Tracking Story
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| Copyright © 2005 - 2009 Durham Working Dogs - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |
I received a phone call from one of my former customers from a couple of years
ago. The customer is the mother of two children, ages 5 and 9, and the owner of a
Golden Retriever named Brownie who is 2 ½.
While at a local park with her children, she was watching her 5 year old playing in
the sandbox. The 9 year old child was playing on the swings off to the left side of
her vision, and Brownie was lying alongside the sandbox. Her 5 year old cut her
hand on something sharp in the sandbox, and the mother diverted her attention to
caring for the child.
When the mother turned around after calming down the 5 year old, she found her 9
year old child was gone! The mother panicked because her child was not only
gone from the swing area, but also because the park sat next to a river. She
frantically asked other people at the park if they had seen her child, but no one had.
A couple of parents said they had noticed some children playing near the river. The
mother asked a couple she knew to watch her 5 year old while she looked for her 9
year old. The mother and some other parents ran around the park calling the child’
s name. They didn’t receive any answer back. The mother, once she regained
some of her composure, remembered that Brownie was trained to suspect track.
Brownie was still tied up over next to the sandbox.
The mother took Brownie to the spot were she had last seen her child, pointed
down at the ground and told Brownie to track. Brownie took off, pulling the mother
down the long hill toward the water. The mother began to panic again about her
child being so close to the water. But once Brownie reached the river’s edge, she
turned to the right and started down into a wooded area where there was a hidden
trail. Brownie tracked through the wooded area alongside the river’s edge for
about half a mile.
Around the river’s bend was a dam. The mother started to get upset the closer she
got to the dam. She called her child’s name over and over but still, no answer. She
could not believe her child would walk off and go this far, but she held onto Brownie’
s lead. Brownie and the mother finally came out of the wooded area at the dam.
The mother saw her child playing on a wall next to the rushing water at the dam with
some older kids. The child had not heard her mother’s cries because of the
rushing water from the dam. The mother ran up, grabbed her child off the wall and
told the other children to get down off the wall too.
On the way back to the park, the mother and the children were met by a local K-9
Unit officer who had been called out on a report of a missing child at the park. The
K-9 unit had picked up the scent where the child was last seen and followed the
same path through the woods that Brownie took toward the dam. The mother told
the K-9 officer what had happened. The K-9 officer told her she was a very
fortunate mother because usually when police department received a call from the
park about a missing child, it doesn’t turn out this well. He told her that kids come
down to the dam all the time to play and accidentally fall into the rushing water. The
mother told the police officer, “I had faith that my dog Brownie could find my child.
And I was fortunate enough to remember my dog Brownie was trained to suspect
track.”
On the way home from the park the mother stopped and purchased the biggest
hamburger she could for Brownie, just to tell Brownie thanks for finding her child.
This mother/former customer called me the next day to give me her blessing for
training her dog Brownie for obedience and tracking. She never knew how
important suspect tracking was until yesterday. She told me, “If you hadn’t trained
Brownie and me how to suspect track, I don’t think my child would be here today.
Thank you Mr. Durham!”
This is a true story.
ago. The customer is the mother of two children, ages 5 and 9, and the owner of a
Golden Retriever named Brownie who is 2 ½.
While at a local park with her children, she was watching her 5 year old playing in
the sandbox. The 9 year old child was playing on the swings off to the left side of
her vision, and Brownie was lying alongside the sandbox. Her 5 year old cut her
hand on something sharp in the sandbox, and the mother diverted her attention to
caring for the child.
When the mother turned around after calming down the 5 year old, she found her 9
year old child was gone! The mother panicked because her child was not only
gone from the swing area, but also because the park sat next to a river. She
frantically asked other people at the park if they had seen her child, but no one had.
A couple of parents said they had noticed some children playing near the river. The
mother asked a couple she knew to watch her 5 year old while she looked for her 9
year old. The mother and some other parents ran around the park calling the child’
s name. They didn’t receive any answer back. The mother, once she regained
some of her composure, remembered that Brownie was trained to suspect track.
Brownie was still tied up over next to the sandbox.
The mother took Brownie to the spot were she had last seen her child, pointed
down at the ground and told Brownie to track. Brownie took off, pulling the mother
down the long hill toward the water. The mother began to panic again about her
child being so close to the water. But once Brownie reached the river’s edge, she
turned to the right and started down into a wooded area where there was a hidden
trail. Brownie tracked through the wooded area alongside the river’s edge for
about half a mile.
Around the river’s bend was a dam. The mother started to get upset the closer she
got to the dam. She called her child’s name over and over but still, no answer. She
could not believe her child would walk off and go this far, but she held onto Brownie’
s lead. Brownie and the mother finally came out of the wooded area at the dam.
The mother saw her child playing on a wall next to the rushing water at the dam with
some older kids. The child had not heard her mother’s cries because of the
rushing water from the dam. The mother ran up, grabbed her child off the wall and
told the other children to get down off the wall too.
On the way back to the park, the mother and the children were met by a local K-9
Unit officer who had been called out on a report of a missing child at the park. The
K-9 unit had picked up the scent where the child was last seen and followed the
same path through the woods that Brownie took toward the dam. The mother told
the K-9 officer what had happened. The K-9 officer told her she was a very
fortunate mother because usually when police department received a call from the
park about a missing child, it doesn’t turn out this well. He told her that kids come
down to the dam all the time to play and accidentally fall into the rushing water. The
mother told the police officer, “I had faith that my dog Brownie could find my child.
And I was fortunate enough to remember my dog Brownie was trained to suspect
track.”
On the way home from the park the mother stopped and purchased the biggest
hamburger she could for Brownie, just to tell Brownie thanks for finding her child.
This mother/former customer called me the next day to give me her blessing for
training her dog Brownie for obedience and tracking. She never knew how
important suspect tracking was until yesterday. She told me, “If you hadn’t trained
Brownie and me how to suspect track, I don’t think my child would be here today.
Thank you Mr. Durham!”
This is a true story.