The Vital Work of Pet Tracking K9's

Tracking Beagle Preacher Saves Life of Elderly Dog

NOTE FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED: This story is also available as an audio recording, read by Kat, the author.

It breaks my heart that there are some lost pet rescuers out there who DO NOT recommend the use of K9 Pet Trackers. Rescuers who’ve seen unethical trackers or poorly trained search dogs (dogs and handlers NOT trained through our program) that have given a bad reputation for using dogs to find lost pets. Some out there are using dogs that were trained for just a few months whereas at MARN, most dogs in our MAR K9 training program go through at least a year of training, and then they must prove themselves through a certification test.

Recently, one of the K9 Pet Trackers (from North Carolina) that I helped to train had THREE “walk up finds” in a matter of 10 days! That is not common and it is quite the accomplishment. And it proves the point that a PROPERLY TRAINED MAR K9 is a viable tool that can sometimes, not always, help to find a lost dog or cat.

Here is one such story about MAR K9 Preacher and how he tracked down the elderly missing Beagle named Bo. This was written by his handler, Balynda Brown. I’ve included a video that shows the actualy recovery of Bo, plus one of Preacher’s OTHER walk up find videos of a different elderly dog named Sam.

MY PASSION IS TO RECRUIT MORE HANDLERS LIKE BALYNDA AND MORE K9’S LIKE PREACHER TO TRACK LOST PETS ALL ACROSS NORTH AMERICA!

“Bo is a much loved, old guy. He’s a 16-year-old Beagle, deaf and mostly blind. He managed to wander off while out in the yard with his family. After no sightings in 8 days, Bo’s family hired Bravo K911 & Preacher.

To be honest, I expected this to be a recovery mission. 16 year old, deaf, mostly blind dog, storms, temps in the 20’s and soooo much water everywhere. Bo is an only dog, so we had plenty of wonderful scent items for Preacher to sniff. I’m not sure if Preacher even realized that he was looking for a fellow Beagle.

I presented him with the scent article and Preacher was off at a run. He led me thru the woods. At one point, we got caught in a circle. We kept jogging round and round thru the same bushes and thorns over and over again. Preacher was in what is called a “scent pool” which means Bo had spent quite a bit of time in this small circle. It was Preacher’s job to find where and what direction Bo left from this circle.

Then it happened. Preacher threw his head back, let out a long Beagle bay (“ArroooOOOOOoooo!”) and we were off once again! This time, we ran parallel above a creek. Correction—I should say, Preacher was trying to run and I was holding on with all I had while being dragged through mud, swamps, creeks and briars! The briars, uggh, the BRIARS!

Preacher tugged and pulled and barked and howled for 45 minutes as we tracked a mile through the dense terrain. Finally, we stopped. No further. All of Bo’s scent was below us, down in the creek. And not just his scent, but BO was there too!!! His Mom quickly got to Bo and informed us all that Bo was still ALIVE!

Balynda Brown holding her Beagle Preacher (wearing the vest) as he sniffs noses with Bo, the elderly Beagle that Preacher found. (photo provided by Balynda Brown)

Not only was Bo alive, but he looked great. Bo thanked Preacher and they AMAZINGLY WALKED out of the woods together. Also after 45 minutes and 1 mile of barking, Preacher was now quiet. His mission was complete. This was Preacher’s 3rd walk up find in just 10 days! Bo is home from the vet and is doing great.”

Here’s video of Preacher finding Bo in the creek:

And although I don’t have room to share ALL of the details, here’s a recovery video of a different elderly (16-year-old) dog named Sam who Preacher also tracked down and found.

If these videos are not evidence enough of the viablity of using search dogs to find lost pets, I don’t know what is!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS Everyon!