Baker Lost and Found

Ken and Becka collaborated on this and it’s written in the first person; Ken wrote the first part.

The week before Christmas, 2022, was one of the toughest weeks of my life. Here’s how it started:

Friday afternoon, December 16th, Becka was doing a training run with Baker in the fields behind Three Forks Dog Park in Snoqualmie; they were running laps around this open, unfenced field. She started their run from Tollgate Farm Park, taking the Snoqualmie Valley Trail (SVT) northwest, jogging by the Mt. Si Golf Course, and into the fields along the Snoqualmie River, NE of the SVT and the dog park.

Full disclosure: Baker isn’t always on leash, just as many other dog owners don’t always leash their dog. Baker does a lot of backpacking with us, and when he’s engaged in a specific activity, he’s usually very focused and right on our heels, almost annoyingly so. Our general approach to leashing is to assess the situation and determine if Baker would be a threat or annoyance to someone, or whether Baker could react badly. Baker is protective and loyal, and in some situations can get a bit snappy if other dogs encroach his or our space, whether out of protection or fear. He’s never shown any tendency to flee out of fear.

Another runner approached and seemed to have just one dog with him, and in this situation, Becka initially thought that the one runner with the one apparent dog would be fine and Baker wouldn’t take notice. It all happened quickly; Becka thinking they had already passed by this person and dog with no issue. But when a second dog came out of nowhere, the two big dogs went past Becka, scared Baker and he took off. Becka saw a curious look on the other dogs owner and he said, “I’ve never seen a heeler take off like that and be so scared; they are usually pretty scrappy.” Baker was clear across the circular field, at least 200ft away. Becka tried to call him, but he continued to bolt.

In pursuit of Baker, Becka had to choose between running around the field on the trail, or go directly across the field toward Baker; she chose to go across, but was unable to make good time because the field was an uneven jumble of grassy knobs and dips, and felt she was in agonizing slow motion. Becka continued after Baker, but he was quickly out of sight. Some 10-15 minutes later, she came upon a runner who asked if she had lost a dog, and said he was on the footbridge across the Snoqualmie River and had seen a dog running WSW along Reinig Road. What’s surprising is that Baker did not get across the river on that footbridge as he would have had to pass the runner, so he must have crossed it by swimming or wading; Baker is not super keen on crossing rivers unless he’s fetching something, so this must have been driven by fear.

The runner, Mike, came up with a quick plan that Becka should run down the trail to the footbridge, and he would run back to the dog park, then head NW to cut him off. Becka made it to the footbridge and starting jogging west on Baker’s last sighted direction. I arrived in the area and met up with Becka along Reinig road, as she was doubling back to get to her car. Mike had to get to an appointment, but he and Becka exchanged numbers. He said he had a heeler so that is why he is certain it was our dog. We were both panicked and quite upset, and I was frustrated with the lack of a mental picture about what actually happened to this point and how best to proceed, and I was snippy toward Becka out of that frustration. We both knew that every minute that ticked by meant the fog of Baker’s location was getting thicker and the next steps were increasingly critical, as if we committed to one direction but chose the wrong way, we’d lose any hope of tracking him.

We drove up and down Reinig Road, into Snoqualmie, and Mike texted Becka that we also check out the area up around DirtFish Offroad Racing, NE of the roundabout adjacent to Snoqualmie Falls and the Railroad Ave bridge. Becka got back onto the SVT, heading back toward where she lost Baker, hoping that he would retrace his route. I drove around some more and eventually got out and ran the SVT from the dog park area, heading SE alongside the golf course, intending to get back to Becka’s car at Tollgate, again, thinking maybe he would return to where they started.

By this point, Becka had made a post on the Lost Dogs of King County (LDKC) facebook page; the quicker we got word out, the quicker we can get more eyes looking for him.

At about 6:50PM, we got a call that Baker had been spotted on the SE end of Snoqualmie off Beta Street, though the sighting was almost two hours prior. We met up there, both of us in each of our cars. We then decided to start driving around Snoqualmie in hopes we’d spot him, but we knew the two hour delay meant he could be far away.

Baker was the first dog I had lost, so I was completely unaware of how to behave. The instinct is to just walk around and call his name and hope that he’ll hear and come running. We soon learned that in a situation like this, where the dog is fleeing out of fear, calling out their name is the exact opposite of what you should do. He wants to run away from everything trying to interact with him. Through the LDKC website, James Branson shared several helpful links on how to act to calm when encoutering a frightened dog and work toward building trust to enable the dog to come to you. I strongly recommend you visit LostDogsofKingCounty.com; it has a wealth of resources, guides, and information about how to find (and keep) a lost dog.

For the next several hours, we focused on two fronts – an active search via car and blitzing social media. I focused on searching, and Becka launched into full attack mode on all the social outlets. What was invaluable was the immediate guidance of Lily Burns on the LDKC facebook site. She shared links about calming and made it clear that anyone involved in actively searching for Baker should be aware of those techniques. She also shared the link to James Branson’s Three Retrievers Lost Pet Rescue. I visited his site and filled in the contact/lost dog form. Jim is also the creator/admin of the LDKC Facebook site, which complements his LDKC website. I can’t stress enough how vital these resources were to the positive outcome we had.

Three Retrievers proved to be a critical asset.

I drove around all the streets I could around Snoqualmie, dropped a flier at the Christmas Tree seller at the corner of 202 and Snoqualmie Parkway, and next tackled all the streets to the south side of Snoqualmie Parkway, mainly through light industrial and retail areas, then eventually entering the mazes of newer subdivisions. The good thing about this time of year were all the holiday lights; they provided near-daylight conditions in many of the avenues I drove through that otherwise would have been dark and difficult to see anything moving. In the early evening, I finally decided to head home and check on Boomer, and also see if somehow Baker had found his way home. Unfortunately, Baker was not there, but a huge river of pee was through our kitchen where Boomer relieved himself. Boomer, who is almost completely blind due to cataracts, has more recently tended to drink more water throughout the day, which means he needs to go out. Blood work done several months ago showed no major issues, but we think perhaps something’s going on that is causing him to do this. Anyway, I dealt with that, fed him and got back on the road. I can’t remember if I took him with me at this point or not.

