“Albie had her first ‘real’ track today looking for Gracie. Albie knew exactly where she was, but Eric and I committed a common error; we put our logic into the search and assumed Albie had lost interest in the ‘game.’
Gracie took the trash out and didn’t come back. After doing the basic ‘Where’s Gracie?,’ search around the house, we got Albie dressed to ‘find her girl.’ She went straight down the alley. At times she was pulling and excited, but mostly she looked like a dog excited to be outside going on a walk. She got distracted a few times, and because we were in a alley only about ten feet wide with not many directional options, we started thinking Albie was just going the only available direction.
We were now about a half of a mile away, at the end of the alley, Gracie nowhere in sight. Eric stopped to ask a man who had been in his driveway if he had seen Gracie and he said no. Albie proceeded to run up a driveway and play around in someone’s yard. Eric and I decided it was time to call the police and let Albie get the scent again back at the house. This time I tried handling because maybe Eric missed a cue. She took the same route and I had no doubt she was actually tracking Gracie, not just out for an evening walk.
By the time I got down to the same end of the alley, Eric called and the police had her. She went INSIDE the house where Albie had been pulling up into the driveway. Albie knew she was there but our logic said no way. Albie success, handler fail.”
Shared by the mother of Gracie and Albie
A service dog team since June 2022