Happy New Year for dog, owner as pet survives Montana wilds
By John Grant Emeigh
The Montana Standard
BUTTE, Mont.
An Arizona man is ringing in the New Year with good news after a local animal warden found his dog — which had been missing for a month — near Butte.
Phil Nichols and his 6-year-old lab mix, Buddy, became separated in November while stopped in Dillon, he told The Montana Standard in a telephone interview Friday.
Exactly when and how Buddy jumped out of his camper, Nichols isn’t sure.
But the news received this week that Buddy is alive — albeit thin, haggard and nursing a badly hurt back foot — has Nichols brimming with happiness.
The mutt wandered rugged terrain, endured freezing temperatures and BB shots — all with the lame foot — before being rescued this week near Buxton, southwest of Butte.
Animal control officer Charlie Dick said Friday that he is amazed the dog is alive.
“What a little survivor. He was out there a long time,” Dick said.
Buddy’s odyssey started on Nov. 28 when Nichols, 79, was driving back to Arizona in his pickup truck after visiting his daughter in Helena. Buddy rode in a camper in the bed of Nichols’ pickup truck. Nichols recalls seeing Buddy in the camper while in Dillon to gas up.
But when he stopped again in Idaho Falls to let Buddy out for a quick walk, his dog was gone.
“I turned around and drove 150 miles back to Dillon to look for him,” Nichols said.
He stayed in Dillon for a day and a half searching for his best friend, which he had adopted from an animal shelter.
Buddy was nowhere to be found.
With a heavy heart, Nichols finally called off the search and returned home to Arizona. He assumed Buddy may have fallen out or just got out of the camper through a small side door.
It turned out to be a lucky thing that Buddy wasn’t in the camper, however. Nichols crashed near Pocatello, Idaho, when another vehicle cut him off. He hit a guardrail and rolled. Nichols survived, but the camper was smashed to bits.
Nichols suspects Buddy may have had a “sixth sense” about the accident and got out of the camper before it was too late.
“I think the dog has more brains than I do,” he said.
It’s not known if Buddy has a sixth sense, but he certainly has a survival instinct.
Animal services got a call about 8:30 a.m. Thursday of a wounded dog hanging around the Buxton area, about 10 miles southwest of Butte. Buddy had scratches on his face, a badly wounded right rear foot and was thin.
“He was just wandering around on three feet and was very skittish,” Dick recalled.
It took Dick about 45 minutes to finally coax the dog toward him with treats.
Animal control people found Buddy’s owner through a lost dog ad on Craigslist, which had been posted by Nichols’ daughter in Helena.
Erin Wall, shelter director, said Buddy was recovering Friday at the Amherst Animal Hospital in Butte and appears to be doing well. She said it is amazing the dog managed to survive so long in his condition.
“They (dogs) have such an instinct to live and a homing drive to get home,” Wall said.
She suspects Buddy found food and shelter in barns, because he was covered with hay. X-rays also showed Buddy was shot with a BB gun.
At the shelter, Buddy appeared in good spirits, but exhausted.
“He just sat down, then lay down and let out a big sigh,” she said.
Nichols said he plans to reunite with his dog within the next few days — as soon as the vet says it is fine for Buddy to leave.
He wants to call the veterinarian hospital to let Buddy know he’s coming.
“I just want them to put the phone to his ear and let him hear my voice,” Nichols said. “I think that would make him feel better.”
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Information from: The Montana Standard, http://www.mtstandard.com
Showing posts with label Humane Society of Western Montana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Humane Society of Western Montana. Show all posts
Monday, January 9, 2012
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Unicycling to the extreme
Unicycling to the extreme
by RACHEL HERGETT
Seeing a person on a unicycle may bring to mind juggling acts, tightropes and circus tricks. Unicycling, however, has developed a new image over the last decade – as a sport driven by the need to find a new challenge.
“I’m sure there’s people that do it to try out for a carnival or to be in parades,” said Steve Bjorklund, owner of Summit Bike and Ski Shop on South Grand Avenue.
A unicycle hangs in the front window of the shop. Inside, they’ll tell you the store sells a handful in the fall and some as Christmas presents.
The main reason Bjorklund sees people intrigued with unicycling is the challenge, and those who really get into the sport are usually the freestyle and trick skier crowd.
Over the years, unicycling has become more competitive. There are team sports, like unicycle basketball or hockey. There are races, tricks and off-road, or mountain unicycling, known as MUni.
Dansun Martin has been unicycling for more than a decade, specializing in urban trials. Trials involve things like navigating obstacles on the streets, climbing and descending stairs, jumping obstacles and balancing along curbs.
A constantly active person, Martin likes to push his own limits. Trials — which mountain unicycling pioneer Kris Holm described as a “function of technical difficulty over short distances” — provide plenty of ways for him to challenge his skills.
Martin said because he is searching for obstacles and not using the unicycle as transportation, he will often walk and carry the unicycle between tricks.
That doesn’t lessen his workout, though. Apart from the challenge of conquering obstacles, unicycles provide better cross-training than bicycles, Martin said, because the unicyclist uses the body’s entire core to balance.
According to health and exercise website Livestrong.com, unicyclists burn on average 329 calories an hour, and simply riding one “demands fitness, balance and concentration.”
Unlike bicycles, unicycles have no chain. Coasting is not an option.
“The pedals are directly connected to the wheel,” Bjorklund explained. “The whole time you’re riding it you’re doing work."
Martin said riders usually have a keen sense of where their bodies are in space and are able to correct for balance on the single point of contact with the ground on the bottom of the wheel.