Meanwhile, Becka was on the front lines of posting to all the groups she could find. She posted to Snoqualmie and North Bend lost dog groups, so word was getting out. At around 11PM, we got a lead that a dog matching Baker was near Snoqualmie Casino, SE off I-90 exit 27, about 40 minutes earlier; 10:20PM. Again, we had challenges with the timeliness of the contacts, as the post was made in a group we weren’t following, and it was noticed by someone who had seen our post in one of the lost dog groups and shared it with us, creating a lag between sighting and awareness.

This was the first sighting we’d had in five hours, and it made sense as it was in the general SW direction he had fled through downtown Snoqualmie. The message was a bit cryptic (grammar and spell-check, people!), but the casino has an obvious roundabout right in front of it, which is on a hill that descends SE-ward into the Snoqualmie valley toward North Bend. We made a beeline to the area and drove toward North Bend, and I also headed the opposite way on the road which became an onramp to I-90; our thought was maybe he was closing the loop back to Tollgate Farm Park where he and Becka started their run.

Soon, at 11PM, we received another sighting on North Bend Way that he was headed toward North Bend, so Becka and I drove slowly down the road and scouted out Tollgate, as it was right on the way and must have had our scents from earlier in the day, but we didn’t see him. We converged in downtown around midnight, and Becka said she got a glimpse of him near the railroad tracks and bridge on the western edge of downtown. I made a beeline down there, but we didn’t see him. I drove northward on Bendigo way and saw a guy on a skateboard just NE of the river and asked him if he had seen a dog. He got off his skateboard and took out his earbuds and asked me to repeat the question; I did, and he said, “Yeah, just right back there.” He pointed toward the bridge, and I saw a blur the size of Baker run across Bendigo on this side of the river, heading SE into the buildings near the Senior Center and Cascade Park Senior Apartments.

I drove through there and didn’t spot him; I continued to look at all the streets that abutted the east side of the river there, working my way south, but didn’t see a thing. We discussed this and felt like Baker was trying to find his way home, but was blocked by the river, as he had to cross it to get up into our home in Harman Heights on the NE side of Rattlesnake Mountain. I continued to focus on heading south, then a bit more east and didn’t see any sign. I dropped a blanket with our scent alongside the river at the turnaround at the end of Maloney Grove Ave SE, taking a picture of it so we could compare if it was touched or moved by him. This was well after midnight.

Via social media we had a suggestion that since we’re near I-90 that we call the Washington State Patrol (WSP) and inform them of our dog in case he is spotted along the highway or ramps. That way, they could relay any sightings of him to us. I called the State Patrol, and Becka called the non-emergency police who told us to call animal control. Left a message for animal control as they were closed.

Meanwhile, Becka returned to the Three Forks Dog Park (not Three Rivers as noted in several subsequent messages), going back to the spot where Baker had bolted. She also dropped a buff there with a note.

Becka then visited where I dropped the blanket and saw that it wasn’t touched. At around 4AM we returned home. As advised via social media, we left both our fence gate and front door open a smidge, despite it being 28 degrees F in the chance he’d return home and let himself in.

We were exhausted and called it a day -- or morning at this point(?). It’d been 12 hours since we last saw Baker. Even with Boomer on it, our bed seemed empty without Baker sprawled all over it. Becka continued to scan social media, but we finally gave in to exhaustion and fell asleep.

Saturday, December 17th

A few hours later, we were back at it. We felt like he was still in/near town trying to cross the river and come home. Our first check was back to the blanket.

Social media and group chats really took off on Saturday. Becka created a group chat with many of our nearby friends, and also with several others who we felt should know what we’re dealing with and could possibly help out with at least emotional support and/or monitoring all the outlets. Several people reached out with inspirational and comforting chats and posts about friends who had dogs who had survived being lost for days and how they had been recovered and such, so we had a lot very positive energy coming at us.

Anita and Matt focused on canvassing and putting up fliers around town, in businesses, wherever they could, which was a huge benefit. They also retraced the area along the SVT where we had seen Baker in a flash the night before. We were also reminded to ensure that anyone actively looking for Baker to be aware of the calming approach and definitely not to call his name or chase him. Becka also called our vet, who made a post on their website about Baker.

Friends from near and far converged on North Bend; we now had six or more people heading in to help. People continued to revisit areas we thought he could be, and others would visit our house from time to time to check to see if he was there. Becka returned to the field where he left and dropped more clothing items to help attract him.

Just after noon, we got news that he was spotted on I-90 by the casino exit 27. This panicked us all, both knowing where he is and that he’s in imminent danger of being hit on the 70mph freeway.

I asked that everyone in a vehicle converge on the area to get eyes on him.

One possibility always was whether someone would just pick him up and take him to a shelter, which would have been fine, but far worse, just picked him up and never returned him. Our friend Tracy lost one of her dogs; their dog walker lost track of him and didn’t tell her for a day and a half as Tracy was out of town. When she heard, she flew home and started the search. Long story short, the dog was eventually identified by a friend of the grandson of the woman who had found the dog. The friend had seen the dog on the dog’s lost dog Facebook page and recognized it, especially since the dog ‘appeared’ with woman at around the same time the dog had disappeared.

All kinds of scenarios were playing out in my mind as I scrambled to get there – if we saw him, how can we calmly try to bring him in when there are semis buzzing by at 70mph? Would one of us spook him into oncoming traffic? If we do see him, how safely can we stop and remain safe while walking along the highway? Where are all the turnarounds, and what sections can we cover from each ramp area. Exit 27 is unique in that it has only off-ramps eastbound and on-ramps westbound; the next off-ramp was 4 miles away at 31 in North Bend.

When we received sightings on the roads, we almost never got specific details about where exactly he was spotted. Eastbound or westbound? Shoulder or median? Between the exits, okay, but closer to which exit? Which way was he running? Again, the time lag of the messages coupled with the lack of details made it nearly impossible to pinpoint where we should position ourselves. The best tips would be the ones where the people called us immediately and/or still had eyes on him.

We’d stop on the side of the road and try to coordinate in groups of two or three, hoping we weren’t overlapping too much, but also not creating huge gaps in our coverage. It was frustrating, but everyone seemed to be doing a good job looping between exits 25 (SR-18) and 27 near the Casino and down to North Bend. We didn’t get eyes on him at all.

