On January 28, the Santa Clarita Valley Search and Rescue Team rescued three lost dogs from a remote canyon in Southern California. Sometimes appealing to the taste palates of our canine friends turn out to be the best reasons for their cooperation.
It had been early Sunday morning when two members of the rescue team had been scouting a potential training location and heard the continuous barking of a dog coming from a remote canyon. The nonstop barking raised concern, and maybe the dog had been trying to alert help for its owner being injured? The team ceased their scouting mission and hiked towards the barking dog.
In a steep area, the dog was spotted. He had been running up and down the mountain as if trying to lead the crew to a particular destination. The team followed the dog and came upon two additional dogs. One of the dogs was a large pit bull type who appeared exhausted and very scared. The two smaller dogs ran up a nearby hill and sat close beside him. They growled and barked as the rescuers got closer as if protecting the larger dog.
The SCV Sheriff’s Station dispatch was notified that a dog rescue was in progress, and additional SCV SAR members were paged out.
Animal Control was requested, along with a few packages of hot dogs to help coax the dogs to safety. Out came the hot dogs – oh how quickly that worked!
For approximately 20 minutes, the two rescuers remained in a precarious position, without proper climbing gear, while three dogs stood about 15 feet away, barking and growling.
Then, suddenly, all three dogs ran up to the team members, wagging their tails, hugging their legs, and licking their faces.
The pit bull named Oden slowly made his way down the hill, rested his head on one rescuer’s leg, and closed his eyes. He seemed relieved to finally be found.
The dogs wore collars with the owners’ information. The dogs had disappeared overnight and had traveled approximately six miles. They have all since been reunited with their owners – hot dogs included!
