The Case of the Mysteriously Appearing Dog

 

A strange thing happened to me the other day.  I was hiking in an open space preserve where we hold the NatureOutside winery hikes.  A winery sits at one end of the trail and a picnic ground at the other.  It’s a convenient place to view wildlife if you visit when there aren’t many hikers on the trail.

It’s not a large preserve, but it has a certain charm.  There are rises where I can look upon vineyards climbing the nearby hills.  Other spots offer a distant views of California’s Silicon Valley.  But much of the trail wends its way through mixed woodland.

I’m walking in late afternoon.  It’s a warm day with few clouds in the autumn sky.  Despite my efforts to go unnoticed, I startle a covey of California Quail.  They scoot into the thick ground cover when they realize I’m there. 

There are Columbian black-tailed deer in the preserve.  A young buck sizes me up as I stroll by.  It’s small antlers show that it’s still immature.

Eventually, I enter dense woods full of Tanoak, Madrone, and California Bay Laurel trees.  Many might find the shadowy woods menacing.  But I feel embraced by the canopy overhead.

 

The Case of the Mysteriously Appearing Dog

The strong odor of the Bay Laurels fills the air as I near a footbridge that spans a dry wash.  Suddenly, a large animal crosses my path.  It’s a canine.  And its black and white color makes it likely it’s a domesticated dog.  I watch it head up the wash at a leisurely pace.  It is a Pitbull mix and wearing a nylon harness of some type.  The harness has a nylon strap on its back that would allow a person to hold on to the animal.

I watch, unobserved by the dog.  I’m waiting for the owner to come strolling down the trail, leash in hand.  But after 15 minutes, nobody appears.  The animal seems to be on its own.

 

 

Why Dogs Are Not Allowed in Many Open Spaces

Dogs are not allowed in most nature preserves and parks.  And the reasons why are less obvious than you think.  The obvious reason is to prevent dogs from chasing and harassing wildlife.  Another is to prevent dog poop from accumulating on the trails.  And of course there is the issue of safety.  Hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians can be at risk from aggressive dogs.

But there is another important reason:  Just the presence of dogs in an area scare wildlife away.  In 2008, a California State Parks survey demonstrated that wildlife densities within 325 feet of dog-friendly trails are significantly affected by the presence of the dogs.  This wildlife includes deer, small mammals, felines, native canines, and reptiles/amphibians.  A 2022-2024 study found that when there is roughly a 50% reduction of dogs on trails, there is roughly 10x more wildlife in the area.  Another study in 2007 found a 35% reduction in bird diversity and 41% reduction in bird abundance surrounding dog-friendly trails.

Why is this? 

It has to do with fear, not mortality.  Domestic dogs don’t clear an area by killing wildlife.  The wildlife leaves simply because the dogs are there.  Dogs have glands in their paws that release pheromones.  The pheromones and bacteria on the dogs’ paws leave a scent trail that remains long after fido has left the park.  As a result, wildlife avoids the areas where domestic dogs have been.

The wildlife that remains reacts with an acute stress response.  Over time the stress becomes chronic.  And wildlife becomes more alert and reduces feeding, sleeping, and breeding.   So wildlife around trails that allow domestic dogs don’t fare as well as wildlife in other places.

 

Getting Involved

So it was curious to see a dog where it shouldn’t be, and without an accompanying human.  The animal still hasn’t seen me.  So I can turn around and leave the area undetected if I wish. 

From time to time, we find ourselves in situations where we need to decide, “Should I get involved?”  For each of us it is a personal question – one we need to answer with our conscience.  Often the answer changes based upon the situation or even our mood.  In this case, there was a large (relative to me) Pitbull mix that would be dangerous if it decided to attack.  On the other hand, the dog could be lost or abandoned.  Worse still, its owner could be lying unconscious somewhere along the trail in need of help.

I decide to get involved. 

The dog turns around and begins making its way back down the wash, toward me.  I show myself to see how the dog reacts.  I call warmly to the dog as I step onto the footbridge overlooking the wash.   The dog freezes.   Then it slowly makes its way to where I am standing.

 

 

We regarded each other cautiously.  I notice the dog has a minor cut below its right eye and another on its left leg.  These are minor.  They are the type of cuts I might pick up rambling through the undergrowth.  The dog does not seem bothered by them.

Then I make a mistake.  The dog looks thirsty so I retrieve my water bottle and approach the animal to offer water.  It instantly puts its ears back and issues a low warning growl. 

I have never lived with a dog.  So it took me a while to realize my mistake.  Instead of trying to make friends, I had cautiously advanced on it holding out my water bottle.  It wasn’t surprising that it warned me off.