At least we had a sighting, and it was in the same area he was seen about fourteen hours earlier, so maybe he’s settling in an area that we can focus more attention. We received advice that dogs are attracted to the freeway because of the cover of the noise, so he could be nearby; we’d just have to work outward from the freeway, obviously being careful not to drive him back to the roadway. Some of our team went to casino and nearby gas station to hand out fliers and keep a lookout.

Martina headed back into North Bend on the off-chance he’d retrace his apparent track from the night before. John explored the roads north of I-90 east of Snoqualmie Valley Hospital. We blanketed the area as well as we could from our vehicles, but the roads didn’t give us much visibility into the surrounding dense forest, so we began to explore paths that lined the freeways, starting at exit 27. It wasn’t easy going, as we were penned in with the wildlife fencing along the interstate, and the trail became impassable due to swampy areas that Baker would have likely avoided, too.

Since it seemed Baker may be on the south side of I-90 east of SR-18 and west of exit 27, I looked at the map and decided to head over to the streets near Echo Lake, which is visible eastbound on I-90 right after the SR-18 interchange. After a couple turns, I neared where the road turned and went east, paralleling I-90, and was stunned to see Baker running westbound on the far shoulder of the street, on the south (safe) side of the I-90 wilderness fence. This was 1:46PM on Saturday.

This was the first time I had eyes on him since he left the house with Becka on their run the day before. I was so excited to see him but knew that I had to remain as calm and try to convey the calming skills I had just learned about earlier. With the adrenaline in full effect, I quickly stopped the 4Runner in the road, with Baker about 75 feet away, as he stopped when he saw the vehicle.

I got out of the car, and immediately got down low to the ground, kneeling, trying not to excite him, but I simply could not not call out to him! I didn’t yell, but it was loud enough to hear, even with I-90 200ft behind him. The instant he heard me, he took off eastbound from the direction he came. Dammit! I blew it!

I hopped back in and took off after him, completely stunned and dumbfounded, struggling to find the best way to contact everyone while trying to keep an eye on him, all the while my heart was racing. I followed the bend in the road and watch Baker gallop eastward, then cut right at the next street that headed south. It seem he cut up into the undeveloped lots, heading southeast, diagonally away from me. I parked at the intersection and sent out a text to rally everyone to my location.

I hopped out and found an obvious trail up into the lots that were for sale; the landowner had cleared and mowed paths up top of the ridge, so it was easy going for both me and Baker. I spent a few minutes exploring, but concluded he had moved on already, but where? I was not familiar with this area, but from the map I could see Echo Lake was just a few hundred yards east of me, and their streets and a few homes lining the private lake.

Within just a few minutes, Becka and friends began arriving in the area, ready to help however they could. Becka continued further east on the street toward the lake and got a brief glimpse of Baker right at the end of the road where it meets the I-90 wildlife fence and a very narrow strip of land between houses and the freeway, so that helped to direct us, but now we’ve reached a spot where we butted up against private property, and Becka noticed there was a hole in the wildlife fencing right where he had last seen him, so we’re again worried that he’s back on/near the freeway. John drove the highway segment between the exits but didn’t see him.

I had no plan, never done this before, but had a lot of resources, so my first thought was to at least establish some visual sight lines, so I asked people to get on corners so they could monitor any escape routes, though we had a sense that he had headed east into an area that we were cut off from pursuing. Meanwhile, Anita and Matt made good time on their mountain bikes and were already on the east side of Echo Lake. There are some trails back there and Matt and Anita double-backed and covered them.

At this point, folks just fanned out and chatted and handed out fliers to anyone they saw around Echo Lake. Those people even reached out to their neighbors to make them aware of our dog on the run. More friends arrived in the area and kept driving up and down all the roads and highway. It was now a few hours after we had seen him, and it started to get dark. Some of our friends had come from a considerable distance – Black Diamond, Hobart, Ellensburg, Seattle – and needed to get back to family, work, and other obligations.

All throughout the day, the response from friends showing up was overwhelming, not just in the sense that so many people truly cared to drop what they were doing and help on a weekend, but in the sense that it was difficult to task all of them with specific direction, where to look, what to do, trying to keep their contributions relevant. Fortunately, they’re a group of independent self-starters, and for the most part, nearly all of us met each other through the hiking, backpacking, and climbing community, and there’s an element of self-sufficiency that is inherent in us.

I ran home to check on Boomer, our 11-year-old Boston Terrier. He’s an experienced trail dog in his own right, having hiked and backpacked well over a thousand miles with me in the Cascades and other areas. The last couple of years he’s lost his eyesight due to cataracts, and he has a heart condition that has slowed him down a bit. Another pee river was found; we were having trouble taking care of the remaining dog! We took Boomer with us in the car from then on (mostly) and he became part of the search party.

I was also home to gear up for our evening plan – lure Baker with food! We had heard that this can be an effective technique – grilling or frying some food that the lost dog is familiar with in hopes that he’ll smell and approach and realize that he’s among family. Becka and I both were pretty soaked through, too, so I got her a change of clothes, and I upgraded what I was wearing so I could stay out in the wet, cold rain. I grabbed two camp stoves, fuel, pots and pans, utensils, and chairs.

Meanwhile, John sent a message that there was a wilderness underpass under I-90 about midway between exits 25 and 27. This was good news in that maybe Baker found it and realized he didn’t have to cross I-90 any longer, and it’s a natural funnel that we could monitor with a game camera, which we set up the following day, courtesy of John. We had concerns, too, that the breaks in the fences would limit containing him.

Saturday evening, we had the entire forest between exits 27 and 25 smelling like bacon. We bookended it with each of us in our cars, slowly frying bacon, out in the rain. The wind was swirling, so it seemed like we had a decent chance of Baker getting a whiff and seeking it out. The cold rain was annoying as hell, especially knowing that Baker hates being out in the rain.

Knowing that too much fat can cause pancreatitis in dogs, especially dogs that don’t have anything else in their gut, I fried the bacon and added water until the fat boiled off into the night, then I walked each piece of fried bacon down old SE 99th St., the road now blockaded heading west from exit 27; you pass this as you would drive up to Snoqualmie Point Park. West of us just off Echo Lake, Becka and Boomer did the same at end of 353rd Ste SE. Boomer was another ally in the search – if we spotted Baker, we could act as though we’re taking Boomer for a walk, another passive way to draw Baker in. Becka admitted she was a bit concerned that she’d attract ALL the wildlife to her since we knew our neighborhood bear(s) were still active and messing with trash cans around us.

