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| Crystal Mountain Avalanche Dogs :: Rescuing at it's Finest :: Jetson, A Hero Crystal Mountain Avalanche DogsBy Sarah Bous-Leslie
During a rare glimpse of the "behind the scenes", I was allowed to sit in on a pre-season planning meeting. I was amazed how much work goes into this job! First, you must carry out the duties of a member of the Ski Patrol, such as daily monitoring of weather, snow and avalanche conditions, assessment of slope conditions, monitoring the behavior of skiers on the slopes, providing first aid and evacuation services to those injured, and so much more. Then, you can also be a Avalanche Dog handler. In addition to the other duties you are responsible for raising, training, and working your dog. This is a group a very hardworking people and canines! Even as a new comer, I could see the passion these men and women had for their work. Crystal Mountain has one of the oldest Avalanche Dog programs in the State of Washington. It's been in place for over 20 years. The main job of the Avalanche Dogs is to search for snow buried victims. If any avalanches occur that aren't witnessed, the dogs are used to clear the area making sure no one was buried. These areas are extremely unstable. Dogs are able to search these areas safely in seconds, humans could take hours to search the same space, risking even more lives. "We use the dogs to augment our avalanche rescue plan. The dogs can search an area much faster than humans. While many snow sport enthusiasts use avalanche transceivers, many do not. The dogs become very important if the victim is not using an avalanche rescue beacon (transceiver)," explained Andrew Longstreth an Avi Dog handler at Crystal Mountain. Andrew has been with the program for years, "I got into the program 21 years ago when I started patrolling at Crystal. At first I just helped out by digging holes for the dogs and getting buried for training. My first dog "Stellar" worked on the patrol for 12 years. My current dog "Cirrus" has been working for 7 years." Training the dogs to search, as with most working dogs, is not done with treat rewards. For these dogs, the search is a game, and the dogs work because they love to. They begin training by basic "run away" games where the dog follows the person, and progresses to finding people hiding in trenches of snow and eventually fully buried "victims". Even after the dogs have been trained to search, practice is crucial. The handlers schedule practices where they bury the "article" (usually a human scented wool blanket) in the snow and let the dogs find it. They also take turns digging huge holes in the snow, so a volunteer can be safely buried, searched for, and found.
Several of the dogs at Crystal are also state certified, which means they are on a call list to be brought in to help if there are avalanches on nearby mountains outside the ski park. "We also use our dogs as a conduit for skier safety and education. We don't want our dogs to have to work for real," Andrew says. It's a grim fact that there are times the dogs are used to locate the bodies of people who lost their lives on the mountains. Many of these deaths could have been avoided by following safety protocols. Get to know the team by visiting their Facebook page by searching "Crystal Mountain's Avalanche Dogs". It's a great place to see more breathtaking photos and to thank them for working so hard to keep us safe! BACK TO TOPRescuing at It's Finest - Old Dog HavenBy Andy Dorval After gushing on the phone to Judith Piper, the executive director of ODH (gushing is my natural expression of doggie love); Lisa, Solomon’s mom; and meeting with three wonderful volunteers in the South Puget Sound area (Jon Bennett, Bev Knodel and Trisha Lovgren), I could finally settle down and ask the real questions of how they go about making elderly dogs so darn happy, and how we can all share in that experience. Dogs find themselves in need of new homes for many reasons - an owner’s death, divorce, home foreclosure, or an aging owner who loves their dog, but is no longer able to care for it. ODH has four ways we can say YES to helping make an older dog’s remaining years loving and memorable. Fostering, Adopting, Final Refuge, or Sponsorship, along with a surprise twist that makes this group unique. If you’d like to become an important part of a dog’s personal rescue story, you may choose to be a temporary Foster parent while a forever home is found. Foster dogs are generally 8-11 years old, with no chronic health issues. ODH matches the dog to the Foster. You may be able to choose from one or two dogs based on their assessment. The Foster experience for each placement may last from two to 12 weeks while their forever home