Ajay is a male Shih Tzu. He sadly became lost in December 2023, during a particularly dangerous time; the temperatures at the time were dropping to -8°C at night as we were in a cold spell.
His owners got in touch promptly with the North K9 Lost Dog Tracking team in West Yorkshire. Ajay was classed as extremely vulnerable, and as an emergency active search. LDT dogs Jenga (with handler Jemma) and Mavis (with handler Claire) co-ordinated on the search.
Jenga worked first and indicated a strong track. After following Ajay’s trail for a time, Jenga began to attempt to follow the track over a wall into a field. This was an inaccessible for the humans, so Jemma and Claire moved further down to access. The field turned out to be full of quite lively cows, but the tracking team was confident Ajay was in the immediate vicinity due to Jenga’s clear tracking and indication.
Jenga was removed from the area so that her presence didn’t disturb Ajay or disrupt the livestock, and his owner headed into the field. Once Ajay heard his mum calling, the team could hear whimpered but there was no sighting. After some searching on foot, Ajay was found unable to move; he had sheltered under some long grass which had frozen, and the coat he was wearing had gotten wet and then frozen on him.
Ajay was extremely cold and becoming hypothermic. Thankfully both our LDTN handlers are trained for canine first aid, and Jemma and Claire were able to give some on the spot emergency aid before Ajay and his owners safely headed to the vet. Ajay made a full recovery with no long term consequences.
Jenga did a fantastic job helping to locate Ajay, and we were so pleased to be able to reunite Ajay with his owners!