Late afternoon and into the evening, friends Sharon and Nancy joined the effort- one isn’t on Facebook and the other is limited on Facebook so they got the notification that he was missing a bit later. They made and brought 50 laminated fliers (some we posted earlier in the day were getting wet from rain) from Seattle and were determined to put them up everywhere they could in North Bend and Snoqualmie, even into the night. Along with everyone else who distributed fliers, this was a huge peace of mind and a big lift for us knowing word was getting out, and that it takes a lot of time to get those out and would have distracted us from actively searching. They just took care of it, like others did earlier in the day, so we could stay focused.

Four bacon-frying hours later, and a neighbor’s call to the Sheriff (poor Becka!), we called it at around 10:15PM and headed home. Becka wanted to stay out all night, but we were exhausted from the day and the 2-3 hours of sleep we had the night prior. We hit a few spots on our way home, thinking there was a chance in a million we’d see him. Here’s where Google tracked me on Saturday, claiming I traveled 104 miles within about a seven mile radius of home.

Sunday, December 18th

We deployed John’s trail camera in the wildlife underpass between exits 25 and 27. I added a smelly sweatshirt to attract him. Tim arrived and scouted out areas from his vehicle, including Snoqualmie Point Park (again). No signs. Without any sightings or clues, we’re just wandering around. Tracy and Becka set out on foot from exit 27, heading west and into a set of trails off old 99th. Martina brought coffee and pastries, and drove around looking for him. Nancy and Sharon came back as well and did more driving around.

After checking a few spots, I grabbed a bite and went back to Tollgate, where their walk on Friday started, and expressed some frustration about what the best next steps should be. We had contacted Three Retrievers, hadn’t heard back yet, but we didn’t have a fresh scent trail to set the dog on anyway.

Higher up in the snow we had the advantage of animal tracks, though we had to learn what clearly wasn’t Baker and what could be. We saw plenty of deer and elk tracks which are obvious, but after a day or two, smaller tracks are more difficult to discern.

Becka looped up the powerline break, then back down to Echo Lake. I went back to the underpass to check the game camera; saw a mountain biker and his dog, but no Baker. By about 3:30PM it started to hail as Tracy and Becka made it back toward exit 27. By four, we called it a day; the snow and darkness hampered our sight anyway.

Back home, at about 5:30PM, we received a tip that he had been seen the day before in downtown North Bend around 2PM.

This tip didn’t line up with our sightings in Echo Lake as late as 1:50PM, so I asked if a more precise timing could be determined. After a few minutes, they got back with me and said it was more like 2:45PM. Still a bit unlikely, but this seemed slightly more plausible, as it meant Baker went from Echo Lake to downtown North Bend, about 5 miles away, in an hour.

This led to a lot of speculation and second-guessing our strategy, but starved for tips, this is all we had to go on. We discussed scenarios that he was circling between the Echo Lake/Exit 27 area and downtown, retracing the path he took his first night out. Anything to make sense of this, really, and unfortunately it widened our search area again.

Several days later, we concluded that this was almost certainly a false lead. It was a long way away covered in a short time, there were no sightings of Baker en route, most likely along North Bend Way, by the Casino, and there were no other sightings the entire day in town.

When we returned home from actively searching, Becka would spend the rest of the evening on social media. Lily Burns of the LDKC Facebook page regularly bumped Baker’s post up to keep it high in the feed and maintain awareness. People on the page added reassuring comments that they knew of dogs who were out for many days, even in cold weather, in light that the entire area was under a Winter Storm Watch for many inches of new snow in multiple waves over Monday and Tuesday, and bitter cold behind it.

From Lily Burns on LDKC:

Ken Poore I know, and it's sad and worrisome that he's still out. But it only takes one phone call, one sighting to possibly bring him home. Also just for a bit of reassurance, we have had many dogs out during the subfreezing temperature storms for days/weeks who have been found safe and healthy. He won't be comfortable, but lost dogs are extremely resourceful, and I suspect he is already finding ways to stay warm.

Monday, December 19th

By morning we had about five inches of new snow. Becka called in to work feeling an urgency to find him due to impending terrible weather. I tried to work, but by mid-morning decided I needed to be actionable in pursuit of him. Becka headed out and checked the underpass game camera and found nothing on it, and she spotted elk tracks along the way. Fresh snow meant it was easier to track, so we were especially keen to find any dog-looking tracks that weren’t accompanied by a matching set of human prints. She followed some possible Baker tracks, but quickly concluded they were raccoon. She also talked with people at the Three Forks Dog park and checked the field he went missing again. Becka also placed 4 scented clothing items of ours down Bendigo and headed into North Bend downtown (in discreet places) that was one of the helpful tips from the LDKC group.

With our active post on the LDKC site, more of the ‘seasoned’ dog search folks engaged with us; people who volunteer their time, offer tips, equipment such as traps and trail cameras, and just general support. Their encouragement and expertise were very welcomed because we were just making this all up as we went without any idea of “What should we do now?” We got on a group text message with them, separate from our main Facebook messenger thread, and they shared helpful and comforting tips about past searches in similar circumstances.

We had wondered whether Baker still had his harness on, and maybe even his collar, too. His collar is a looser Martingale, which tightens when pulled, but without tension, he could slide out of it easily. Thinking back to the last actual sighting of Baker on Saturday, I remembered that we had dashcams on both our cars, so I downloaded and reviewed the video segment of my sighting and it showed a couple flashes of Baker’s tags on his collar, so at least we had that if we ever got him close enough to engage with him.

Tracy called around to shelters to no avail, and Becka continued to monitor social media sites and lost/found dog pages. Baker had been ID chipped from early on, but we were reminded to ensure that his ID was registered, and we then logged into the associated sites and reported him as lost.

Anne relayed a lost blue heeler post, but it was not him; very similar, but it had a full tail and the markings were slightly different, and the dog was in Federal Way. One downside, I suppose, of getting the word out so broadly is you’ll get false reports that need to be vetted.

We continued to drive around, handing out fliers to anyone walking their dogs, delivery drivers, etc. About half the time I handed the flier to a dog walker, they said they had seen the fliers or seen his posting on a social media site, so it was comforting to know that word – and eyes – were out looking for him.

