no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

An American English Coonhound’s First Find: Tracking a Missing Child
By Elaine Waldorf Gewirtz
Dec 25, 2019 | 3 Minutes
Nicole Cyhelka

scent work
hound group

American English Coonhounds are sweet, mellow, and too friendly to perform as a guard dog.
Bred to hunt raccoons, the breed descends from English Foxhounds brought to America in the early 1800s.
American English Coonhounds sound a distinctive howl when locating their quarry.

On a rugged hiking trail, a young couple turns around and realizes their 4-year-old child wandered off and they couldn’t find her.

Who ya gonna call to look for the lost little one?

Think super sleuth Bloodhound? No doubt, this first-class schnoz of a dog always finds missing people in the blink of a droopy eye, but this time the tracker picker-upper was Billie, an American English Coonhound.

Named after jazz singer, Billie Holiday, the 18-month-old Coonhound located the youngster while hiking with Mikey, a 4-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever, and Linda Smith, the dogs’ owner.
Raccoon Racer

How did this hound bred to tree and hunt raccoons, but with only two tracking classes under her collar, discover the disappearing daughter?

“From the beginning of our first class, I recognized that Billie had a passion for tracking,” says Laura McKay, the scenthound’s tracking instructor in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

The rescue began on an early fall day in Collingwood, Ontario, with Smith and the dogs enjoying a casual outing through the woods near her weekend cottage. “That day, I had a long to-do list, so I only scheduled a short hike,” says Smith.
Photo by Nicole Cyhelka

On the trail halfway up the hill, the trio came across a mother, father, and the couple’s 10-year-old son calling for their daughter and sister, Belle.

“They asked me if the dogs could help find her in the tall grasses and wildflower bushes and gave us the girl’s pink sweater,” says Smith. “Billie and I had never worked as a team, but the family hoped the dogs could pick up the child’s scent from her clothing.”

The dogs gave the small cardigan a few whiffs before lifting their noses and sniffing the air around them. “The girl had been missing for 30 minutes, and the parents felt frantic she had fallen and couldn’t call for help, but I couldn’t guarantee the dogs would locate her,” says Smith. “Bred to use its nose and find a raccoon track is one thing an American English Coonhound knows how to do, but for a young scent hound to track a person takes some time and practice.”
An Accidental Hero

The parents believed their daughter walked down the hill, but Billie pulled at the leash and ran up the incline with Linda, Mikey, and the girl’s mother following close behind. The father and the couple’s son went down the slope.

“About 80 yards away, the dogs veered off the trail and dove chest-deep into the brush and tall grass,” says Smith. “Billie stopped for a moment, reared on her hind legs, took a deep breath, and let out a single high-pitched howl.”

Closing in on Belle’s scent, the Coonhound inhaled again, yanked the leash out of Smith’s hand, sounded the characteristic coonhound bay, and sprinted 20 yards into a gulley.

“I ran after Billie and saw the girl sitting in the grass and picking flowers,” remembers Smith. “She hadn’t gone far, but the gulley and tall grass prevented anyone from seeing her from the trail.”

When Billie connected the scent to the child, the Coonhound bounded over and inadvertently knocked the girl down, which made her cry. Minutes later, the family hugged her, and everyone was crying.
Bred for a Reason

When Smith returned home, she called Billie’s breeders, Tracy McDade Kaecker and Frank Williams of Petersburg, Illinois, to share the Coonhound’s happy ever after search and rescue story.

“I’ve always had a special spot for Billie and Diva, the litter sister I kept, but when Smith told me how Billie found a missing child I cried,” says Kaecker. “I know there are no AKC ribbons or titles for breeding a dog who locates a missing child, but to learn that a puppy I purposely bred accomplished her original function of tracking is reward enough.”

Although Williams bred previous litters of American English Coonhounds, Billie came from Kaecker’s first litter of 11 puppies. “This litter was a challenge, as their mother died minutes after delivering her pups via Caesarean section, and Frank and I bottle-fed the pups,” says Kaecker. “I guess there’s a reason why these things happen.”

bggamers Loc: georgia

That is a great story almost cried thanks for posting

bahmer

Amen and Amen an excellent story there NPP and a wonderful one as well. Thanks for posting this one.

