Photo by: João de Sousa (@joao_de_sousa) | Unsplash Photo Community
Shep wandered along the mountainside sniffing everything in sight. Yesterday he had flushed a partridge and had great fun chasing it down. Eventually it fluttered to a tree branch out of his reach but boy was it enjoyable. He had the scent of a rabbit earlier but lost it when the rabbit scent crossed those of coyotes. While intrigued, Shep could sense that there were more than 1 coyote on the rabbits trail.
Shep perked his ears at a distant sound. His ears shifted focus trying to locate the sound. When he heard nothing he put his head down and sniffed along the path. The faint scent of skunk was interesting. He was considering pursuing it when he heard a distant sound again. This time it appeared to be a bit closer. He lifted his head and walked a bit more staring to hear the sound once more. His nose started to pick up the scent of humans. His nose perked up some more as he found the scent of food. He picked up his pace and made it to the edge of the mountain ridge where the scent ended.
Shep travelled back and forth when the scent of food became stronger. He edged over to the lip of the ridge carefully. Following his nose he looked down and spotted a man a few feet below him dangling from a tree.
“Hey boy,” called out the man. “Am I ever glad to see you.” Shep turned his head to listen to the man. “Is there someone with you? Hello,” called the man. "I need help!”
Shep backed up a bit.
“No! Wait! Don’t go,” called the man. “If it wasn’t for my wife and kids I would have been long gone” he said outloud. “I have to get back to them.”
Shep poked his head over the edge of the ridge again. “You’re still here? Good boy.”
Shep wagged his tail.
“Listen boy. I need help. Can you go and get someone to help me?”
Shep barked and took off on the run. At last he had a job to do. It had been so long since someone needed him to do something. His short retired life had been simply following his nose. He raced down the mountainside and leapt at the door of the man who lived there. His barks were loud and insistent.
The door opened revealing a barrel of a man. “Shep? What is it boy?” he asked.
Shep began pulling on his shirt sleeve. “Well I’ll be,” said the man. “Some skills never get lost. Just a minute. I need my boots.” After tying his boots he picked up his emergency back pack and followed Shep to the edge of the ridge. When Shep laid down looking over the ridge the man called out, “Is anybody out there?“
“Hello?” called the man in the tree. “I’m down here. Please help me.”
At this time Shep wandered over to the cool shade of a tree and plopped himself down.
Karl looked over the ledge to see what the situation was. While Dan was holding on to the tree it was also true that Dan was ensnared in the tree branches.
“It’s going to take a while,” said Karl calmly. “It looks like you are tangled up well enough that you should be safe. Stay hugging the tree as a precaution.”
“Well, well, well,” called out a rough voice. “What do we have here?”
“Get me out of here. I want to go home,” was heard from over the cliff edge.
A second voice piped up. “I see that he is still hanging around.”
The first guy. “We thought we could hear his voice so we came back.”
Karl spoke. “Who are you?“
Shep's ears perked up. He recognized his owner's tone. He waited quietly for the command.
The first guy responded. “It doesn't matter who we are. Who are you?” The two men split and began walking as if to circle the dog owner.
“I need your help to get him up from there,” said Karl.
“The only thing we are helping you with is to help you over the edge of the mountainside,” they laughed.
Shep’s owner quietly gave the signal. Shep moved quietly behind the man closest to him. A low growl stopped the man in his tracks.
“He’s just a mutt,” said the first man. “Deal with him.”
The second signal was given. Shep growled louder, slowly advancing on the man. All stopped and watched. Shep’s growls grew even louder as he got closer. This was causing some concern as reflected on the man’s face.
“Hey mister. Call off your dog.”
“No.” Karl replied with a small smile, his arms folded across his chest..
As Shep crept within leaping distance the man started to shuffle sideways away from Shep. Shep quietly lunged forward but stopped. Both men scrambled quickly, turning and running off down the hill. Shep walked forward a few feet and sat down.
Karl pulled out his sat phone and dialled a number. “We need help up here. A man is over the side of the cliff holding on to a tree. There are also a couple of tough looking characters on their way down.” he listened. “See you shortly.”
He walked over to the edge of the cliff. “You ok down there?”
“I am cold and tired. I need to go home. I want to see my wife and kids,” said Dan.
“How’d you get down there?”
“Those two guys tossed me over the ledge.”
“How come?
“I don’t really know. I don’t know them.”
“There was no reason?”
“I am walking along. They asked me for directions. The next thing I know I am swinging here.” Karl sensed that Dan was telling the truth.
A little while later Dan was back on top of the side of the mountain. He was giving thanks. “That is some special dog you have there,” he said as he patted Shep’s head.
“Shep is a retired search and rescue dog. You were lucky he came around. It would have made for a long, cold night.”
“Thanks Shep,” Dan said. “I will never forget this.