We were in a waiting game; driving around was time-consuming and almost completely fruitless except for the time we were lucky to spot him on Saturday. We had to fall back and rely on someone seeing and reporting him. Monday was winding down, over two days since we last saw him. We continued to get anecdotes of hope when dogs were lost for several days.

Jim Branson of Three Retrievers had reached out and consulted with us, telling us how important it is that he we see him, we don’t engage with him at all; make very little eye contact, act as if he’s not even there. If we have Boomer with us when we see him, take Boomer out of the car and start walking with Boomer, trying to be upwind so Baker could catch his familiar scent.

One other very important tip is that if your dog is lost, quickly find something that smells only of your pet, like a harness, a blanket, a sweater, whatever rubs up against your dog and is not contaminated with another dog’s scent. Take that item and put it a ZipLoc and into your freezer. That way, when the time comes to use a scent dog, you can use that item to train the scent dog on the scent.

Becka dove head-deep into Facebook group administration and set up a group page for Baker- Bring Baker Back that at one point gained over 400 followers. Tracy’s dog was lost for five months and likely would never have been reunited without the lost dog page she created for her pet. Becka made the group public and shared links to it on all the social media platforms – Facebook, NextDoor, Neighbors Ring and Instagram. Neighbors Ring can be particularly helpful because dogs can be caught on the Ring doorbell video and easily shared.

Monday night around 8:30PM, Becka was sitting in the Mt. Si Chevron station and frantically chatted with me that she smelled electrical smoke inside her Rogue. We had just put thousands into fixing an engine problem and this was the last thing we needed, especially since having two cars had been so helpful during this crisis. We thought maybe the smoke was caused by a recalled faulty wiring harness that, in some cases, could cause an electrical short and fire under the dash. I met her there and smelled the smoke and agreed that it’s probably the harness and we should have it towed to the dealership. I called AAA – mind you, there were cars wiping out everywhere with the snow – and they said they’d get a truck out to us in about four hours. We went home to wait it out; after about an hour or so, the tow driver called and said he’d be at the Chevron in about 20 minutes, so at least we caught a break there. He dropped the Rogue in Bellevue – we’ll have to deal with that in the morning.

Becka updated Baker’s Lost Dog page, which had over a hundred people following it. We were pretty disappointed that no one had found Baker and turned him in to get a chip read, which we thought was hopeful when places opened up on Monday.

Tuesday, December 20th.

We woke up to another round of several inches of snow; roads were in bad shape, and we had to dig ourselves and cars out. I tried to keep up with it as much as possible, knowing we’d want to be able to take off if there was a sighting. We live at the top of a long hill that can be difficult to travel down and up when it's icy. There was no way we were going out today, and with the weather and cold, we doubt Baker would be out and about from wherever he was hunkered down. Becka called her sister Hannah late tonight and had difficulty keeping remotely upbeat on the phone.

Wednesday, December 21st.

Five days after Baker was lost, we caught a break.

Temperatures were in the low 20’s; we were not long up when at 8:30AM we got a phone call that Baker had been seen along I-90 between exits 27 and 25. We got as much detail as we could, and rushed to get ourselves together and out the door. We were on the road by 8:36, slipping and sliding down the street and on the highway. A WSP dispatcher whom Becka had talked with on Saturday, called Becka back and asked if our dog was still missing and said he was spotted again on I-90. We thanked her for calling back and assured her we were on our way.

We received several more messages over the next 2 hours, some copy/pasted from earlier posts and other sites, and it was difficult to keep track of whether they were repeats or fresh updates. Someone texted us that a Washington State Trooper was stopping traffic while Baker ran along the highway.

Becka took over writing at this point.

One stranger turned friend is Mindi who lives nearby the sighting in the Echo Lake neighborhood. She called me as we were trying to find a spot to turn around on I-90 (we ended up using a police turnout), after not seeing him Westbound near the sightings and headed back Eastbound. Mindi was on the Westbound side and could see him, so we were able to get off Exit 27 head Westbound yet again and pull our 4Runner up behind her 4Runner. She had lost sight of him, but with the fresh snow, I was able to spot his fresh tracks in the median, and then again, see the tracks start again on the other side of Eastbound I-90. In a split second I (Becka) turned to Ken and said, “Fuck it-I’m going across when I can safely do so.” I wasn’t going to waste the precious time of getting back in the car, going down the highway for miles before being able to turn around again, and not be in pursuit since he was JUST there.

I ran safely across I-90 and went into “Professional dog tracker” mode even though this was not in my wheelhouse. Part of when I was hiking/tracking through the snow, I was also sending messages/replying as I was able to keep folks updated as much as it was possible. I lost the tracks after maybe a half a mile and was deflated. I had come to two different tracks that could be dog tracks, but in pursuit, they morphed into deer tracks. The snow was light and fluffy, but that didn’t make for the most precise tracks, as some of the snow would fall in after he jumped out of that track. I re-traced my steps and found another split from the original tracks and was certain that was the right path. It led me into a ravine and over the other side, only to keep following the tracks on the main, flat trail leading to the southeast corner of Echo Lake and up a massive, steep continued trail- this trail system is a Mountain biking area, and this furthest trail nearest the lake is the steepest, so of course Baker’s tracks went up it, distressing me and my cotton jogger pants on this impromptu hike with no snack nor water. I realized I didn’t have any breakfast today either as we left the house in a big hurry.

Up, up and up. I was both encouraged with his fresh tracks, knowing it was him, but also discouraged I was moving so slowly, and he must be so far ahead of me, and I’ll never catch up. I made it to the power line break and continued on a path over into the woods still following his tracks. At this point the snow became 6 inches deep in some spots and I was kicking as I walked making a bit more noise, plus grabbing handfuls of snow to slightly help with my thirst, and making “yum, yum, yum” sounds.

All of a sudden I saw Baker about 80 ft away, and he had come from out of a lean to; I later learned that this used to be a Christmas tree farm and the owner has several lean-to’s. Baker must have been taking a snooze, heard me, then took off again. I am sure he didn’t recognize me, and I resisted calling out his name although it was tough! It was so good to see him again, but I continued in pursuit, again grossly behind his pace. Up, up and more up; at times I was slipping down in the snow and my hands were pretty frozen.

