None of His Vices

On June 28, 2008, I made this Hellerbration post. Seems like not so very long ago. Only a month or so......... But time is relative, according to one's experiences in that time frame.

Also on that date, 25 year old Jake Baysinger of La Salle, Colorado was reported missing. An extensive search, on land and by airplane, was conducted by the Weld County Sheriff's Office, but they were unable to find Baysinger or his pickup truck. To grieving loved ones, that span of time can be an eternity. Each day spent wondering whether a husband and father was dead or alive is sheer anguish. To an animal guarding her master's dead body from scavengers in the wilderness, each day spent was just another day of complete devotion.

The body of Jake Baysinger was found August 10, on the Pawnee National Grasslands about 75 miles northeast of Denver Colorado. On that day, a rancher noticed a lone dog, and went to investigate. As he approached the German Shepherd Dog, she seemed relieved to finally see another human being. At her feet, the rancher saw why. She was still standing watch over her master's mortal remains. Emaciated and dehydrated from her six week vigil, the dog had apparently survived on mice and rabbits that came near. Though her body was weak from hunger and thirst, her will never wavered. No wolves or coyotes had disturbed the body of her loved one.

The cause of death was not immediately apparent but authorities found a gun nearby. The family was notified, and the dog was taken to the Humane Society Shelter in Weld County. On Monday, Baysinger's wife Sara and her 2 year old son Lane went to claim their loyal German Shepherd Dog, Cash. The Weld County coroner ruled Baysinger's death a suicide on Tuesday.

As I read this story, I could not help but wonder. Knowing the purpose of his trip, why did Jake Baysinger take his dog with him? Did she comfort him in his last minutes of personal desperation, not knowing what he might do? Or did she just routinely ride with him in the truck, and her insistence on going delayed his lethal purpose? Did he throw a ball far out into the tall grass for her to retrieve before he put the gun to his head? Did she hear a loud crack reverberating over the grass from her master's location, or was she forced to watch? Did she know his reason for the gun? If Jake Baysinger had known the absolute devotion of his dog, and no doubt the devotion of his young son, would he have still committed suicide? Would he have cared enough to live for those who would give their lives for him? Would be that we were all worthy of the devotion of two year old children and German Shepherd Dogs.



"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are his life, his love, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion."
.................................... Anonymous

Setback

I met with the local sheriff this afternoon and briefly discussed the prospect of Ilsa becoming affiliated with the department on a volunteer basis. I found a less than enthusiastic response. Apparently the sheriff thinks squirrel dogs are sufficient for finding human beings. He doesn't understand that a squirrel dog turned loose in a search area searches for.....squirrels.

Several years back, a school teacher was murdered and her body was the subject of months and months of organized searching using hunting dogs. The general area was known, and the ground was contaminated on top of contamination from previous searches. Her body was finally found rotting in the bottom of a well by a hunter. Ilsa could have found her within two hours.

Tracking dogs track. They sniff the ground for scent left behind. Rain, other animals, search parties and time all work to obscure the scent on the ground. Scenting dogs do not rely on the ground to locate their find. They sniff wafts of scent from the air. It is a constantly renewed resource of scent that is not dependent on stumbling upon an area that the sought person had passed through. A woman in a well releases scent much like a fire releases smoke up a chimney. It is a constant release with a well defined pinpoint location.

Needless to say, I am disappointed at the official response, but I refuse to become discouraged.

Ilsa Searching

Ilsa worked a bayou tributary today, and as she worked, I marveled at the intelligent and beautiful dog she has become.

Yep, I don't think any dog other than a German Shepherd will do anymore.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

She became lethargic and listless. She refused to run or play. Her normal heart rate was 80 beats per minute. Now her heart rate fell to under half of that. Diagnosed with a heart attack, Molly was also found to have a complete heart block as a result of the damage.

A complete heart block is one in which there is no electrical conduction between the atria and ventricles. It is a grave condition. The ventricles fall into "rescue mode" and keep the body alive with a greatly reduced inherent rhythm of their own. Unfortunately, the suction of blood into the ventricles versus the pumping of blood into the ventricles by the atria creates a very strong probability of clot formation from the churning of the blood itself. The clots lead to further coronary artery blockage, cardiac ischemia, and death. A complete heart block is a condition that on humans, demands a pacemaker.

Unfortunately, Molly was a dog. She was, in fact, a beautiful chocolate Labrador Retriever. Further, she was a proven Search and Rescue dog with a career of finding disaster victims and murder victims. Owners Allen and Alicia Brown of Saginaw Michigan were facing over $2,500 in surgery, vet and travel costs alone. Through donations including a two thousand dollar donation from an anonymous businessman, a plan of care was devised. Medtronic Inc. donated the internal pacer. On May 22, 2008, surgeons at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine implanted the lifesaving device. Molly was the one rescued this time.

