Dog reunited with owner after 53 days in the desert

[August]

Feel good story of the day!

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/05...nevada-desert/

RENO, Nev. – Barbara Bagley says she never gave up hope that her dog would be found alive in the Nevada desert after the animal bolted from the scene of a crash that critically injured her and killed her husband. But the Salt Lake City woman endured plenty of frustration until her beloved 4-year-old Shetland sheepdog, Dooley, was tracked down Feb.18 after surviving 53 days in the wild on roadkill and scattered ranch water sources.

[Betonov]

Kind of throws away the theory that dogs are so domesticated they can't survive without us.
Maybe, but they're just to smart not to handle themselves.

That dog should be renamed to Garmin or Bear (Gryls)

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Betonov

Kind of throws away the theory that dogs are so domesticated they can't survive without us.
Maybe, but they're just to smart not to handle themselves.

That dog should be renamed to Garmin or Bear (Gryls)

Eating non-moving carcasses and drinking from equally non-moving (hopefully)
source of water doesn't exactly say much about how this or that animal could
survive in the wild.

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by Dowly

Eating non-moving carcasses and drinking from equally non-moving (hopefully)

Drinking from a moving water source (stream) is preferable
Unless you meant chasing a camel

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Betonov

Drinking from a moving water source (stream) is preferable
Unless you meant chasing a camel

I was referring to the water source mentioned in the article, which I assume would
be static. Unless it was so dirty that it had developed a consciousness.

[Jimbuna]

Nice one August

[August]

Originally Posted by Betonov

Drinking from a moving water source (stream) is preferable

That's interesting as I have heard the exact opposite. Moving water carries sediment and other particles which in standing water have a chance to settle to the bottom.

[Dowly]

Nah, stagnant water is definitely the worse option because bacteria etc. have
better surrounding to get jiggy with each other and have little bacteria babbies.

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by August

That's interesting as I have heard the exact opposite. Moving water carries sediment and other particles which in standing water have a chance to settle to the bottom.

Depends on the source of the water. If you drink from a moutain of forrest stream those particles are harmless minerals. And some biological stuff that can get jiggy in standing water, to quote Dowly.

Whether a more urban source of water thats purified and chlorined but carries with it glassfibers or plastic or any other household insulation (lets say after a disaster) a standing water source would be preffered for the reasons you pointed put.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Dowly

Eating non-moving carcasses and drinking from equally non-moving (hopefully)source of water doesn't exactly say much about how this or that animal could survive in the wild.

One of our adopters lost an adult Shih Tzu just before the winter of 2011. She lost the dog about three days after adopting it so the dog had no chance of establishing any bond with the woman nor the location so this little dog was not only lost but disoriented.

Then the ice storms came. We were out looking for this dog for weeks. I really had no hope for it. A little domesticated dog like this outside in bitterly cold weather. Not looking good

The dog was found, about a month after being lost, a few miles from its home, near a farm. This little cute dog was surviving by hunting chickens which were not only bigger but out weighed the dog.

Wow. Instincts dormant for hundreds of generations, still worked when needed.

It was a happy ending to a very sad story. The dog is with another owner and is doing well. The new owner was the lady who was originally fostering it for our rescue and is very experienced with dogs. She told me she had to undergo a little re-domestication training with the Shih Tzu to get it back to being a pet and not a hunter.

Dogs, gots to love em.

[August]

Then there are the sled dogs that were abandoned in the Antarctic for an entire year. Although only 2 of the 15 survived the mortality rate was certainly increased because the dogs were left chained up. That any survived at all is a testament to a dogs survival ability.