Kelsy and Reese’s
Seven years ago today, Kelsy found Reese’s.
Reese’s was new to foster care when he took off on an adventure. It was probably the chicken's fault. A black chicken liked to hang around the house where Reese’s was fostered. No one knew where she came from or why she chose to perch on the foster's car all day every day. Reese’s didn't like the chicken, and often ran along the fence line barking at it. Reese’s was a Miniature Pincher, or a mix, and his narrow frame was able to squeeze through fence boards that weren't quite tight. They looked for him within 15 minutes of the escape, but couldn't find him.
Eventually, Reese’s' foster called Three Retrievers for the services of a tracking dog, and Kelsy started on the scent trail 72 hours after the escape. It was a cool, clear morning, with frost on the grass from the previous night, perfect working conditions. Kelsy followed a meandering scent trail for a couple of blocks until she hit 26th Avenue. At that point, the scent trail went straight north for about a mile to a shopping center. This was an odd scent trail because why would a dog wander in the typical zigzag of exploration for a while and then make a beeline north? Possibly because someone found him and put a leash on him and walked him that way? Or picked him up and carried him? Kelsy tracked right past the grocery store, which had the scent of rotisserie chicken wafting out, to the door of a pet supply shop. Kelsy wanted to go in, but I stopped her. The foster went in to the store and learned that a woman had come in with Reese’s a few days earlier, and bought a blue jacket for him. She paid with a credit card, so they had her number on file. The manager of the store called the buyer of the blue jacket and told them the owners of Reese’s came into the store looking for him. Her husband agreed to meet us at a local restaurant to return Reese’s.
We had to walk the mile back to the neighborhood where Reese’s escaped, and the restaurant was just two blocks from the foster's house. On the walk back, I told the foster not to get her hopes up too much because the finder of Reese’s might not be there. We turned the corner a block from the restaurant, and there was Reese’s with the blue coat on. He was happy to see the foster. The person who had Reese’s, essentially a thief, lived nearby, so he had to have seen the dozens of posters for Reese’s. Only when caught red-handed did they give Reese’s back. He just smiled and said, "We just fell in love with him and knew he had to be our dog." He showed no sign of remorse. Just saying, basically, Yes, I kept your dog, but these things happen. There seems to be a finders keepers mentality with some people, and people really don't seem to realize that it is unethical and illegal to keep a dog they happened to find. I think there is a mythology from an earlier time, when a puppy would follow a boy home and he would say, "Mom, can I keep him?" Mom would pretend to be stern, and say, "Only if you promise to feed him and walk him every day." The concern being more about whether the child would be up to the responsibility, with little thought of the responsibility of finding the dog’s actual family. As if dogs just magically appear on the street so the finder can have a free puppy. Maybe it stems from an episode of a black and white TV rerun or something, but in those archetypal stories, no thought was given to the people who lost the dog. It was often assumed no one would be looking for a lost dog.
The story of Reese’s illustrates how a search dog may help get your dog back from a pet thief: a search dog can provide information, clues, that leads to the culprit in some cases. In other cases, the presence of a search dog in the neighborhood has caused the finder to volunteer the dog before being found out. Although Kelsy wasn't able to track right up to Reeses, she provided the information that was critical to solving the case. It's possible that someone may eventually have seen Reese’s in his blue coat and said, "Hey, that looks just like the dog on all the posters." It's also possible that the finders could have taken Reese’s out of the area to avoid detection.
Kelsy’s successful search for Reese’s also illustrates a few other noteworthy things. First and foremost, it was amazing work by Kelsy. She tracked after 72 hours, mostly on concrete, and through the parking lot of a busy shopping mall during the holiday season. She found the slight thread of scent of a tiny little dog after hundreds of car tires drove over it. Also, after Kelsy tracked to the pet store, our search had come to an end, and it was time to reward her for a job well done. At that moment, I didn’t know for sure that Kelsy had successfully tracked the dog. Although it was rare, there were at least three occasions out of hundreds of searches where Kelsy followed the wrong scent trail to somewhere that the lost dog definitely did not go. This could have resulted from a contaminated scent article or a miscommunication from me. Although I think of Kelsy as being perfect in every way, search dogs are not infallible. You don’t want to reward a search dog when they track to the wrong place, because that could send a confusing message. I had a feeling Kelsy was correct in this case, even though at that moment we did not have the proof in hand. I rewarded her, with string cheese from my pocket, and praised her for a job well done. Also, I took a moment to just sit with her and appreciate her for being a magnificent creature. Later, after we confirmed that Kelsy was correct, we went to the off-leash park and played fetch, to celebrate.
That is an amazing story! Impressive work Kelsy! I wonder how many lost dogs that are never found are actually in a new home.