Search & Rescue Ray Ban

Yesterday, I lost a great pair of Ray Ban sunglasses on a dog walk. Since my search dog, Loki, is on the down low recovering from TPLO surgery, I couldn't ask him to help find them. Both dogs are informally trained at finding objects scented like me on our trail walks since I'm always losing things. Thanks to Loki, I never permanently lose anything. He found dozens of gloves and hats I dropped on our winter walks in Switzerland.  On our walks here in CA, I tend to shed an outer layer or purposely drop an item I don't need on various areas of our trail and Loki always alerts to it on our way home, wherever I leave it. Juno sometimes plays the game too, when she feels like it, and occasionally will touch and sit-alert at my object. She does it to mimic Loki, but she's always rewarded. She's even alerted to my items when I walk her without Loki, but she's not always consistent. So I never formerly ask her to do the job since she never really seems to be into it. I just reward her if she alerts and is correct.

Today, I took Juno on the walk where I lost my glasses, mainly as company, thinking I would be the one to spot them. Boy was I wrong! A half-mile into the walk, I walked right by my glasses, but Juno stopped, sniffed, looked at me, "Um, Mom, these are yours," and sniffed again at my glasses in a dirt ditch on the trail. You could have knocked me over with a pluck of husky fur. Naturally she received a huge jackpot reward for alerting. I admit she grew bored with my sunglasses after alerting, giving me that "Whatever, Mom," look and went on to sniff for moles. Still, I can't help but be so proud of sweet Juno---a German Shepherd in a Siberian Husky suit!

"That's Poppy. I wonder if he's packing cheeses?" Juno sometimes does a preemptive alert whenever Mr. Wild Dingo walks nearby. Because you never know if there will be cheeses.