Dog Helps Searchers Find Owner Lost In Woods
Dog Helps Searchers Find Owner Lost In Woods
http://www.wptz.com/news/13891971/detail.html
Man Had Been Missing Since Sunday
POSTED: 5:14 pm EDT August 14, 2007
UPDATED: 12:15 am EDT August 16, 2007
ALTON, N.H. -- A missing hiker's dog is being credited with leading rescuers near his location after he had been lost in the woods for two days.
Fish and Game Department officials said that Chuck Schultz, 64, was hiking with his German shepherd in woods off Route 11 south of the Mount Major hiking trail. An officer saw his pickup truck parked near the woods Sunday morning and became concerned when the vehicle was still there Monday afternoon.
"The vehicle was parked there with a dog crate in the back," Fish and Game Lt. Jim Goss said. "He frequents the area to walk, and the dog crate was left open as if he and the dog had gone for a walk."
Rescue teams had been searching for Schultz since Monday but were unable to locate him until his dog, Miss Moosey, emerged from the woods Tuesday afternoon. The dog was nervous and aggressive, but Nancy Lyon, a member of New England K-9 Search and Rescue, said she was able to gain Miss Moosey's trust.
"I went up the trail a bit and tried to make myself smaller and make myself interesting enough so she felt could safely come to me, so I sat on the ground," Lyon said.
Knowing that Miss Moosey had been in the woods for at least two days, Lyon offered her jars of meat baby food.
"She came over at first and didn't want food," Lyon said. "Then, she decided she could take the food."
Lyon was able to put a leash on the dog, who started leading searchers back into the woods. Miss Moosey led them to a spot on the trail, and a K-9 with the Fish and Game Department was able to pick up Schultz's scent from there. He was about 830 feet off the trail.
"He is alive, though he seems to be dehydrated, disoriented," Goss said.
Crews took Schultz out of the woods on an all-terrain vehicle, and he was placed in an ambulance. His family said that he was doing well but is still recovering in a hospital.
Miss Moosey is being cared for by friends until she can be reunited with Schultz.
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