In the woods of Washington state, a story began with a German shepherd found wandering alone while expecting puppies. Jim Branson, who started the Useless Bay Sanctuary, found her and took her in. The very next day, she gave birth to a little puppy named Tino, who Branson described as being “the size of a burrito.” And from there, grew our hero of the story.
Little Tino didn’t know it, but one day in the future he would go back to the woods – this time to help save another dog that needed rescuing. Tino’s journey began. “He would come to training days for the other dogs, and we evaluated him at about 5 months old,” Branson said. “He tested well, and started training. He found the lost dog every single time in his training sessions.” Tino’s natural talent was so strong, it led to 16 months of dedicated training until he officially joined Three Retrievers Lost Pet Rescue.
At left, Tino as a tiny puppy curled up next to his mom; at right, Tino as he heads out on a search. Photos courtesy of Jim Branson
The true test of Tino’s skills came with a challenging rescue mission for a deaf Great Pyrenees named Puppy. The dog had been following his owner, Karen James, who was riding her horse through the woods, when somehow on the way back home, Puppy got separated from his owner. Despite search volunteers combing the woods, Puppy wasn’t located. And as it grew darker, his owner worried – Puppy wasn’t able to hear rescuers call for him, how could they ever find him?
So Branson and Tino stepped in to assist, starting their search by retracing the owner’s last steps. “It took 90 minutes for the owner to locate the point she had last seen Puppy because things look different in twilight,” Branson said. After receiving Puppy’s scent, Tino immediately took up the trail, leading them to a mud pit where Puppy was found, stuck and barely visible.
At left, Tino after he found missing dog, Puppy; at right, rescuers pull Puppy out of the mud he had became stuck in. Photos courtesy of Jim Branson
Branson said that he almost didn’t realize what Tino had found. “At first, I wasn’t sure what we were looking at — then something in the mud started whining. When we first saw Puppy, it was hard to make sense of what we were seeing because two-thirds of him were submerged in mud.”
Tino barked at this strange swamp monster for a bit until he realized it was a dog.”
Puppy weighed 150 pounds, so removing him, Branson said, was a difficult process and needed to be handled carefully. “I put Tino’s leash under Puppy and tried to haul him out,” he explained. “He was stuck so firmly that I didn’t want to pull harder for fear of hurting his legs. The owner’s husband brought more ropes and straps, and the three of us eased Puppy out a little at a time.” Finally, Puppy was out of the mud.
A very relieved Puppy gets a ride home after being in stuck in mud for more than 24 hours. Photo courtesy of Jim Branson
After more than a day stuck in mud, the tired dog got a well-deserved ride home in an ATV trailer. James was ecstatic, she said, and so grateful for Tino’s help. “(Puppy) could not have gotten out of the mud. We would not have seen him because he was far enough off the trail,” she said. “And you know there’s miles and miles, acres and acres of wilderness out there to search, James said. “We just never would have found him.” Watch below to see Tino’s amazing rescue of Puppy.
Sources: The Dodo | Daily Mail