Hug

Enjoyed this post. I love dogs.

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

I honestly believe that God created the dog because man needed a very special companion, one that makes few demands and gives so much in return. Watching our dogs and their respond to "our boys" makes me believe we couldn't do what we do without their help.

NPP

Noraa Loc: Kansas

There is a saying that God sent dogs and cats down to humans as angels without wings.

bahmer

Cats must be the arrogant angels then because cats look at humans as their servants and not the other way around.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Thanks for posting We need more feel-good stories.

Mike Easterday

God blessed a lot with that ordeal!

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

I looked at the article as an educational article. We tend to forget all the different things dogs can do for us, and how the 300 or more distinct breeds found worldwide were all developed with a distinct goal in mind, usually to help people in one way or another. We need to remember that dogs were developed to do a service and job for us, not to be just a child substitute. Please, all those who are thinking of adding a dog to their lives, find out as much as you can about the breed you are considering so you know what will be required to properly train the dog, each breed thinks differently, and needs a different approach to make the most of the human dog connection. When getting a mix breed dog, you may not know what breeds influenced his behavior, so have help training him if he isn't training as you expected. The more effort you put into the se******n and training of your dog, the happier you and your four footed friend will be.

Hug

Save a dog from the local pound or pick up a stray. We save dogs quite often as we live close to town and when a stray dog wonders across the ranch, if possible we will catch it and have it de-activated and let it stay on the ranch. I have free choice of food out, so the dogs can eat at any time. We have some wonderful dogs.

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

For many people a dog with unknown background, unknown health problems, and unknown training works just fine. Such a dog can be a great pet and companion if you are lucky. However, the dog could have serious behavior problems, rage syndrome epilepsy for instance, be known to be a fear biter or a lot of other problems. After all, you do not know what he might have been through before you got him. A dog that was raised with no human contact for the first 4 months of his live may always be difficult to train or dangerous if corrected. For us and our work with abused children, knowing exactly how the dog was raised and what his parents and grand parents were like, and how well they could be trained, makes the job easier and the knowledge of family traits helps us figure out how he will react to children who are likely to be fearful or sometimes violent. Right now we have five dogs, 3 CaneCorsos (a large Mastiff breed) A Welsh Terrier whose parents, grand parents and great grand parents are dogs we have met because they belong to a very close friend and we have seen her breeding stock for 12 generations, and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier from a show breeder who also does therapy work with kids and has done so for years. Yes, the Corsos cost $3000.00 each, the StaffyBull close to that but we know just what we were getting and how they and their parents and grandparents were raised and handled. The Welsh we met when he was being born, and we had met his parents and grandparents which we helped deliver. By all means choose a rescue if that suits you but understand why many people are willing to pay a lot for a dog whose background is well known to them. It is just much easier to know that the great grand dam did the same trick as a puppy and how the breeder solved the problem, or that half of the background could be taught to dance and wave their front paws while turning in circles, and learned how to do that at 3 months. It just makes the job of really reliable service dog training easier.

Rose42

That doesn’t work for everyone and no one should be discouraged from talking to breeders. Especially now so many who work in rescues really don’t know dogs well and many aren’t t***hful about the dogs either. Ever heard of the ‘food aggression’ test with a f**e hand? Its i***tic.

Rescue has become quite a business and there are a lot of shady things going on but thats for another topic.

Know what you want and speak to breeders and trainers first. They often have connections with reputable rescues.

Off my soapbox. Lol. Great story. Dogs are one of God’s greatest gifts to us. No other animal bonds with us like the dog does.

Hug

As long as the dog inculcates into the ranch eco-system, it is welcome and I don't try to train dogs. A new dog gets training from the dogs that been here longer. If a dog does not fit our eco-system, my wife will find them a good home and she is very good at finding dogs good homes. More often than not, these throw away dogs become very dedicated to me. I love to ride my mule (Kawasaki Mule) over the ranch and watch dogs fan out and keep me safe from the squirrels.

Rose42