Runaway
Over the five years I was a dog handler I caught about 250 offenders. One of the best “catches” we had was when we had to try and find a kid up north who had run away from home. She had some pretty complex needs and had been missing for quite a few days, so people were obviously pretty worried. A number of cribs had been broken into and food taken, and we suspected it was her. A number of police including Search and Rescue went out to search a large area of farmland and bush-clad gullies and hills.
My dog and I were walking past the bottom of a gully covered in manuka trees and thick two-metre-high flax bushes, when he suddenly stopped, stuck his nose in the air and looked up the gully. It was a classic indication of “wind-scenting” and I sent him off to “find’er”. He made his way up to a flax bush about 150 metres away and started barking his head off. He had found the kid lying curled up in the bottom of it. She was skin and bone, her skin was peeling off all over her body and she wouldn’t have lasted much longer if we hadn’t found her. It was great to get there before it was too late.