Gone Fishing

Sat was hot with humidity at 100%. Working outside with the dogs was close to impossible. It was lucky for us that we have a warehouse available that is air conditioned! So we met and worked our butts off setting up and playing for 4 hours. I set problems for each handler and dog to work thru...and I set Fox to find cadaver in the locker room...

It was a scene from a horror movie...dark with only a small light at the entrance. We moved into a clean room and then opened to a 30 x 40 foot room full of two high lockers. Some had locks, most didn't. Ray had the list and went as the evaluator and to tell us if we were right or wrong.

I gave the command at the door and he set off to the left...checking each cart and supply box...I followed slowly. He digs into a box of mop heads...strings in all directions...first find...moves on and one by one we mark lockers. Teeth, hair, skin and bones...the murderer had been a busy person...the body was spread out all over the room...7 alerts and seven correct lockers!! My boy is gooood...now it Magic's turn.

Magic is full of go...no slow entry for him. Charging in I see him spin and go to the mop box!! FIND...no alert. I get him to "touch it" and he gets his cookies...moves on...fast and spins off to the women's restroom on the side. He makes a quick fly through and back to the lockers. I have to be careful as I know where it is now and I don't want to cue him...one by one he hits and alerts on the lockers. So many I forget which is the correct one...but he is right and we have another seven out of seven. The alerts still need work.

The Vizsla refuses to work on the slippery floor, and the Dobie is quick but not as fast at pin pointing...he gets the game after the second and starts to hit everyone right. Seven for seven...we move on to the live finds...

I run them as a team so they share the pattern...one to the right and one to the left, they cross the paths back and forth. I laugh as Fox and Magic pass right by, swing and sniff...UP and sure enough he is above them...ruf ruf and Fox tries to jump UP as high as the hider!! Magic digs and barks...on for the second...Find More...Search more...off they go, I don't direct as I know where the victim is hidden. I watch Fox then Magic pick up the scent, lose it and circle...Fox checks the boxes closer...Magic is still circling...this is where you see the experience...Fox starts to smell the bottom and goes in...Magic is following the air to the location till Fox barks...bark bark...bark...he gives the live alert...Magic is quick to dig and do a back up jump at the big box. Fox runs and almost makes the 4 foot sides!! Here mom...Here. Bark Bark...I go in with let's check...and hand the food treats to the "Victim " for the reward...I stand back and HE does the rewards...disaster training where the commitment is to the victim...not the handler.

We are tired and full of fun as each of us has seen progress. I go to give the dogs a swim...and play in the water for a few hours. I have a BBQ and go to the computer...addiction is not pretty. It is just coming up when the phone rings..

"Hey, Durvis just called and Four States SAR needs a back up on the Red River ..want to go fishing?? I groan and ask the caller if I can check with my hubby. It will be Fourth of July...and we had plans...I knew I'd go, for searches have top priority. But had to arrange for the dogs to be cared for...

Up at 4:30 to be ready to roll. It would be a long drive into the far southern corner of Arkansas...and it would be hot...heat index reaching 105 at least. We need to be in and gone by the hot part of the day...We roll  in to meet at the Benton Cracker Barrel. A general location for all. We load into two cars. Gone.

As we drive into Town, we have been on the road three hours plus. I am tired from the playing yesterday...so are the dogs. We make the Mock Search as real as we can to condition us...the dogs. Today we work tired which is good practice. I talk with the Sheriff's deputy and the 4 States crew. We learn some details. Durvis has marked the bank on the opposite side. He doesn't always trust his dog as he has started having seizures and started on meds. We are to check and do as we think best. I check the river and feel a shiver run up my back. It is swift and the current sucks at the banks. Full of debris and floating garbage. It moves over the safety margins. We will do it anyway, but we check and talk to see that we have the best boats and motors. We need two. I await the second as we get the first set of dogs. Marty will ride with me to "spot". Michelle is on her first water search and I send her with Sharon to get experience with Bubba. Off we go.

