Dog saved from certain death pays it forward

PLAIN, Chelan County — Blewett, a dog rescued in March at Blewett Pass, has become a rescue dog.

Dozens of people tried to rescue the black Lab this winter after he was seen huddling in the snow at the top of Blewett Pass for a week. Wary of strangers, the dog accepted food and was finally captured and adopted into a home. Jay and Janie Smith of Plain adopted Blewett from the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society animal shelter in March.

Monday, Blewett returned the favor and helped rescue another imperiled black Lab.

Jay Smith said his wife was walking Blewett on a trail high above the Wenatchee River when Blewett started barking and raced down the steep bank to sniff out another animal close to the river's edge.

"My wife thought it was a dead bear," Jay Smith said. Janie Smith called Blewett back up and they went home so she could get a pair of binoculars. With the binoculars, she could see it was a large black dog, and it was alive.

Jay Smith called Chelan County Fire District 9 and returned with a firefighter and a friend to try to reach the dog, using ropes to climb down to the river.

Blewett again ran down and stayed with the dog while the dog was rescued Monday evening. The dog was weak, old and arthritic, but otherwise uninjured. Information on his red collar led to a Plain neighbor, Carol Hurt.

"The whole thing is a miracle," said Hurt, who explained the 11-year-old dog, Pepper, had been lost since May 23. "One big, black, lost dog found the other big, black, lost dog. It's pretty heartwarming."

Pepper belongs to Hurt's daughter, Susan Cox of Wenatchee, but was staying with Hurt over the weekend when he went missing. Cox and her husband, Mike, searched for Pepper, but had no luck. They now believe the dog was swept away by the river while taking a drink about a half-mile from Hurt's house.

Monday night, Cox told the story to her best friend, Tracy Peterson, a second-grade teacher at Newbery Elementary School. Peterson relayed the story to her class and had them write an account of Blewett's rescue of Pepper. Students depicted Blewett as a wonder dog who would bark and bark until his lungs were empty to get help. Peterson plans to compile the stories into a book to give to Cox.

"We're happy beyond belief," Cox said about the return of her dog. "And that Blewett, he's quite the hero."