is found. Unique to ODH is an option they call Final Refuge, which is considered a permanent foster home for dogs who are too old or medically fragile for a normal adoption. Judith said the rewards of choosing this option far outweigh the pain of eventually losing your new friend. (The ODH website has some good information available on dealing with grief.) Now here comes the twist, and it’s a biggie! If you choose the Foster or Final Refuge options, Old Dog Haven will PAY ALL OF THE VET BILLS! Yes, I typed that correctly,… ALL OF THE VET BILLS. Holy Mackerel, CAN–YOU-BELIEVE-IT?! This does not include heroic measures, but does cover all of the normal medical issues that a dog this age is expected to have. I’ve never heard of anything like this before. Imagine what a relief it would be to love your dog and not have to worry about the health care costs! Amazed doesn’t begin to explain how excited I am right now. My latest favorite example of an ODH Final Refuge dog is Solomon. The gray in his muzzle extends all the way up past his eyebrows and his huge smile lights up a room. His Mom said his breed is: Happy Black Dog. Solomon, found as a stray in Bellevue several years ago, and was lucky enough to hook-up with ODH. They matched him with a great Mommy and a new life as a star in the eyes of legions of people who can’t seem to get enough of him. This guy even has his very own Facebook page! By following his exploits, I couldn’t help but notice that his life is way more interesting than mine is, and he has a boat load of friends. From hosting a pool party for his doggie friends, to making personal appearances, entertaining temporary fosters in his home and helping his Mom at work, this is one busy boy. Solomon’s mom, Lisa, shared with me that older dogs are usually housebroken. They get along pretty well with other dogs, don’t require a daily trip to the park or major exercise, but are happy to walk anytime you want. They are capable of anything a younger dog can do, but without the excess energy and destruction. The South Puget Sound ODH volunteers said don’t misconceive that all older dogs are crippled and arthritic. Many are very active. Small or large, active or not, there’s a dog for everyone. Volunteer Trisha Lovgren, who does intakes, assessments, temperament testing and home visits for ODH, said adopting an older dog "is so worth it." I could see from the devotion in the eyes of her Final Refuge, Gus, sitting in her lap, as content as could be, in the midst of a crowded dog event that her statement registered as oh so true. The dogs and volunteers share the same, glowing, genome of happiness. Trisha said old dogs aren’t up at 6am. They sleep more, are mellow and love to cuddle. She says that "old dogs know how to be dogs." Volunteer Bev Knodel has a sweet philosophy of where her foster The third ODH volunteer at the Fourth Annual Paws for the Cause event in Lacey, WA was Jon Bennett, who I found wears two hats. He’s with the Thurston County Humane Society and is a volunteer for ODH. So it wasn’t surprising to learn that he has a rather large dog family. One of his six dogs received over $1,000 worth of veterinary care, thanks to ODH, before he added it to his personal pack. ODH’s network of volunteers stretches the length of Western Washington. They will ferry a dog from Blaine to Vancouver with volunteers driving different legs of the trip to deliver a dog in need to its new foster or forever home. For those who cannot take an actual dog into their home, but want to have a hand in helping, Sponsoring so that others may foster will include you in the family of those who love senior dogs. Oh, and did I say that I like wearing my ODH t-shirt because it gets me noticed? Well, maybe not me in particular I gue It’s like dominoes. One person touches another as the story spreads in a long chain of doggie love. Be a part of the chain, consider volunteering, Fostering, Adopting, providing a Final Refuge or Sponsoring a wonderful old dog of your own. Old Dog Haven can be found at: www.olddoghaven.org for information, and foster applications. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it - 360-653-0311 You can also find them on Facebook here. The Facebook page for Solomon is found by typing his name into the "search" box on your Facebook page. You’ll be so glad you did. BACK TO TOPJETSON, A Hero!
There’s no training program to become a hero, some dogs are just born that way. Such is the case with Jetson. Jetson is a newly retired K9 Officer for King County Sheriffs Dept. His record is very impressive. He’s helped apprehend so many criminals, his owner and partner Officer Pete Sheridan stopped counting at 200! Jetson has helped bring drug offenders, murderers and even kidnappers to justice.
