper home could be found. We got Polly (who was named Savannah by the truck driver's family, but a dog in New Hampshire can't be named that!) through a rescue agency in Vermont. Within a day, she and Tuckerman were fast, best friends.

She's going to be clipped to the lead whenever we go outside now, at least for the foreseeable future. Perhaps it will always be so, and perhaps, as Ed 'n Lauky have learned, it's not such a bad thing. The good thing -- the best thing -- is knowing your dog is safe and happy.

Steve, I am glad it turned out OK. I can identify with your anguish: our Genie went missing for about 10 hours back in November '08. We were advised to do what you did and Bob and Geri found her on her blanket about 9 pm.

Leo is only 8 months old and he's still sort of clingy and doesn't seem as independent as Genie was at that age. Last week he did, however, take off with a jogger and her dog up the Mt Wachusett summit road. She kindly waited for us around the bend so I could reclaim him.

peakbagger said:

I wonder if you can get a Spot device that would survive a dogs abuse?

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Garmin sells GPS-based dog-tracking devices and receivers for humans. https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=209&pID=8576 They also sell additional dog-tracking devices in case you want to track multiple dogs.

Doug

Having been through a similar circumstance (8 hours missing), I can feel for you!

Glad everything turned out OK. Doncha just want to ask "what the heck where you doing all that time??"

Really happy for the nice ending to the story. We had a cardiac with an older guy in our group one winter after a day of deep snow on snowshoes. We had to evacuate him and one of the dogs was gone.
The owner left his sweaty teeshirt on the ground near the parking area and his pooch was curled up on it after sleeping there overnight.

The Feathered Hat said:

It's so easy to dwell on your own feelings at a time like this because they're so powerful and conflicting. I admit that while Polly was gone I was both angry at her for running off and scared to death for her.

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I have to admit I chuckled over that statement a bit. It's just so human!!! I had the same feelings with Lauky, from panic to anger (when I catch that guy I'll... and of course you won't) to anguish (if I ever get him back I'll never mention it) etc.

I guess in cases such as this it's never more true that "all's well that ends well."

Glad everything's OK!

Our old dog used to take off when she caught a deer scent, usually she'd come back, but a couple of times she was missing for hours. It's a horrible feeling. Luckily we haven't had these issues with Emma.

Glad this turned out OK!

Kevin, Judy and Emma

What a sad story, but happy ending. So glad you found your Polly. I love to meet dogs on the trails, they always look happy and so focused on enjoying the hike.

Thats a heart wrenching story that turns out well

Polly and Tuck really lucked out to call your house home!!!

Happy endings are good. We had something similar with Zippy when she was a pup. We found her while driving around and looking for her.

I'm so glad you were reunited! I know of the trick of leaving the dog bed at the trailhead, and I'm glad that was your approach and that it once again worked.

Thank you, all, for your appreciations, understanding and sympathies. Polly's back to normal now. (On Monday she was still a little tense and wary from Sunday's adventure.) We're working again on a long line and she's responding better to the "Come" command, but this is going to be a long process. Stubbornness and independent thinking are not easily trained out of a livestock guardian dog, and I don't really want to fully break them out of her anyway -- Polly wouldn't be Polly without the way she thinks, just as Tuckerman wouldn't be Tuckerman without his goofiness (which can be annoying in its own way at times). I still don't know if I'll ever fully trust Polly to hike off-lead again. What I do know, and have promised her, is that I'll never allow her to become so frightened again.

For those of you who have had your own lost-dog episodes, especially those episodes that went on longer than ours did, I admire your patience and ability to stick with the search. We were well on the path toward being inconsolable when we found Polly after four and a half hours; we'd be total wrecks if she was missing for eight or ten hours. I don't know how you endured for those interminable hours. And for those who have lost children for whatever reason -- I simply cannot imagine.

First off, let me just say how relieved I was to get to the end of your report and read the happy ending! Great job on all the steps you took along the way to help her find her way back.

I have only lost Terra *once* -- she was under the dogwalking care for one day of a freind, with strict orders to keep her on leash -- and they didn't follow those orders. Although I never got the whole story -- I could tell from Terra what happened. I believe that was reluctant to come to this person when called (probably heard frustration in thier voice and lacking a strong relationship with them was confused) and then was afraid to come home. I received a call while in class that she had been missing for an hour and rushed home. I spent hours combing the woods and local roads calling for her. Finally, she appeared, and I could see she was frightened. She was only 1.5 years old at the time and in her adolsecent stage of "testing". The whole incident really brought home for me the importance of trust and communication -- something I knew and believed and had been working towards since she was a pup, but a scare like this and the one you just had REALLY brings it home. Needless to say, this why there is *no one* on Earth that takes her anywhere without me. I just can't let that happen ever again. And a big thumbs up to MichaelJ for being the most dog savvy non dog owner I've ever met and a true parent in every sense of the word to Tee.

There was a real breakdown in Terra's relating after that and it took some time to rebuild. It showed me how important and often times fragile thier understanding of us and trust in us is during the early stages of thier lives with us.

Polly is so fortunate that you are clued into her emotions. I am sure that you are correct in your assessment of this experience causing frightening emotions from her past to resurface. It hasn't really been all that long since those hard times. She may still, inside, feel that she has to fend for herself, and that humans, even the really good ones like you and Cindy, might not really be there for her forever. If she were my dog, I would take the same path you are -- onleash for some time to come.

As she matures, and her connection to you deepens, you may find she can be trusted offleash safely. A few "connection games" come to mind, stuff you can incorporate into daily life that will help build that bond even stronger. PM if interested.

Huge sigh of relief here for all of you!

The Feathered Hat said:

And for those who have lost children for whatever reason -- I simply cannot imagine.

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Yeah, I had that happen to me once too. I very briefly lost my four year old son in the Atlanta airport. Talk about near terror But we found him standing innocently looking at some toys in a shop window.

All the emotions you mentioned you had with Poly went through me at that moment. But...as they say: All's well that ends well.