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By Bill Van Tassel
JAY — Maine Search Dogs Kobuk and Reese were a hit with students at Spruce Mountain Elementary School during a recent visit.
Handlers Elizabeth Fossett and Jake Letendre from Maine Search and Rescue Dogs visited the elementary school to speak to the students about the role of dogs in finding lost people in Maine.
MESARD has 14 certified dogs that participated in 20 search days, 23 training days and 34 public relation events in 2017. The handlers and rescue personnel are all volunteers who put in 1,793 hours in 2017, traveling 19,062 miles.
A team led by Dorothy Smail and her dog Tala found 5-year-old Christopher Grecco on a rainy night in May after the boy was lost on a hike in Acton. Smail said the boy was tired and hungry, but he was doing something correct when she came upon him.
“He was actually playing dead. He thought, as I approached him, that I might be a fox and bother him unless he played dead,” she said.
“Playing dead” was just one of the tips students received from Fossett, who handles Kobuk. After watching a video about a little girl lost on a family outing, Fossett discussed with the kids some of the right things to do and some of the wrong things the little girl did.
The student correctly mentioned shouting for help, hanging a colorful piece of clothing on a tree limb, having a fanny pack with a garbage bag and a whistle, making a nest near a tree trunk, and most importantly, staying in one place.
One student mentioned the use of a cellphone, a more up-to-date tool, but Fossett said that in many places in Maine the cell coverage may not be effective.
A boy then volunteered to put on the garbage bag as she explained how it is vital to keep dry and warm. Of course, the kids chuckled as the hole for the head was cut and the young man slipped the black bag over his head.
“Don’t run. Stop and think. Use you brain and pay attention to your surroundings,” Fossett said. She also told them about the extremely strong sense of smell a dog has, “Every one of you have your own unique smell, and a dog can follow that smell for miles.”
Before closing her presentation, knowing all the children were waiting to pet Kobuk, student Tyler Gammon demonstrated how to safely pet a dog. The class then went outside to meet up with a search Labrador Reese and Letendre.
Reese is a search dog, unlike Kobuk, who works on a leash and wears a GPS collar. The students learned Reese is just let go to follow the lost person’s smell wherever it may lead. The volunteer handler also has a GPS unit to locate the dog and, hopefully, the lost person.
MESARD has 33 team members and 150 volunteers ready to be called upon to join a search for a missing person in Maine and occasionally New Hampshire. The April issue of Woof magazine featured a story about Kobuk’s successes and had a photo of Reese on its cover.
PHOTO: Spruce Elementary student Brianna Reilly takes a quiet moment with MESARD’s Kobuk in the school library before a presentation by Kobuk’s handler, Elizabeth Fossett. (Bill Van Tassel photo)