Molly is on activity restrictions for another month, but is expected to make a full recovery and return to K-9 search and rescue work. Training a search and rescue dog for both live body and cadaver retrieval can take up to two years. Buying a fully trained SAR dog can cost up to $20,000. "If she could save one more life or recover one more body for a family, it would be worth it," said Patrice Graham, another member of the K-9 SAR team.

Indeed.

Spooky Steps and Catzilla

Daddy took me to some really spooky stairs today. These stairs were slippery but not wet. When I stepped on them they went woingy woingy bing bong. It was like I was walking on a vibraphone.

It was late in the day and I had spent most of my day watching Daddy make bangs at a cardboard man. He does that a lot, and at first, the bangs were spooky but I got used to it. The steps he took me to today were just about to get on my last nerve though. Every where I went, bing bong woingy woingy tink tong. Daddy wouldn't let me walk on the concrete either. He made me go up and down those musical stairs after my toy over and over. He did give me a lot of praise though.

Then just as it started to get dark, I saw him out of the corner of my eye. He was the biggest damned kitty cat I think I have ever seen, and he was moving towards stalking us. I whirled around and gave him a couple of warning woofs and he froze in his tracks. At first, I was scared to death he would eat us both, but my woofs were so fierce that I petrified him with fear. He just stood there. If Daddy would have had some pliers we could have pulled his fangs out he was so petrified. You gotta respect the woof of a German Shepherd Dog.

You never know when a giant petrified kitty will snap out of it, so I advised Daddy that it was time to go. Thankfully he agreed. He can be hard headed sometimes, but I'm glad he listened to me today. He's getting better that way.

Looking For Sippy

It was after lunch when Daddy loaded me up in the back of the Jeep and I curled up to sleep while he drove and drove. He said we were going to look for a missing sippy. I was kind of worried about that, because I was willing to look, but I didn't really know what a sippy was. I was sleeping like a dog when all of a sudden the vibrations of the Jeep changed and I looked up. Yowsers! The Jeep was in the biggest kennel I had ever seen!

Then suddenly I realized it was the great big spaceship that we had almost been sucked into a month ago! I didn't know what to do.....I got up and I almost lost my lunch, but then I heard Daddy say "It's all right, good girl Ilsa" and I gulped the kibbles back down. He really has a way with words, and I knew he was in control of the Jeep, so I just placed my life in his hands. Before I knew it, he had escaped the spaceship's tractor beam again, and we were heading back to Earth.

When we landed, and he opened up the rear of the Jeep, I was a little bit ashamed of myself. I was drooling all over, long stringy drool that I had a hard time sucking back up. It had dripped all over, and he knew that I had doubted his ability to evade the moonbeamers. That's not good for a dog to do. He didn't get mad though. He just scratched me behind the ears and said he would be back in a little bit. Then he closed the hatch. I decided the best thing for me to do was to go back to sleep, so I wiped my mouth on my pet rope and I laid back down. My two Corgi sisters were back home, so I didn't have much to do until Daddy came back.

Before long, Daddy came back and opened my hatch. He asked if I wanted some water, and I wagged my tail. He swapped leashes for me, and I hopped out. After I slurped up some hydration from my water bag, I sat down to let him know I was ready to work. He told me to heel, and walked me away from the Jeep. Then when we turned around......... Good Lawdy-a-gartion! There was a gargantuan moonbeamer hatching out of a giant red egg right there! I knew it must have been a moonbeamer because it wasn't a dog or a cat or a human at all! It was at least fifty dogs tall, big dogs too!

I barked an alarm to let Daddy know we were about to be attacked, and then I barked some more to make sure that moonbeamer didn't hurt us. I must have really scared it, because it got petrified like cats do when they recognize a dog's superior intellect. It kind of made me wonder if moonbeamers and cats were related. I don't know about that, but if they were, I wouldn't be surprised.

Finally, Daddy loaded me up and took me to a lot of water. I mean a lot of water. He must have thought I was really thirsty after all that barking. He didn't take out my plastic smelly thing, but I took a good whiff of it anyway. I knew what to do then. I jumped out of the Jeep and tried to remember the scent. I raised my head and sniffed the air for any traces of it on the breeze.

I could smell really well around all that water, because there was a lot of air moving around, but there was a lot of scent too. There was the smell of people, gas stations, fish, grass, shrimp, bugs, and a bunch of other things. I started to try to imagine what a missing sippy might look like, but I knew that it was best that I not do that. I trust my nose.

