Dozer found safe after weeklong search
Dozer the dachshund is back in the arms of his Quesnel owner, Mary Nichols, after being lost for eight days wandering the fields along Highway 16 east of Prince George.
This lost doggie tale began July 10, when Nichols and Dozer were involved in an accident a few kilometres out of the city where Foreman Road meets the highway while they were returning from a trip to Alberta. The rental car they were driving in was written off in the wreck and Nichols was taken to UHNBC with injuries that required a seven-day hospital stay, while a frightened Dozer bolted from the vehicle into the surrounding woods.
It was the second major accident involving Nichols and Dozer in less than a week. Just three days earlier, on July 7, in Red Deer, her truck was totaled in a collision.
The hunt for Dozer involved dozens of people who looked day and night for him. They used social media to report sightings of the dog and organize search parties.
Early on the morning of July 17, Michel Landry and another searcher, Heather Hislop, responded to a sighting. They spotted Dozer near a log house on private property on the other side of Highway 16 opposite the Silvertip Archers range and posted a photo of the dog to alert the other searchers. While Hislop remained close to the house in case the owners came out to explain why they were trespassing, Landry played a cat-and-mouse game with Dozer trying to coax him out from behind a barn.
Eventually, the dog waded into the sewage lagoon and was swimming to try to get away. Landry walked to side of the pond Dozer was swimming to but before he could get to him he was back in the water, heading for a stand of bulrushes. He was struggling to get through them in the water when Landry decided to go in after him. He waded through thick mud and water up to his chest and briefly lost sight of Dozer.
“I only went up to my chest but it was a lot deeper if I went further in and I was worried because I had to go a few more feet,” said the 39-year-old Landry. “I had my clothes and boots on and they were filled and I was getting nervous.”
Thinking the dog might have drowned, Hislop saw movement and the dog popped up about 20 feet away and stopped long enough for Landry to get to him. Using dog treats to entice him, he was able to calm him down with a few belly rubs.
“I was thinking I might have to tackle him but I think he just gave up,” said Landry. “He showed me his belly and I gave him some treats and pulled him in and got my sweater around him and that was it.
“We spent a lot of time trying to find him and I don’t think any of us in the group had actually seen him and to see him finally was a big surprise. You could just see the whole demeanour in his face change, he ate something out of my hand and snuggled in and melted. He was tired. He just knew that he didn’t have to watch his back and worry about somebody catching him or predators.”
Landry took the nine-year-old dog to his nearby home, where he and his wife Erin operate a kennel service called Hillbilly Hounds. Murdoch Veterinary Clinic gave him some special food for his empty stomach and Dozer was fed and given a bath and place to get some much-needed rest.
Dozer was caught right away after the Alberta accident. At the second accident scene, a man was able to grab him by his collar but the dog was scared and bit him on the hand before running away. He first ran into a field on Foreman Road but then was seen crossing the highway along Graves Road and was spotted chasing rabbits at a farm. Later in the week, he got as far east as Shelley Road, where someone tried unsuccessfully to catch him. He turned around and was seen walking west through more fields until he came to the property where he was finally caught.
Amy Spivey, Nichols’ niece in Quesnel, made three trips to Prince George to look for Dozer and went home empty-handed each time, but never lost faith.
“We all knew we would find Dozer, the people kept reassuring me that we would find him,” Spivey said. “It was amazing, people were going out at two in the morning to check the traps they set for him. Every two hours they would check the traps and wander around the area where the dog was last spotted. If he was spotted anywhere, people were awesome to report it and everybody would race to the site. “
Spivey posted notices of Dozer’s disappearance on the Prince George Lost and
Found Pet Network and on the Blackburn and Pineview community Facebook sites. Dozens of nearby residents joined in the search, which went on for seven mostly rainy days.
“That neighbourhood is full of the most amazing people,” said Spivey. “The community all worked together. We created a group in Messenger to correspond back and forth for days. So many people were incredible about helping to look for him. Hundreds of people pitched in. It was such an amazing experience to see that much love and support and teamwork and camaraderie, it was so cool.”
Hell Yeah P.G. moderator Dave Mothus offered a $100 reward for the return of Dozer and the reward fund grew to $400, but Landry refused to accept it. Mothus dropped some gift certificates off at a local pub and told the searchers dinner was on him for their efforts to locate Dozer.
Dozer’s weeklong ordeal wore the pads off his feet and he has some minor wounds on his body after doing so much running. On July 19, he was back at his home with Nichols in Quesnel, still showing signs of exhaustion. Like his owner, they are both hurting, but relieved to be united again.
“I’m surprised he made it,” said Landry. “There’s coyotes, there’s bears, but most of them aren’t starving so they weren’t on his radar. He seems like a pretty tough dog and smart. The owner said he likes to hunt mice, so he might have lived off that. But he had a lot of water.
“My wife and I have five of our own dogs and two wiener dogs and we felt sick to our stomach. He was just up the road and what’s a bit of time. The owner was in the hospital and for a lot of people in times like this they’re more than just a dog, they’re better than some friends of family members. She’s been through a lot and it would suck for her to get out of the hospital and not have her little sidekick with her.”