A few years ago, I agreed to take care of my cousins' dog Molly while they went on a trip. When they dropped Molly off, they mentioned she was "ball crazy." They took out a tennis ball and threw it over the house. Molly took off like a shot. Two minutes later she came trotting back and dropped the ball at my feet. "Again?" she seemed to ask. Searching and finding that ball all day long couldn't have made Molly any happier.
As far back as the Middle Ages, monks in the Saint Bernard monastery in the Swiss Alps discovered how helpful their dogs could be searching for travelers who had become lost in the mountains. In the 17th century, one of their specially bred St. Bernard rescue dogs, Barry, was credited with saving over 40 lives. By 1909, NYC police added a German Shepard, Max, to their search and rescue team.Now, in Cache Valley, there are 4 certified volunteer search and rescue dogs and their handlers working with the local law enforcement.
I was lucky to meet one of these four teams last weekend. Glen Gantz and his dog Moki were training at an empty outdoor lot in Logan. Glen had put a small tin can loaded with a bit of scent on the gravel covered ground. He then kicked enough gravel over the can to hide it from view.
Moki was raring to go. The command to search came from Glen and Moki took off. He circled the perimeter with his head up, and soon caught the scent. A few more seconds and Moki was lying down, his front paws and head pointing at the tin can. Glen acknowledged the successful find with a BIG shout out, "Good Boy!" Moki jumped up and came racing over to Glen for an extra round of praise and a small tasty treat. Then Glen pulled out Moki's favorite toy and the two played their beloved game of tug of war.
I felt a bit honored to get this close up view of how much enjoyment a dog and his handler could get from working together as a team. I had once talked to a man whose dog would go into the forest with him to find truffles. The dog could smell these tasty fungi growing among the tree roots under the ground. The dog would paw the ground exactly where the man should dig. In the past, truffle hunters had used pigs to sniff out the truffles. The pigs were very good at locating the truffles and digging them up. The problem was preventing the pigs from eating them. He said you used to be able to identify a truffle hunter by how many fingers they were missing. The dogs were a much better team-mate.
A dog's nose is said to be as much as 100,000 times as sensitive to smell as a human. A human has about 5 million scent receptors . A dog has over 125 million. When it comes time for a search for a lost person, nothing works better than a dog's nose.
So when a 16 year old was reported missing in Hyrum, Glen and Moki were called in to help. Moki was given his scent and followed the trail. Four hours later, the trail ended at the edge of Hyrum Dam. Sadly, the boy was not found alive, but the family was able to retrieve the body, which meant a great deal to them.
So for our listeners who love to hike in our beautiful mountains, be careful. But know, should you need help, there are 4 certified search and rescue dog teams in the valley that are constantly training to improve their skills. They will come looking, and they will find you.
This is Mary Heers and I'm Wild About Utah.
Credits:
Picture: Courtesy Mary Heers, Photographer
Audio: Courtesy & © Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman
Voice & Text: Mary Heers
Additional Reading: https://utahsheriffs.org/resources/search-and-rescue