Now Boat drivers are most important to a dog team...and make or break a search. Mine are the very best, and Sharon has Durvis. Nothing could be better. I move down stream and see the diver on the banks. I wave and duck the rope across the raging current. Markers for the divers. Bright yellow, it makes me think if we lose the motor, we have a catch line <G>. I swing away to the south and start up river. It is in the shade. I talk with Marty about at least we get the correct bank where it is the coolest. Then I get my first alert...Wooly dips and check as we come into the marked area. I hear Bubba's deep bark. The scent is hot here. I go back up under the rope and keep getting a small alert. It is less that 24 hours and he is not putting out a lot of scent yet. Still we move and he dips again at the pool close to the downed tree. My driver tells me we are a few feet from a PLS ( Point last seen). His Father was coming to meet him on the bank and heard the yelling. He also saw something floating and thought, "What A BIG fish breaking water"...then saw the boat empty...still going and jammed into the trees up river. That had been his son.

I swing away and we make way for the next dog to check. Sharon and I work as a team. I watch Bubba, and he gives a small bark at the same location...we mark in our minds...The Tree With the Caterpillar nests...and move to start again. As I go, I ask them to pull up before the rope and swing into the area with the tree...he starts the swing...and we snag the rope!!! He kills the motor and we glide over till it hangs the prop. He lifts and we wait...free and moving down stream...safe, but scary, we restart and move back up to the scent area once more.

Sharon is watching, Wooly is looking to the banks...another pass, again the same area. And this time we go past the tree in the water and he looks back. I ask if they can put me into the tree...sure...and he is so delicate I am afraid to breathe!! Wooly checks all of the branches and looks back. Clear. We back out and under the overhanging trees...he hits!! I pull off and watch Sharon do the same...BARK...as Bubba picks up the scent. We make a few more passes to pin point, but we have marked. Time to change dogs. And tighten the ropes.  Don't want to catch it again. 

Fox's turn. This time we go way down the river and work the bank down and back...he looks over the side from time to time. Pete the Vizsla is Fox's partner. We work well together...but not like Bubba and Wooly. Fox is more independent and Pete is just plain get down and work. I see his signal...head to the water and butt in the air...tail is a helicopter going 60 to a 100mph. I am first through the alert area and Fox looks down.  Is it "fred"...Touch it! and he digs on the boat...first down stream pools...on to the trees...and he lowers to the water...FRED?...Touch it...he digs first the boat and then the hand over the side...we keep moving...pass the trees, swing and come back into the scent pool...same...dig dig. We pull away and watch the second dog do an about, and look into the water. Marty is out now...I turn to watch Rufus. It is his first time working without the dogs or me over his shoulder...I hear him bark...bark..he is approaching the first scent pool and moves on.  I see no alert on the second pool. He is new and hasn't learned to work it up till it disappears.

I ask Sharon shall we keep checking, and she says yes...we move on and she yells let's go above for a "blind" check. It gives us a clue as to whether the dogs are working scent, or just playing. If you get an "alert" outside the known area UP stream, its a lie and the dog will be discounted on the search...none do. The other boat comes up and tells us we are way out of the range...we laugh...and explain the "test".

The day is getting hotter and the shadows are fast disappearing along the shore. I worry about the dogs on the bank waiting. I headed in and ask the boat handler to wait as I have another dog yet to work. I give permission for them to start the diver/drag lines.

On the bank I give Fox and Wooly Ice water to cool them, move the cages into the bushes for cooler cover, and head with Magic back to the water. He stops and does pee mail and moves on to the water. I have to admit I worry more about his love for swimming as it could get us into trouble today. Sure, he runs into the shallows and bites the water. As he wades in, he feels the current and backs off...yes! I grab his life vest and jump into the boat. It must be a quick trip as the heat builds.

As we leave the bank, they are pulling up the ropes and the divers load up to leave. They have all run out of Air and Dive time, and tell us thanks. Durvis heads for the drag boats. I head for the opposite shore. Magic is excited. I have a new passenger. Terry is a new handler with 4 states and I have offered a chance to "work" the water and learn new skills. I had talked to Judy and we had remembered so long ago when she and I had met that way. On this VERY River, another search. With Wooly asleep on the deck of a boat waiting his turn...BOOM up he jumped and down in to the water.. ALERT!!. I wonder if Magic will spark that love of search that experience had given Judy.

