I don't know an awful lot about dog searching, but could a search dog be commanded to backtrack the Lab? But it might be a specialized skill...

That brings to mind another idea for people with a dog and children. I have a very smart dog (herding breed, it comes naturally) that I taught a game called FIND IT! as a puppy. The object was to find hidden food, and she soon excelled at it.

I also taught her to chase a tennis ball, which she loved, and that wording was PLAY BALL.

One day, I threw the ball but she was looking at the neighbor's dog and she didn't see where it went. So I wondered if she could put the two commands together, and I told her to FIND BALL. She looked at me for a few seconds, and then I saw the light go on, and she started casting through the tall grass for the ball and found it. LOTS of praise.

People with small children especially might consider teaching their own dog to find their kids. It might prove useful.

Sue

My husband and I were the ones who found Ruby on Friday. We stopped for lunch at a parking area for hunters about mile 15. We DID see where she came from. She came downhill and sat near the fence and cattle guard growling at us, whining and pacing (we had our mini dachsund with us), she was obviously scared. My husband was concerned it could be a wild dog or even ill, but I persisted that it was probably Todd's dog. If, not, she was close to a dead ringer for the dog. (We later asked several hunters we saw in the area to confirm we weren't taking someone else's dog.) We tried unsuccessfully to get her to come to us, most likely because our dog was barking. My cell phone had coverage, but a low battery. I called the manager at the Best Western because the number was in my phone, and asked her the name of Todd's dog. I had seen the posters, but didn't remember her name. Another truck pulled in about that time and the people in it were taking pictures. When I called to Ruby, their dog jumped out of their truck and frightened her. We got to talking with them and we all agreed it could be Ruby. They had dog food, water and dishes and when we put them down and called her again, she came bounding, tail between her legs, but happy. We petted her and asked her "Where's Todd?" She became very excited and danced all around, jumping up to my shoulders and licking my face. It was rather emotional. We called out many times for Todd, and later my husband and I explored the area a bit more, but to no avail. We were not equipped for a detailed search. Since we were on ATVs, the other couple offered to take her down to Riggins. I called back to the hotel and they got the sheriff to meet them when they arrived. We left our names and information when we arrived, but the deputy never came to speak to us. I have videos when we first saw her and I took pictures to show where we found her also. Granted, it was just on the road, but my husband did see her coming down near the fence, so she may have been up the hill a ways. He has bad knees and although he said his first instinct would be to go down to a river where someone would find him, he said with bad knees, going up hurts less. I later inquired if there was an emergency phone at the lookout, but no one seemed to know. We found her just a few miles southeast of the lookout, but that is steep country around it. I have a bad knee also and didn't have the energy to climb to it that day. We used to have a dog who would hunt 4 to 5 miles out from us and always return, so we are/were hopeful for Todd. In searching on Google Earth, it appeared there is a small pond just up from where we found the dog. That makes sense since she didn't seem dehydrated, just hungry although she drank too. We have just been praying for a good outcome for this search and will continue to do so. I am also trying to find out how to get the pictures and video to his wife and brother if they want them.

NewBoots - Please post or email the coordinates off Google Earth of the pond or where you found the dog.

Thanks,

I am no expert at this. This is the approximate spot where we found her. 45°20'49.19"N 116°29'32.49"W It would be just north of that about. I show 45°21'07.63"N 116°29'41.62"W

It looked like it could be a small pond, but could possibly be rocks, trees, shadows from clouds, etc. Very hard to tell. I just have fun with Google Earth, but this helped me to kind of get a better feel of where we found her.

It has still been emotional for me because I wish we could have done more.

We were happy to have given them some hope though...

You are welcome! I didn't know where else to turn to share. This kind of helps me feel better.

We too were hopeful that Todd had slipped off her red pack and was able to feed her for quite some time. She may have been heavy to begin with, but she was not emaciated when we found her. We could feel her ribs, but she is a small lab so that was not unusual either.

Others have survived longer times, we were just kind of dumbfounded by her location and no signs of him on either side of the mountain, even through thermal vision, etc. But, then, they did not see her either. Hopefully, he is holed up in a cave, recovering from whatever and the renewed search will locate him!

Eternally optimistic!

For those who do not have Google Earth, here are screenshots of the terrain and the coordinates that Newboots gave. The elevation at location 2 is 7500 feet.




Close up of Location 2 (45°21'07.63"N 116°29'41.62"W).

You hit them exactly Teslinhiker! It looks so steep in your pics. I hadn't rolled it that way to see the terrain, but I know first hand it was when we were up there.

Do you think that is a pond also?

According to several posters, they state that the dog most likely would have been following the road back. That's entirely possible, I am sure. She may have detoured to find a drink.

It still is a bit remarkeable that she looked so good too. She was quite nervous until she knew that we knew her name. Such a change in her demeanor.

It still is a bit surreal for us.

That could be a pond. The shape of it in Google Earth certainly suggests so.

One thing I did notice that looking at the terrain from the below screenshot, from the road to the "pond" there is a very possible and distinct appearance of a track/path up to it (follow left of the yellow line and pay attention to where north is this time...see in top right corner) Being so close to the road, it somewhat makes senses, however it is hard to tell as the resolution is not that great so people can draw their own conclusions...

Link to a larger screenshot

Well, standing down below and looking up, there is a distinct trail, albeit mostly likely an animal trail. People may use it occasionally. I was ready to start up it, with a hint of motherly instinct, but had been huffing and puffing from my brief climb at the lookout, so my hubby insisted that I NOT do it!

Not that Todd would be there, because we were withing yelling distance and we did yell repeatedly for him then, but I just had that inside urging to go there. He is the same age as my oldest son. My son used to hike the same area.

This was when we were on our return trip and stopped to look around a little more.

How do I post my pictures?

Thanks NewBoots. You found her about a mile east of Windy Saddle where they had started the hike 22 days earlier.