Rocky, a toy poodle

This dog's people did get a trap and set it up, but they also laid out a sweater of the owner's in another nearby location, on the advice of a rescue person. When they went to check the trap which was baited with food, the dog hadn't been there, but he was lying on the sweater.

Little dog lost, then found using unique tactic
By Olivia Damavandi / Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 8:56 PM PDT

Rocky, a toy poodle, was lost for three days in the mountains. His owners found him by placing a sweater with their scent on it on a trail near where he went missing.

Tony Alti and son Michael had lost their little dog, but then Michael, following the advice of an animal rescue agency, used a unique tactic to find the toy poodle, which survived three days in the mountains.

After a relentless two and a half day search, Tony Alti, owner of Colony House Liquors, and his son, Michael, were shocked to discover that their four-year-old white toy poodle, Rocky, had survived three frigid nights and the jaws of predation in the Santa Monica Mountains last month.

"I don't know how he did it," Tony said in a telephone interview. "This is a dog who's used to eating at Gelson's and drinking Fiji water.

"After three nights of cold, mountain lions, rattlesnakes and coyotes, I said, 'Even a man can't survive,'" he continued. "And don't forget he's a white poodle, it's difficult for him to stay camouflaged."

With dusk approaching and two miles left of their 11-mile hike along the Backbone Trail one Saturday last month, Michael asked his friend, Ray, to hold Rocky while he hurried to get their car. But, wanting to follow Michael, Rocky jumped from Ray's arms and dashed quickly out of sight.

That night, a team of family, friends and their dogs helped search for Rocky until midnight. With no sign of the toy poodle, Michael and Tony started the five-hour hike again at 1 a.m., seeing only two rattlesnakes and hearing the howls of coyotes. Tony despaired of finding the little dog.

"We hiked 13 miles Saturday night, from 11:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.," Tony said. "I had two special jackets for hiking and I was cold so I thought, 'How can Rocky do it?'"

A glimmer of hope surfaced early the next morning when Michael, while standing on the edge of a small hill, spotted Rocky 50 feet below him. Though the dog ran out of sight again, the knowledge he was still alive added fuel to the search. But by the end of the day, people began to give up.

"Local rangers of the Santa Monica Mountains recreation area refused to help search for a lost dog, and a cop [who] pulled by at the time said, 'We have murderers, mountain lions, bobcats and coyotes in this area, just give it up,'" Michael said in a telephone interview. But the father and son persevered in their search.

"You have to follow your gut and tune out the negative comments that are unproductive and useless," Michael said.

After searching all morning and afternoon on the third day after losing the dog, Michael set up a humane trap with chicken bait along the trail in the evening where they had hiked the Saturday before. He also decided to follow the advice of a rescue agency and leave his sweater in a little opening between some bushes, with the hope that the scent would draw the dog.

"I went to check on the trap and monitor the site again [the next morning], and there he was, lying on my sweater looking straight at me," Michael said. "I didn't want to scare him so I got on my knees, but he ran up and licked my face.

"Dogs like your smell, they're comfortable with that," he said, adding that the same rescue tactic had helped his friend find his dog a few months ago.

In spite of more than 35 tick bites, Rocky was physically healthy at the time of his rescue, Michael said. The dog is, however, now afraid to be by himself, especially in the dark.

"He's physically attached and won't leave your side," Tony said. "He's better, but I guess it's going to take some time for him to get back to normal, if he ever does. Three nights in this cold darkness is scary for anybody."

After hiking 55 miles in two and a half days, Michael said the experience has taught him to follow his instincts, and to "never give up and keep trying, no matter how bad a situation looks."

Following the publication of this article, this update was posted to the comments by Michael Alti on May 20, 2009 1:53 PM:

" Rocky's rescue was thanks to a large group effort: both on and off the trail. Above all, many thanks go to Hala Alti and my wonderful girlfriend Susan. Hala was actually the one who set up the humane trap and came up with the idea of leaving out our clothing. Hala followed her intuition and refused to give up. She was amazing during the ordeal. I greatly admire Hala's love of and devotion to animals. Susan was extremely dedicated and supportive. She joined my dad and me on our 11-mile hike in the dark that first night, stayed up 24 straight hours assisting the search, did not sleep, encouraged my family to remain positive, and missed spending Easter with her family. The readers should also know that Rocky has fully recovered and is 100% back to his normal loving and happy self! "

Source: http://www.malibutimes.com/articles/2009/05/20/news/news3.txt

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