As we approach the bank I tell her to watch his feet. He is a pointer. If or when he picks up the scent , he will take the foot and POINT out to the location... We move up the bank and THERE GOES THE FOOT. Alert. Same area...BIG scent pool...I show her how the currents working here. The grass on the edge of the bank is floating...straight out...NOT with the current. Up and down gently...no pressure. This is a back pool or eddy of scent not moving with the current. Standing, it has built a large pool of standing scent...all the dogs had hit here because the smell was strong and easy to find. The key to a good water search dog is training to keep looking and find where it ISN'T...so we keep moving and he hits a bit farther up on the banks. The sun is higher and the wind is shifting. As we approach the second pool, he is busy watching the boats taking up the ropes, and we miss the scent. I swing out into the current and move back into the main stream current. I let him look. He is quivering with excitement. It has been a big week for him and I don't want to rush him. This is the first water search and he had been on the Cadaver/murder search (Murder Most Foul). A young dog can get TOO excited. I need him to look his fill so we could make the next pass and find the scent again. I ask the boat handler (who is a true GEM) and we start for the upstream scent pool and I set him to work..."find Fred Magic...get him...where is it...find it" and the nose goes to work...check! and he looks over...THE FOOT GOES...we are almost to the second pool...DIG TOUCH and then he goes for my hand!! Where is that treat mom Huh Huh??..I dig one out and make him touch once more as the boat handler holds us over the scent...AND A BUTTER TUB GOES FLOATING BY!!

I could not have planned a better reward!! I have used a "marker" and when he finds Fred I raise the MARKER...so he thought we had a "find" and it was the reward marker!! I mean DOG OVER BOARD!! and I grabbed just in time!! He was so excited and I was busy laughing and saying GOOD DOG. And then said a prayer to the above for the small gentle help he had provided. We HAD A WATER DOG. I call it a day at 100°+ and we head for shore.

Now the hard times. We get to wait. But also we get to talk. And this time we had friends with the SAR teams from 4 States. We gather around the tail gates and have a 4th picnic...only very quietly. The family is there waiting and we don't want to make it harder. It has been only 23 hours and we at least knew where to look under the water.

Time to go home. Nothing more we can do. We load and go check out with the deputy and Durvis. "Thanks for the call" I tell him..."Your boy is working well, Durvis, I am sure you would have found him" "No, I have to tell you that you have pin pointed and I thank you all for coming."  We hug. We will be back tomorrow if they need us.

I stop to console the family. I am sorry for their loss. I hear that he was drinking. And the river was wild from the flooding north in the Ft Smith area. Sad. 25 and so young. I hug the wife and kiss the mom with warm hugs. I leave.

On the drive home we talk. Marty had the chance to work Dare. Just a boat ride , but a start. He had barked at the big scent pool. I know the training is working and he will become a water dog, too. It was a very successful day.

Home and I have company waiting. Back from a dog show I have a friend.  She is going on, but I wish her to stay. I am wired and need to talk, and she waits about an hour. I am too keyed to sleep. Magic...I smile. It is worth the work to see a great dog work. He will be great. I hug the new pup to me and she laughs...I want them both. But he is so elegant...and here I am all dirty, needing a shower, and he is beautiful. And mine. A precious gift of renewal...and a sister to play with and help raise. A gift of tomorrow. A deep thanks. A wonderful trust.

Fox and Magic are dead to the world. Wooly is quiet and I hold him gently, wishing he could be with the others. A wonderful dog who hates the Magic man. I am torn both ways. Yesterday...tomorrow's dreams. Both too worthy to be left alone. I hug and feed and they all go to sleep. ME?? I sit at the computer...addiction is not pretty. Maybe I need to go Fishing again.

Postscript: The body was found the next day as it started to float. As the water was so warm(70°), it was up in the third day...as we had predicted. It was floating just down stream from the scent pool...loosened by the drag lines, it was recovered. They give us a "find' and say Thanks. I await details.

[Stories Home]  [Burning Need]  [The Flood]  [Molly]  [Aaron]  [Just Another Day]  [Water Search]  [Mock Search]  [Murder Most Foul]  [Gone Fishing]  [Once Again]  [Cossatot River Search]  [Return to Life]  [Too Old for This]  [Lord Vincent]  [Up From The Depths]  [Citizenship]    [Search Schip]  [Marmaduke Search]  [Lilly and Jamie]  [White Water Killer]  [Blood, Sweat 'N Cheers]