Officer Pete picked Jetson out of a litter of pups to enter training and become his new partner. Together the two have trained and worked together for 10 years. This story came very close to having a tragic ending. Last fall Jetson was taken to his vet after he starting limping on his left hind leg. X-rays at that time showed a small abnormal lesion in the end of his left femur. A biopsy of was taken but the results were inconclusive. After a period of monitoring, his lameness continued and Jetson returned to his vet. X-rays were repeated and showed that the size of the lesion in the femur had almost tripled in size. Pete and his wife Jenny were understandably worried. They decided to seek a second opinion. They took Jetson to Summit Veterinary Referral Center in Tacoma. Summit is a very different kind of hospital. They have specialists from many different specialties all under one roof: Critical Care, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Oncology, Radiology, and Surgery. The Summit team takes a collective approach to complicated medical problems, in belief that by working together they will have a better chance of saving lives. In essence, Pete and Jenny had found the veterinary Dream Team! After evaluation by Dr. Andrew Hofeling, a Surgeon, and Dr. Sarah Gillings, an Oncologist, Jetson was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, an aggressive bone tumor. The doctors at Summit collaborated on the best course of action for Jetson’s treatment. They recommended amputation of the affected leg followed by chemotherapy. The cancer was spreading fast, and this course of treatment was the best way to try and save Jetson’s life. Pete and Jenny consider Jetson much more than a K9 officer and Pete’s partner - Jetson is a member of their family. They weighed their decision very carefully. Jetson had always been a working dog, a hero. What would his quality of life be? He would have to retire from the force...would he still have a happy and fulfilling life with only three legs? Would he be better off if they put him to sleep? After lots of caring input from the wonderful staff at Summit, they decided to follow their hearts. Jetson was scheduled for his life-saving surgery. Jetson came through his surgery well and was recovering nicely under careful watch of the Summit staff. Marla, a Summit veterinary technician, became concerned when Jetson was still showing no interest in food hours into his recovery. She called Jenny right away. “Try feeding him through the bars of the door on the kennel,” she suggested. “When on duty with Pete he always gets his treats through the bars of the cage in the police car.” Marla tried it, and it worked like a charm! It was just the “taste of home” Jetson needed. After returning home, Jetson lost no time in proving that Pete and Jenny made the right decision. Within weeks he was romping and laying on their ranch, carefree and happy with his remaining three legs. He carried himself as proudly as ever. Jetson is proof that to grieve over a lost limb is a human thing to do; dogs move on - and they move on fast! He happily returns to Summit for his chemotherapy appointments with Dr. Sarah Gillings, feels right at home in their beautiful comfy waiting room, and enjoys the time he spends while in the care of the staff. Jetson may be retired from the force, but he is still an active hero. He is an inspiration to many other families who may also face a similar decision with their pets. Pete, Jenny, and the staff at Summit Veterinary Referral Center hope that sharing Jetson’s story may encourage others to explore other available treatment options, even when hope may seem lost.
Washington State Police Canine Association, is a non-profit organization that helps offset bills for retired police dogs. To donate to help with Jetson’s and other retired police dogs’ long term care please visit www.wspca.com BACK TO TOP
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I'm not sure what I was expecting when I went to meet the Crystal Mountain Avalanche Dogs. Maybe I had imagined snowball fights and steaming mugs of hot chocolate? Well that's not at all what I found. Being part of this team is work, and it's taken very seriously.
The Avi Handlers are always experimenting with new scenarios to try with the dogs. The "scent cones" that the dogs are tracking can behave differently in different terrain. These funnel shaped cones of scented air are extremely unstable, subject to breezes, temperatures, snow, rain and even the presence of trees. The cones can broaden as they float, billow, shrink and waft around without any pattern but its very own. The canine nose is uniquely gifted in the ability to identify and follow these scent cones. Practice searching in different "real life" situations, ie partially buried, covered in branches, surrounded by debri, etc., helps the dogs hone their skills.
Be forewarned, there’ll be a lot of !’s and a lot of capitalized words in this story. I just can’t help myself. The light bulb in my head lit up when I heard of Old Dog Haven’s mission to Rehome, Foster and provide a Final Refuge for senior dogs. Seniors are considered to be 8 years of age and older. It’s the way ODH goes about saving these fine animals that makes this a REALLY GREAT IDEA! This organization is so impressive it’s hard not to want to cram all the information into the first two paragraphs. Since that’s not possible, here we go,…
e had 524 "likes" (people who follow him on facebook). And you know that these friends are sharing his postings with their friend’s lists, and those friends with their friends. The numbers could be staggering. One devoted fan even painted Solomon’s portrait. My favorite Solomon quotes this week are: "I kissed a lot of ladies yesterday." and "We still have the no-dogs loaner car! It smells more like me every day!" His site alone is well worth the trip to facebook-land.
dogs go when they leave this life. Her dad is taking care of each and every one of them in heaven. The dogs in her care, who cross over the Rainbow Bridge, walk toward her father’s loving arms.
ss, but it does start a lively conversation about old dog adoption. One of the clerk’s at my favorite grocery store tossed a question across the aisles recently. "WHERE did you get that shirt? I REALLY like it!" My plan is working - another opportunity for everyone within earshot to get a quick overview of the ODH story. I offered her one of the extra shirts I’d bought at a recent dog event, along with an ODH calendar. I wrote Solomon’s name on it so she’d remember to look for his facebook page. A week later when I checked back to find one very happy checker! She’s been showing off her new t-shirt AND telling the story. YaHa!!
Officer Sheridan remembers one case in particular. A man had kidnapped a little girl and was hiding in a forested area. Jetson tracked down the suspect and approached to take him down. The suspect grabbed the little girl and held her in front of him, trying to fend Jetson off and protect himself by endangering the little girl. Without skipping a beat, Jetson stopped and redirected his take down, carefully missing the little girl and grabbing hold of the man. That’s the sort of thing you can’t train, that’s the natural instinct of a hero!
