An even deeper respect for dogs

Today Mercy did an inside and an outside track for Chris. Outside it was blowing hard and fiercely cold, the ground coated with snow. It was my first time holding her leash and I don't know why, but it is even more amazing when you feel their 'energy' on the line. I also went with two other families later and observed their dogs tracking, they were all beyond amazing. Here we were out in the wide open this morning, the children could have been anywhere and in a matter of minutes these dogs zeroed in on them. It is like a miracle. We tracked in the mall later in the day and even in a store with all different kinds of smells, Mercy found Chris every time!
The part that really hit home to me was how helpless a parent could feel if there child was lost out in the open, in conditions such as what we had today. During the search today, I had no idea where they were hiding, and it looked so hopeless at one point. the dog would go up dirt piles and behind rocks to no avail. It seemed like we would never find them, then on the last dirt mound she ran over we heard the shouts of 'Good Girl, Good Girl' and knew that she had found her child. It was great. We found out that the parent and child had chosen several different spots, which was why the dog had gone to those very dirt piles. Wow.
These dogs are priceless.