Ken was also communicating with a mountain biker who was in the area on foot and he was texting with me as to my location, which my google app wasn’t doing the best at figuring out where I was. Later we found out this guy was actually our neighbor, Nathan! He was helping because he has an older heeler dog and felt compelled, and it was only later we realized we had run into them on our road and talked with them once near our “back 40” when they were walking their dog -- small world.

I tracked Baker across another set of power lines and then his tracks went straight down the power line towards Hwy 18 for several hundred yards, where the tracks turned right back into the woods and eventually spitting me back out on the first set of power lines. We were going in circles. However, Mindi and Anne showed up in that moment and Anne had animal crackers, a fig bar and water- it was DIVINE!

The actual professional dog tracker, James Branson had also pulled up with my husband, and thankfully he took over tracking as I was a sweaty and tired mess. Ken put our older dog Boomer in his backpack (Boomer is blind and couldn’t hike in the snow), and James had his trusty tracker dog, Tino with him. They set off, following Baker’s tracks back up the hill and they eventually completed the circle Baker and I had started on. Ken went off to the lean-to areas, and they both made it back to the southeast corner of Echo Lake where they lost Baker’s tracks. They just seemed to disappear.

Although this was disappointing, we had had a thrilling day of seeing him. Some conclusions we came to was that the sighting on Saturday eve in North Bend near Les Schwab was likely a false sighting; he has likely been hanging out near I-90 between Exit 25 and 27 since Saturday when we spied him in the Echo Lake neighborhood, staying up by the power lines in nice cozy lean-to’s and then coming down to I-90 to try to get food from time to time/when desperate. We later figured he may have been hanging out up there because it was on the north side of I-90, at about the same elevation as our house, and about the same distance from the highway – a familiar setting, but about six miles northwest of his home in North Bend.

More friends came to help -- Tim, Alexandra -- and we had to be careful to not have people come and create more commotion in the area. Susan, also a stranger, turned friend offered a drone (if James thought it was ok) and that she had other game cams and gear and she would be in contact. This was comforting in a way; at least we could cover this area and not waste time elsewhere. Judy, who works with James Branson, got a trap over to us near where they had lost Baker’s tracks. She showed us how to use it, and we got the camera set up.

With temperatures dropping into the 20s, and the intrigue of the lean-to’s thinking Baker must be staying in them, I had the idea to pitch a tent up there. I ran it by James Branson who said, ‘I can’t tell you what to do, but it’s going to be really cold up there’ -- he was discouraging it. Anne later texted that if it were her, and having all the gear, she’d do it. I did end up lugging up my gear, pitched the tent under the lean to, Ken stayed up there with me a bit and we fried up some hamburger that he would put a little ways down, and then he’d put the rest in the trap that was set. He set off about 10:30pm leaving me there to spend the night. I had our Garmin satellite device to communicate. As it turns out, I had cell signal.

Ken called me about an hour later and his voice was frantic; he told me that the game cam wasn’t working, and at best we were getting pictures 3 hours delayed…maybe due to the cold? Add the trap being almost a mile in and then driving from home once getting a picture, and Baker could potentially be trapped for upwards of 4 hours in the super exposed area where the trap was in a howling wind and the temps diving into the single digits. He was tearing up and saying “he’ll die!” He made the decision to close the trap. I also called ‘uncle’ and decided it was too cold for me to stay out, so I packed up my things, made a gigantic rip in the tent as I packed up, and Ken picked me up about 45 mins later. It was after midnight.

Thursday, December 22nd

I picked up my car at Bellevue Nisaan and some stinky rotisserie chicken for the trap. We were back to two cars- my recall part was ordered even though they said the electrical smell was from the cell phone charger sitting in water and the fuse not working right.

I write on Bring Baker Back Facebook page:

I am overwhelmed by the support, and full of gratitude. At this time, we ask that you only post critical information such as sightings or leads. It's become difficult to answer back and keep up.
Let me address a couple things:
1. The weather is horrible. Walking 3/4 of a mile, my face Buff froze- something I have never experienced before when out hiking in winter! We ask you do not help today. Message me at 206-351-2766 if you disagree and think you'd be of help still. It's dangerous. I am camped within a mile of the trap and will be walking back and forth and adding fresh food as needed and to check the camera, etc then warming up in my car in between. I will be reaching out to the neighbor in Echo Lake who has been extremely helpful to manage that location.
2. While I could get extra, extra worried about the weather for his sake, I have a hunch he could still be hunkered down. It appeared he got some sort of food on I-90 yesterday and so he could hunker for a time without being seen. Another reason not to have people out.
3. Drones- at this time we will not be using drones. The area is treed. We may end up using a drone at some point near the power lines, but at this time we don't need them. We have a couple people up there checking their camera footage and we may be setting up cams and another trap up that way today.
4. Keep a look out if you are on I-90 especially between Exits 25 and 27 in either direction.
5. We need a toboggan if possible. It will make it more bearable to carrying him inside the trap out almost a mile to our car. Toboggan is secured! Thanks, Alisha.

Today, Susan did contact me again about extra game cams she had. She collected what she had and met me at Exit 27. In addition to the cams, she had an extra warm balaclava, boots and winter stuff. It proved to be helpful in that we set up more of these cams up by the lean to and in the Echo Lake neighborhood where he had been spotted previously, AND we were able to get a second trap set up from LaVonne who also is a volunteer with James Branson. LaVonne, Susan and Ken were able to set up this second trap in the Echo Lake neighborhood in a new construction house and set it inside the garage which had no door on it; this provided a roof over the trap and a slightly warmer environment, as well as protection from the freezing rain. It was close by where Ken saw him on Saturday. We had gained permission to set up here from the Contractor who was super nice and the next-door neighbor was also really helpful. Another cam was set up on this trap; we were still new to this technology, and we were using different brands of cams and different apps, each seems to work differently depending on the purpose. We were given lithium batteries, as they are more reliable in the cold -- thanks to Nathan for bringing the batteries that day and deciding to again hike this area to look for Baker today in the cold. Despite many offering drones, we decided it would not be best- he is scared of them, and this area is too woodsy. As I put in more foot miles in the area, I said a prayer over and over from my friend, Anita’s psychic who was convinced we would find him.

