Joseph Lindberg
07/31/2013
On Tuesday, Nicole Paradise and husband Greg Rohleder, looked out over Sawbill Lake. Dark clouds were rolling in, and hundreds of miles of Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness spread out before them.
Their dog was out there. Lost.
"What are we doing here?" Paradise asked.
Their 2-year-old border collie mix, J.J., was with a family friend July 17 near Skoop Lake in the northeast corner of Minnesota when a storm startled him, and he bolted. He wasn't seen again for 12 days.
While it was J.J.'s third trip to the BWCA Wilderness, the West St. Paul family knew the chances of recovering their pet were slim.
"We were starting to think there was no way," said Paradise, who lives in West St. Paul with her husband and two
Friend and neighbor Stephanie Weiss posted a plea to a BWCA message board, asking for help: "He's timid, so if someone sees him, they might need to coax him with food and gentle patience ... he's the sweetest peanut."
The response was immediate, and message boards lit up. WTIP North Shore Community Radio, Arrowhead Animal Rescue, Sawbill Canoe Outfitters and the Cook County ATV Club all spread the word. Friends shared photos and information on Facebook and other social media sites.
Scores of folks were now looking for J.J., all over the BWCA Wilderness expanse.
And it worked.
On Monday, a camper spotted J.J. near the northwest corner of Sawbill Lake, about seven miles south of Skoop Lake, and reported the sighting. Paradise and Rohleder got the news and didn't hesitate -- they began their 260-mile rescue mission immediately.
The next day at Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, one of the most-popular BWCA Wilderness entrance points, the couple were equipped for their search.
"We didn't know what we were doing, really," Paradise said. "We just got in a canoe and started paddling around."
A sense of futility crept in. Even after talking to the group that spotted
View J.J.'s Journey in a larger mapJ.J., the duo quickly ran out of leads. Tuesday night, they spotted storm clouds and made their way out of the woods in search of cellphone reception.
That night came the big break: a voicemail from a camper who lured J.J. into a tent with a trail of hotdogs. Those campers were Dave Kringsand and Mike Raub.
Paradise explained: "While Dave paddled back to the outfitters to get us the message, Mike was able to make a trail of hotdogs and get J.J. in his tent. J.J. wouldn't let either one of them touch him. They said he just laid down in the tent, and every once in a while all night he would whimper and cry."
Paradise and Rohleder rushed to Sawbill Lake on Wednesday morning, and J.J.'s tail started wagging the second he saw them.
The couple learned J.J. had been wandering north of Sawbill Lake and likely had to pass through wolf territory on his way south.
"He was a bit skinny but was just fine," Paradise said. "It was a little overwhelming."
"(They) are the reason we have him home," Paradise said, thanking Kringsand and Raub.
The rescue Wednesday comes a week after news reports of a different but equally improbable dog rescue in the BWCA by a five teammates of the Minnetonka High School cross-country team.
The reunited trio drove back to the Twin Cities on Wednesday, where family and friends were waiting for news.
About 11:30 a.m., Paradise posted on her Facebook page:
"Operation rescue J.J. has been a success. We are on our way home with a skinny, tick-covered dog! Unbelievable!!!"
Source: http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_23768376/west-st-paul-dog-survives-2-weeks-lost?sf557379=1
Video available at: http://youtu.be/XtuwV201CCk
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