Warm Spring Day in MN

I am so fortunate to live just a softball's throw from a 2000acre wildlife preserve. There are many trails through the woods and today, my three Boxers and I took advantage of the warm sun to take a long walk.

For those not familiar with my pack of dogs, I have Roscoe, a flashy fawn and my alpha boy. Rocketdog is a totally blind fawn, about 100 pounds because he doesn't run (he will only run if I run with him while he is on leash, but, alas, I am too old to run very far.) Sarah, my old girl, another fawn but with undertones of brindle, who has cardiomyopathy, and I constantly worry about her collapsing as she did just over a week ago.

When we got on the trail we chose, I could hear wild turkeys calling. It is turkey mating time. The slightly muddy trail had lots of deer hoof prints. My two seeing dogs ran up the trail, jumping over the fallen trees that keep snowmobilers from using the trails in the winter.

However, it also hinders my blind dog from traveling the trail. He and I are forced into the weeds to get around the logs blocking the trail, and I did spend a good 15 minutes after our walk pulling off burrs that stick to fur and clothing. I wish there were a compromise for the snowmobilers and the dog walkers without having to block the trails. My seeing dogs just jump over the logs, but Rocket was able to jump over only one, and that surprised me that he could. (I had asked him to "step" which means he raises his feet, as in going up or down steps, but he could feel the height of the log on his chest, and he jumped instead!! Smart dog!!)

We didn't walk as far as I had planned today, as Sarah started lagging behind. She is always in front of me, running and playing with Roscoe, but today she seemed too tired. I worried that it was her heart. Rocketdog and I slowed down even more to wait for Sarah to catch up, and I saw another man with a dog beginning his walk. Although dogs don't need to be on leashes in this park, he did have his dog on leash, and I could tell he was worried about Roscoe. I yelled at Roscoe to stop, and he did, although he clearly wanted to meet and greet the newcomers. Usually Roscoe likes to run to the last home on the dead end to visit the horse barn. That family loves him, and the young boy often comes out to play fetch with Roscoe while Rocketdog and Sarah and I catch up.

It was the Mother of the family who called me late Monday night because she and her husband saw a Boxer cross dog hit on the county road near our homes. It was not any of my three, as I never let them roam without me. I felt so sad because I think I had seen that dog. There is a mobile home park just north and to the east of where I live, and there are many problems with dogs in that area. Too many dogs run free and the county road with a speed limit of 55 mph claims their lives.

I know how tempting it is to just open the gate when your dog wants a walk. There have been times when I have had the flu or was very tired, and did not want to take the dogs on their daily walk. Even though I live very near the end of my dead end dirt road, the dogs could roam to the nearest black top road and be killed. Rocketdog, my blind guy, would never be allowed out of the fenced in yard without me.

Once, a few months after I got Rocketdog, and before I began taking him to obedience school, he disappeared while I was visiting with a neighbor. He was right there with me, then he was gone. It was dusk, and my neighbors and I called and called, but he did not come back or bark. It was the beginning of January, usually a very cold time in MN, but we were having a January thaw. It was a Wednesday night, I'll never forget.

I got my flash light and started looking for him in all the neighbors' yards. I knocked on their dogs, asked them to let their dogs out, knowing Rocket would want to play with them and perhaps be found. I did not find him that night. Can you imagine going to bed and trying to sleep while your blind dog is lost outside?

Thursday, we (my neighbors and I) searched again, but no luck. Friday I called the Department of Natural Resources to see if a heliocopter with infrared detection could fly over the area of the wild life preserve nearest my house. You would have thought I asked for the crown from the Queen of England. The DNR told me in no uncertain terms that the dog was undoubtedly dead, and to give up.

But, I organized a huge search. People from work and neighbors from the next dead end down came to my home on Saturday morning. I gave them each a roll of colored masking tape and sent them to the entry at the next dead end on the wildlife preserve, asking them to enter about every 50 feet, and to mark the trees with their tape.

If they walked north from the next entry into the preserve, they would end up at the river that flows through my property. I really felt he had to be in that 4 or 5 block square area.

I had reached the river already with no luck when I heard someone calling my name. "Diana, Diana, we found him!!" I was scared to death to ask if he was alive or not, but I started running towards the sounds of their voices.

He was alive. He had heard them calling his name, and got up from a nest he had made for himself under a pine tree. He was weak, dehydrated, had frost bite on his ears and toes, but he was alive, and could walk.

I used my cell phone to call my daughter who was staying at my house as the search coordinator, and told her to run a warm bath. She also called all the other searchers and told them the good news, telling them to come in.

We put Rocket into the warm bath, and he almost drank up all the water. He was exhausted, of course, and once he was warm and watered and fed, he felt asleep for hours.

The humans, however, began to party!! I had champagne left over from New Year's and this was the time to celebrate. It was a miracle, that my blind dog could survive in January for three nights and two and a half days in the woods. Thank you, St. Francis, guardian of lost animals.

Now, whenever I take Rocket out for a walk, he wears camel bells on his collar. Rocket likes his independence, and he prefers to walk off leash, even though it means he may bump into a mail box or tree. He listens well, and I am his eyes. Nevertheless, he does bump into things sometimes. He is a big Boxer with a big head. He walks slowly, so as to minimize the damage.

As you can imagine, I don't move the furniture around in my home very often.

Thank you for reading my blog. I do love to write about my dogs. Best regards, Diana Lynn of Sunrise River Boxers, a rescuer, not a breeder.

Wonderful blog. Thanks for sharing your stories, and I look forward to many more.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your story, sounds like you have wonderful neighbours, i have a tear inmy eye over how much support they gave you when Rocket went missing. I look forward to hear more tales, its sounds like you live in a great place.

Great blog... nice story

Another lovely read!
Thankyou

Wonderful, loved the bit about the helicopter, only a true dog lover would do that