Facebook Update on the eve of 12/22/22: “We now have 2 traps and a total of 6 game cams set up in the locations he has been spotted around Echo/Exit 25-27. While we didn't catch him today, with the high winds and popping trees I just know he is hiding in a warm cave with fluffy moss and a bed of ferns, safe and sound with perhaps more good judgment than we have. I believe we will start to see him again tomorrow as the temps rise. If not tomorrow, then the next day. Tomorrow the temps go to a balmy 35 degrees which is nice even with precip coming in. It just gets warmer from there. We are close. We are in contact with folks that live by the power line and they have been a huge help, and provide an additional watchful eye. We have neighbors in Echo on alert. It's only a matter of time. We scored a hiker today who is very familiar with the trails off 27 (and just happens to be our neighbor), several game cams and extra warm offerings of clothing from practically a stranger, a sled plus coffee and snacks from a friend I never get to see (and she gifted homemade soap, skin salve and chapstick made from her bees & honey jam) and I got to witness her son's merriment over the snow. So many personal messages came through today and continued offerings of help, and I got to talk with my sister as well. Please continue to send out positive thoughts, healing vibes, prayers or light a candle. Or go all out and do all of the above!

I feel a shift.

Tonight when leaving the trap and doing my last foot mile of the day, I listened to an Insight Timer meditation by Sarah Blondin about hope and then turned on a couple of songs (until my phone died) and danced on the trail back to the car. I know the holidays are fast approaching. Our family decided to delay gathering, for Baker, for illness and for already a foot of snow in Bellingham at my sister's. People are still offering to help of which I couldn't be more grateful. Still- I wish you all a Merry Everything and hope we have Baker back for Christmas for all our sakes. I consider this a community of love; for a dog who was a stranger, who you treated and loved as your own ”

Up to this point, we had received consistently generous support and permission from many strangers who we’d otherwise never have met. It was truly heartwarming and reassuring to receive this assistance in our time of need; recent times had made us think that this sort of outpouring was a thing in our past. Indeed, it is still very present.

Friday, December 23rd

December 23rd was a surprising cluster of a thick layer of freezing rain over existing snow and we lost both power and water at home. We put on our spikes to go to our neighbors to collect water and carefully brought it back home. We decided we really couldn’t do anything about Baker, and hoped he was still hunkering down. We believed the weather would warm up later in the day and would get out at that time. Once out and desperate to do something, we replaced some of the articles of clothing down in North Bend and heading towards our house, with non-frozen scented items realizing he very likely wasn’t in North Bend.

We also headed back to Exit 27 to hike more miles, check the trap and replace the food, adding some of his favorite Costco jerky treats. Each night during this storm we are having to close the trap by Echo Lake as we can’t risk him going in there and us not seeing picture until hours later, with temps still extremely low.

Saturday, December 24th

This was the lowest of low days for my spirit. It had been over a week; the weather was deplorable and no sightings since Wednesday. My right brain said it was because he was being smart and not out in this storm. My heart ached. We woke to sub-freezing temps again instead of the forecasted 50 degrees which again delayed us in getting out of our driveway until mid-day. Our long driveway was a sheet of ice.

We got a possible sighting from someone in Okanogan County which was a red heeler, so not Baker. And then again, another sighting by a woman named Eva who lives in Preston. This was exciting, but also created a new set of possibilities and “starting over” since there was no signage over there. This also would’ve meant he was on foot again and heading west across Hwy 18 into the back side of Lost Creek. We were able to text with Eva and send her more pictures of Baker. She thought she had seen him last night but it was dark. Once seeing additional pictures and herself having had heelers in the past, we concluded it likely was not him, so Judy had been making additional signs but we held off on placing them. We did have a couple of friends and we ourselves drove through that neighborhood a few times just to be on the lookout. In the Preston ‘hood, we saw the butterflies along the fences and trees someone had placed- the highlight of my day along with a few personal messages- butterflies symbolizing new beginnings.

Later back at home to re-group, we decided to cook up some Johnsonville Brats we already had in our fridge. I had been doing some reading about enticing dogs with food, and the article said to place something familiar to the dog, and I immediately thought of the brats since it’s something we have from time to time (and he gets scraps), AND they are super stinky! Our power and water decided to go out again, so Ken pulled out the single burner with small propane on our stove top and cooked the brats that way. We went back out that late afternoon/evening to smear brat juice and brat pieces along the trail in both directions from the trap, and place good chunks around the trap and in it. Boomer (Baker’s older brother)’s fleece had also been placed outside the trap to lure in Baker with a familiar smell. As I hiked around, cried and prayed, I knew we could only go back home and wait and hope.

Part of what I wrote in Bring Baker Back: “Our family Christmas which is usually on Christmas Eve has been postponed due to Baker being missing, illness, and weather and it feels nothing like Christmas. Please send all the energy, vibes, and prayers out for a sighting. This mama is struggling. Thankful for this community.”

I had insomnia. I cried a lot.

Sunday, December 25th

At 12:19am, I lit a candle for Baker as I had done every night and posted to my Facebook story with the backdrop of the Journey song, “Don’t Stop Believin’” and 2 minutes later I saw the first game cam picture of Baker in front of the trap! I had to rub my bleary eyes, but it was in fact him, with his silver harness on!

I was so thrilled to see him alive- the first time seeing him since Wednesday and hoping with everything that he would trust the trap and get in it, yet also trying not to get my hopes up too high and knowing if he didn’t go in right away, that he was indeed staying in this area and we could eventually get him! I hoped with all my might. I posted on the Bring Baker Back Facebook group to send out all the hopes, energies, vibes, and prayers that he goes IN the trap. A few people were still up and responded. I got several pictures from 12:21-12:59am all with him in various places around the trap. He was obviously taking his sweet time. I ended up falling asleep at some point after looking at my phone until almost 2am with no further pictures. At 4:30am, I heard a ping on my phone and looked; at 2:32am there was a picture of Baker IN the trap!

I yelled at Ken to get up we had to go! Again, there was a delay in the timing, but at least the temps were warmed there. We got to the trap around 4:37am -- we had to get clothes on, drive there, and then I almost ran the 1 mile to the trap getting there ahead of Ken. I approached the trap quietly with my headlamp on as it was dark. When I got close, I heard him growl at me, but as I started talking to him, he began to whine and get excited. I saw that Boomer’s fleece had been rolled in by Baker and that was sweet to know Boomer helped bring him back! Thanks, James, for that tip!