“It’s definitely not for everybody,” he said.
While some find the physical challenge of unicycling attractive, others, like Joe Manlove, just like to stand out.
“I think maybe it’s the whole hipster thing,” said Manlove, who uses a unicycle as his primary mode of transportation. “Once something becomes popular, like biking, you have to switch to something else.”
Manlove sold his car and committed to taking one wheel around town. He said the snowy winter doesn’t faze him; it just slows him down a little.
“Make no mistake, I do fall down a lot when it’s snowy,” Manlove said.
He started on a generic cruiser unicycle but upgraded when he sold the car. Now, Manlove rides a downhill-specialized unicycle with a 3-inch thick tire on a 24-inch rim. It also has brakes, which he says are useless in town but are helpful when going down trails.
Manlove said the unicycle’s benefits include the fact that with no handlebars, his hands stay nice and warm in his pockets. Plus, people around town are nicer to him.
“On a bike, people honk because they are angry,” he said. “On a unicycle they honk because they’re happy to see you.”
Though they are not yet a common sight, unicyclists in Bozeman may be happy to know they are not alone.
“I know a dozen who ride in one form or another and know of half a dozen more,” Manlove said.
For those interested in starting out, Martin recommends trying a middle-of-the-line unicycle, something costing around $150. Prices for cycles with lighter frames and modifications can be much higher, Bjorklund said, thumbing through catalogs.
Whatever equipment you choose, be sure to give yourself at least a week to learn the basics and start in a place where you have something to hold on to, like a fence, Martin suggested.
Manlove offered some advice of his own: “Invest in a good pair of gloves. You will land on your hands eventually.”
by RACHEL HERGETT
Seeing a person on a unicycle may bring to mind juggling acts, tightropes and circus tricks. Unicycling, however, has developed a new image over the last decade – as a sport driven by the need to find a new challenge.
“I’m sure there’s people that do it to try out for a carnival or to be in parades,” said Steve Bjorklund, owner of Summit Bike and Ski Shop on South Grand Avenue.
A unicycle hangs in the front window of the shop. Inside, they’ll tell you the store sells a handful in the fall and some as Christmas presents.
The main reason Bjorklund sees people intrigued with unicycling is the challenge, and those who really get into the sport are usually the freestyle and trick skier crowd.
Over the years, unicycling has become more competitive. There are team sports, like unicycle basketball or hockey. There are races, tricks and off-road, or mountain unicycling, known as MUni.
Dansun Martin has been unicycling for more than a decade, specializing in urban trials. Trials involve things like navigating obstacles on the streets, climbing and descending stairs, jumping obstacles and balancing along curbs.
A constantly active person, Martin likes to push his own limits. Trials — which mountain unicycling pioneer Kris Holm described as a “function of technical difficulty over short distances” — provide plenty of ways for him to challenge his skills.
Martin said because he is searching for obstacles and not using the unicycle as transportation, he will often walk and carry the unicycle between tricks.
That doesn’t lessen his workout, though. Apart from the challenge of conquering obstacles, unicycles provide better cross-training than bicycles, Martin said, because the unicyclist uses the body’s entire core to balance.
According to health and exercise website Livestrong.com, unicyclists burn on average 329 calories an hour, and simply riding one “demands fitness, balance and concentration.”
Unlike bicycles, unicycles have no chain. Coasting is not an option.
“The pedals are directly connected to the wheel,” Bjorklund explained. “The whole time you’re riding it you’re doing work."
Martin said riders usually have a keen sense of where their bodies are in space and are able to correct for balance on the single point of contact with the ground on the bottom of the wheel.
“It’s definitely not for everybody,” he said.
While some find the physical challenge of unicycling attractive, others, like Joe Manlove, just like to stand out.
“I think maybe it’s the whole hipster thing,” said Manlove, who uses a unicycle as his primary mode of transportation. “Once something becomes popular, like biking, you have to switch to something else.”
Manlove sold his car and committed to taking one wheel around town. He said the snowy winter doesn’t faze him; it just slows him down a little.
“Make no mistake, I do fall down a lot when it’s snowy,” Manlove said.
He started on a generic cruiser unicycle but upgraded when he sold the car. Now, Manlove rides a downhill-specialized unicycle with a 3-inch thick tire on a 24-inch rim. It also has brakes, which he says are useless in town but are helpful when going down trails.
Manlove said the unicycle’s benefits include the fact that with no handlebars, his hands stay nice and warm in his pockets. Plus, people around town are nicer to him.
“On a bike, people honk because they are angry,” he said. “On a unicycle they honk because they’re happy to see you.”
Though they are not yet a common sight, unicyclists in Bozeman may be happy to know they are not alone.
“I know a dozen who ride in one form or another and know of half a dozen more,” Manlove said.
For those interested in starting out, Martin recommends trying a middle-of-the-line unicycle, something costing around $150. Prices for cycles with lighter frames and modifications can be much higher, Bjorklund said, thumbing through catalogs.
Whatever equipment you choose, be sure to give yourself at least a week to learn the basics and start in a place where you have something to hold on to, like a fence, Martin suggested.
Manlove offered some advice of his own: “Invest in a good pair of gloves. You will land on your hands eventually.”
Friday, September 9, 2011
Pet Fest drew out dogs and people from all over the city to race and socialize
Wiener dog races attract a crowd, but Pet Fest has serious purpose ... adoption.
Missoula's annual Pet Fest drew out dogs and people from all over the city to race and socialize. See more of the story:
Missoula's annual Pet Fest drew out dogs and people from all over the city to race and socialize. See more of the story:
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