A bunch of birds suddenly flew up while I was looking for sippy. That kind of spooked me, but I settled back down and tried to smell Sippy in the air again.

Finally, Daddy took me inside a big house, and we talked to some other people for a while. I didn't say much, I just sat down beside Daddy. He likes that. After a while, he touched a spot on the wall, and the wall opened up! That was pretty weird.

It was a little room, and we went inside it. Then Daddy touched another spot on the wall, and the room jumped! I was afraid the giant moonbeamer had picked us up and we wouldn't ever get out. When a bell rang, the wall opened back up. I need to get a bell like that. When I looked outside the room we were somewhere else. I guess we got lucky that time.

I was happy to get out of that little room! We walked down a corridor to another room and went inside. This one was cool inside, and it even had a chair just for me. Daddy laid down and started snoring, so I curled up beside the door just in case the giant moonbeamer tried anything again.

When Daddy woke up, my bladder was like a basketball, so I told him I had to go do bidness. He leashed me back up, and we went back to the little room in the wall. This time it put us back where we started from. That's when I realized it was kind of like an inside the house Jeep. We went outside, and I did my bidness. It was already night.

Daddy took me out on a wooden porch that was over the water. I looked up and saw the moon. I started to bark at it, but then Daddy started to sing. I decided to sing too. We performed a midnight opera out on that wooden porch for all the moonbeamers. BurrroooooOOOOO00000OOOOOOoooooo. I guess we pleased our galatical audience, because I could see their eyes winking back at me. I wagged my tail and we went back inside to finish sleeping.

I never did find Sippy. I guess he will have to just stay missing, but I sure had a good time with Daddy.

Temperment Training

I took Ilsa riding this afternoon, and we worked on her training. The temperament standard for a German Shepherd Dog is an important component of the breed.

The German Shepherd Dog has a distinct personality marked by direct and fearless, but not hostile, expression, self-confidence, and a certain aloofness that does not lend itself to immediate and indiscriminate friendships. The dog must be approachable, quietly standing its ground and showing confidence and willingness to meet overtures without itself making them. It is poised, but when the occasion demands, eager and alert; both fit and willing to serve in its capacity as a companion, watchdog, blind leader, herding dog, or guardian, whichever the circumstances may demand. The dog must not be timid, shrinking behind its master or handler; it should not be nervous, looking about or upward with anxious expression or showing nervous reactions, such as tucking of tail, to strange sounds or sights. Lack of confidence under any surroundings is not typical of good character.

To this end, I introduce Ilsa to new and potentially frightening experiences that will help her build greater and greater confidence and trust. It is not that the confidence and trust is not there, but whether it will serve her well, no matter what the circumstances. Canine stress inoculation. One of the tests I know she will have to accomplish is the elevated grate. Grates are spooky things to dogs unaccustomed to them. Ilsa's test will be twenty feet up with gusts of wind and even water coming through it.

.........So how does Ilsa react? She lays down and takes a rest.

Ilsa's willingness to stay on task, snorking every potential hidey hole for the scent she in trying to follow is exemplary. I commonly use one of the local high schools or a park as a training ground because of all the confusing layers of scent from the many different people.

We use a section of capped off and drilled out PVC pipe containing used socks and underwear from the person being sought as the search object. Occasionally, if possible, we will enlist the assistance of the actual person.

When she is tested, Ilsa will have evaluators trying to distract her from her task. Evaluators have all manner of distractions including other dogs, cats or squirrels introduced into the search dog's path. The first human encountered is the Registration/Entry Clerk. As the dog continues to work, the Neutral Stranger shows up. Next, a Friendly Stranger arrives with treats trying to lure her off task. If she continues on task, a Can Rattling Stranger pops out from behind a corner. A Gun Shooting Stranger has a starter's pistol waiting in the brush. The Umbrella Opening Stranger usually carries a supply of umbrellas because of failing candidates. Finally there is the Weird Stranger, who may have any sort of costume, designed to freak out any dog they approach. They may be dressed in tinsel playing bagpipes with an accomplice or two waving flags. Anything goes.

This is the Triathlon of Agility. Through it all, Ilsa must stay on task.

SAR Ilsa

Ilsa's training began in earnest early this morning. She was able to find Little Darling on seven out of eight attempts in a 20 acre park/playground. She quickly picked up on any sound, and seemed to know what she was expected to do. Tracking on the ground seems to be an adjunct for her at this time, but the plan is to train her to hone those nostrils over the next months.