We were told under strict orders that even if he is behaving normal, to NOT let him out of the trap until we were home. That proved to be pretty challenging given it wasn’t even 5am and there was only the two of us despite reaching out to see if any of our helpers were up- no response. So, Ken and I muscled the trap which included Baker- we guess it was about 50 or more pounds we had to carry rather awkwardly down a trail to the car almost a mile. Fortunately, most of the terrain was flat, but there was some slushy snow and raging water to cross. We had to change positions several times and put the trap down as our muscles would fatigue. He also wasn’t happy to be in there and would shift his weight making it more difficult. We did have the toboggan to help us through the snowy bit, which wasn’t much.

We had to lovingly talk him through this, and we had to communicate well with each other. It was a frustratingly slow trek, but we made it to the car, and put him into the car, still in the trap.

Back home, we let him out of the trap, and he immediately started jumping on us and doing zoomies in the house. We learned he had lost 9 pounds in the nearly 9 days he was missing. We joyously shared the GREAT news to all of the lost dog pages, facebook pages, and the original posts we had done to Nextdoor, Nextdoor Ring and others. We also texted many of the helpers and everyone was so very relieved and happy for us. It was said over and over that he was our Christmas miracle, and who are we to argue that?

On Bring Baker Back: “It's with great COMFORT and JOY we share with you the gift of our Christmas magic/miracle, Baker boy is back home!!!!!!! He appears to be in good health! Mostly behaving like himself. We are incredibly grateful for each of you and will be snuggling all day Merry Christmas- he is our greatest present!”

Written on Dec. 25th on Bring Baker Back (with below pic in mind):

Baker has his smile back again! We had the best day of doing nothing, or next to nothing. He was a little afraid of being outside without us at first, but is starting to trust it more. We ordered a GPS collar for him. Loose bowels are becoming more firm (tmi? Sorry, not sorry ) and his farts are off-the-charts-smelly! Still I was grateful for every nose-curling taint! So he is trying to work through something. We are getting advice from a friend/vet tech who has been guiding us in helping him ease back into regular feeding and she has recommended he get on a probiotic. Going to get him checked tomorrow, but everything appears to be OK other than he lost 9 pounds in 8.5 days, from 39 to 30 pounds..that was a bit shocking and seeing his muscle greatly dwindled. So thankful he survived animals, high winds, falling trees, rough terrain, snow, hail, sub- freezing temps down to 12 °F (with wind chill of -2), an unprecedented ice storm, 2 instances of narrow escapes from crossing I-90, many foot miles, and who knows what else? I wish I could have a real conversation and we could swap stories. I am doing my best to communicate that we were 'hiking' to 'go find' Baker- all words he knows. He has been extremely generous with kisses and I am shocked at how close to his baseline personality he is. He engaged in fetch, chase, and carrying his stuffy babies around (parading) as if he hasn't been a feral beast that has survived anyone's worst nightmare- being dropped in the woods with nothing but instinct and having to survive through the harshest conditions. I am honored to be this fiercest boy's mom!
Once again, I am humbled by this community. My mind is reeling over all the comments, support, positive wishes, meditations, burned sage, lit candles and prayers on behalf of this sweet boy.

We added this post to our Bring Baker Back facebook group to get some love for James Branson’s group and Lily Burns who both were extremely helpful in us finding Baker:

1 in 3 dogs go missing! We would have been at a loss in finding Baker without the help of Three Retrievers Lost Pet Rescue, Useless Bay Sanctuary and Lost Dogs of King County WA (LDKC) with the many volunteers from each of these groups. James Branson is behind all of these groups and their resources. He started LDKC and his scent dog service is provided through Three Retrievers. He then opened a rescue of his own, Useless Bay Sanctuary. He has a scent dog that is trained for lost cats as well! Baker was on the run and fast (many steps ahead of us!). We contacted James early on and did a phone consult; he's a busy guy, so everything had to align: another sighting, Baker staying within a manageable area, fresh tracks and James not tracking another animal at the same time. Wednesday, the first day of winter was the day. He was spotted on I-90 and we had fresh snow. I initially tracked Baker as James was en route from Burien to Snoqualmie and was having difficulty getting out of his driveway. Once he took over, he and Tino were off (and Ken carrying Boomer in a backpack). Where they lost his tracks on the SE corner of Echo Lake is where we placed one of the traps, but we had to be careful to not let folks know the location. They provided the traps and the cameras. Special shout out to Lily Burns who primarily moderates the Lost Dogs of King County page, 16 hours a day, 365 days a year! She kept bumping our post and giving helpful advice. She also was simultaneously helping approximately the other 20-30 dogs that go missing daily! Special shout out to Judy Cecil & LaVonne Finnerud who both loaned us a trap and game cam. These ladies and others gave encouragement and advice all along. They were especially reassuring to us going into sub-freezing temps; stories of dogs that have endured before.
Stay tuned tomorrow for more helpers highlighted!
Would you please consider donating to these wonderful people? Here's video of Tino in action. Tino was a rescue turned dog tracker!
James Branson-
~ Venmo: @three-retrievers
~ Check, PayPal or Credit card payment info at the Useless Bay Sanctuary page
Lily Burns-
https://gofund.me/ad8b7106

Becka & Ken would like to thank:

· Friends: Alexandra, Alisha, Andrew, Anita, Becky, Cheryl, Eve, Janell, John, Martina, Matt, Mike, Morgan C, Morgan G, Nancy, Sybil, Sharon, Tim, Tracy, Vickie,

· Useless Bay Sanctuary volunteers: Judy, LaVonne

· Locals: Adam, Andre, Anne, Brandon, Chris, Dan, Lily, Mike, Mindi, Nathan K, Nathan S, Susan

· The Washington State Patrol, King County Animal Control, King County Sheriff’s Office, Lost Dogs of King County, Three Retrievers & Jim Branson, Snoqualmie Ridge Veterinary Hospital

Additionally, this story is one of many I’ve personally seen online about Jim Branson and his wonderful organization. Please consider donating to or volunteering for Useless Bay Pet Sanctuary. None of us know when we might need Jim and Tino’s services, and we need more people (dogs are people too!) like them in the world.