Blewett, the rescued dog, pays it forward

Dozens of people tried to rescue Blewett this winter after he was seen huddling in the snow at the top of Blewett Pass for a week. Wary of strangers, the dog accepted food and was finally captured and adopted into a home.

Monday, Blewett returned the favor and helped rescue another imperiled black Lab.

Jay Smith of Plain said his wife, Janie, was walking Blewett on a trail high above the Wenatchee River when Blewett started barking and raced down the steep bank to sniff out another animal close to the river’s edge. The Smiths adopted Blewett from the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society animal shelter in March.

"My wife thought it was a dead bear," Jay Smith said. Janie Smith called Blewett back up and they went home so she could get a pair of binoculars. With the binoculars, Janie could see it was a large black dog, and it was alive.

Jay Smith called Chelan County Fire District 9 and returned with a firefighter and a friend to try to reach the dog, using ropes to climb down to the river. Blewett again ran down and stayed with the dog while the dog was rescued Monday evening. The dog was weak, old and arthritic, but otherwise uninjured. Information on his red collar led to a Plain neighbor, Carol Hurt.

"The whole thing is a miracle," said Hurt, who explained the 11-year-old dog, Pepper, had been lost since Saturday. "One big black lost dog found the other big black lost dog. It’s pretty heartwarming.

Pepper belongs to Hurt’s daughter, Susan Cox of Wenatchee, but was staying with Hurt over the weekend. Cox and her husband, Mike, searched for Pepper, but had no luck. They now believe the dog was swept away by the riverwhile taking a drink about a half-mile from Hurt’s house.

Monday night, Cox told the story to her best friend, Tracy Peterson, a second-grade teacher at Newbery Elementary School. Peterson relayed the story to her class and had them write an account of Blewett’s rescue of Pepper. Students depicted Blewett as a wonder dog who would bark and bark until his lungs were empty to get help. Peterson plans to compile the stories into a book to give to Cox.

"We’re happy beyond belief," Cox said about the return of her dog. "And that Blewett, he’s quite the hero."

Airport dog is home

May 26, 2009

The dog that once ran from any approaching human at Albert J. Ellis airport is now at home, and greeting guests at the gate.

Buddy, formerly known as the airport’s resident walker hound, is at home with Dolly Ramires, the airport police officer who saw Buddy while patrolling more than 16 months ago. At the time, Buddy’s collar was embedded in his neck.

“I thought he was going to end up dying at the airport because he was at the point he was choking,” Ramires said Tuesday as she sat on her front porch with her newest pup.

Buddy has two sisters, Daisy and Misty, and a brother, Buster, at home, where they have seven fenced acres to play.

After more than a year of following Dolly while she patrolled the airport grounds, Buddy still doesn’t like her out of his sight but stays in the house without making a mess while she works.

Ramires doesn’t know if he was house trained before his time at the airport or if he was trained while staying with a Carolina Animal Protection Society (CAPS) member, but she knows how far her boy has come.

“Someone had the nerve to ask me if I’d change his name. I said ‘no, he’s famous!’” Ramires said with a laugh.

At the airport, Buddy could often be seen lying in the grass, following Ramires’ vehicle or running with his tail between his legs.

“His tail’s coming up now, only when he’s not sure of something is it down,” she said.

However, male visitors cause Buddy’s tail to return to its previous state.

“I really do think it was something with males,” Ramires said. Buddy has warmed up to her husband who is regularly at their home. Her father, however, lives less than an acre away and had to sit still and ignore Buddy before the dog would come near him.

The airport is lonely without the walker hound who won so many hearts, and breakfast biscuits, she said.

“The first day I was there, I was looking at the parking lot like I always did and he wasn’t there. And at night, it’s really lonely. There’s no one there to protect me now,” Ramires said.

But she has another animal to protect at home, and was able to acquire everything Buddy needed, including medical care, through CAPS.

CAPS received approximately $3,200 in donations from the community for Buddy. It paid for the trap, medical care, Buddy’s training, the electric fence, an extra large crate, harness and other “little things,” Buddy needed, CAPS founder Gail Whipple said. The purchases totaled more than $2,000, though Buddy’s medical bill had a “huge” discount on it.

“The money is in reserve for Buddy, whatever is left over, for anything he will need in the future just to help Dolly out because that was all intended for Buddy,” Whipple said.

CAPS wasn’t the only helping hand, however. Buddy routinely outsmarted airport staff and CAPS member until Roxie, a beagle from Maysville, turned up at the airport.

Roxie’s owner, Terri Riggs, read about Buddy in The Daily News and decided her girl could help. After three visits, Buddy followed his lady love and was captured the Monday after Easter.

Roxie also received a donation from CAPS. Tuesday Roxie was spayed, and CAPS and airport director Jerry Vickers, whose last day is this week, are picking up the bill, Whipple said.

Now, Buddy’s story has the happy ending Ramires was afraid he would never get.

“All I ever told him was ‘If you let mommy help you, you can live with me forever,’” Ramires said, just before she kissed him on the nose.

http://www.jdnews.com/news/airport-64351-buddy-home.html

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