I decide to hike back to the trailhead and let the rangers know that a lost or abandoned dog might be wandering the park.  As I head uphill, back the way I came, the dog begins to follow. 

Surprised, I turn to encourage it as we head up the hill.  I do not feel threatened.  Even when the dog had growled, it wasn’t aggressive.  It just wanted me to keep my distance.

We cover about a quarter mile and I can see the dog hesitate.  It is either tired or uninterested in continuing uphill.  Despite my implores, it plunges over the side of the trail and disappears deep into the wooded wash.

 

Search with the Rangers

I mark the spot where the dog disappeared by laying a branch across the trail.  I scrawl the word “Dog” in the dust and embed a branch into the hillside at an unnatural angle.  I will be able to find this spot again, and so will any ranger who comes along later.

As I continue up the trail, I phone the winery and tell them about the dog.  I know from experience that they have a phone number to call to summon the rangers.

I encounter some hikers coming toward me and tell them about the presences of the dog.  One of them is afraid of dogs and I explain that this dog isn’t aggressive.  I ask them not to disturb the markers I left on the trail.

I continue my climb until I approach the edge of the forest. Suddenly I freeze.  I see a large animal running toward me.  It is *another* Pitbull mix.  This one is colored identically to the first dog.  But wears a red collar and seems younger.  The dog detours off the trail around me.  As it passes it issues a low warning growl.  And then it disappears.

A group of hikers appears ahead of me and I ask if they own the dog.  They are as puzzled as I am.  Surely it can’t be a coincidence that two identically colored Pitbull mix dogs are running loose on the trail.

The woodland gives way to grassland.  And I reach a service road just as a ranger is exiting his truck.  Ranger Jeff has responded to check on the report I made.  I tell him about the second dog and offer to lead him back to where I had last seen the first one.

Jeff, the professional, loads his pack with dog treats, cat food, water, a water bowl, and a leash.  He follows me back toward the wash.

I spot the first dog wandering across the bottom of the wash, right where I left it.  Ranger Jeff calls to the dog to gauge its reaction. Would it come to us or would it run?

To our surprise, it does neither.  It wanders further down the wash, seemingly ignoring us.  We follows the dog using the trail that runs along the top of the ravine.  But eventually, the dog disappears.  Jeff decides that we shouldn’t descend into the wash to track the dog.  It would be difficult to track the animal and it can move faster than us.  Instead, Ranger Jeff suggests we continue along the trail to a point he knows is especially treacherous and unstable.  There we can conduct a hasty search to see if the dog’s owner has fallen from the trail.

But we find nothing.  So Ranger Jeff and I return to his truck.  But as we emerge from the woodland, we get a surprise.

 

A Happy Ending

Standing just outside the forest were the hikers I met earlier when we saw the second dog.  At their feet was the first dog!  While Ranger Jeff and I were doing our hasty search, the dog had doubled-back out of the wash and made its way to them.  It had been chasing a deer when they saw it.  I suspect it was the young buck I saw earlier.

Ranger Jeff does what I had failed to do earlier.  He makes friends with the dog and strokes its short fur.  The dog enjoys the attention and slurps up the water that Ranger Jeff pours for it.  As our canine friend devours the dog treats and cat food, Ranger Jeff smoothly clips his leash to the back of the dog’s harness.  It is time to go.

A second ranger arrives as we begin to move toward Ranger Jeff’s parked truck.

 

 

Here’s a picture of our new friend with Ranger Jeff and the second ranger who responded to the call.

 

 

Ranger Jeff tells me that he knows of a house several miles from here, at the end of the wash.  He will check there first to see if they own the dog.  If he can’t find the owner, he will bring the dog to a shelter via animal control. 

The thought of this happy-go-lucky dog in a shelter bothers me.  And I hope they find the owner.  Maybe the dog is microchipped?

I wave goodbye as Ranger Jeff and his new canine friend drive off in his truck.

 

Prologue – A Surprise Encounter

I Email Ranger Jeff a few days later to see what became of the dog.  I do not get an answer.  But as fate would have it, I stumble upon the end of our story.

Four days later I am hiking in the same area when I pass the winery.  Sitting on the lawn is the first dog!  It must have been returned to its owner and escaped again.  I let the winery manager know and she calls the rangers.

 

 

 

About a half-mile later, I come upon the second dog!  It runs by me on the trail toward the winery.

When I return to the winery later in the day, I hear the whole story.  The rangers arrived and had no problem with the first dog.  But the second dog was a bit trickier to capture. 

As I suspected, the rangers learned who their owner was earlier in the week.   The rangers eventually loaded both dogs in the truck for the trip back to their owner.  I suspect that both dogs were pleased with the day’s adventure.

 

My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am.

– Unknown

 

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