Dog Survives Owner

“Thanks to thefranzman on the Missouri Trails group for posting this....

The story in the paper

Prized Lab found long after owner given up for dead
'He was swimming so fast there was a wake coming off of him,' rescuer says


By DOUG O'HARRA
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: February 25, 2004)

Brick on Tuesday

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Click on photo to enlarge
A Labrador retriever missing since its owner's boat sank in 6-foot seas northwest of Prince of Wales Island in late January has been found alive on an isolated cove several miles from the accident.

Two men fishing for winter-schooling salmon recognized the dog on the shore of rugged Hecata Island on Thursday night.

The black dog swam to their boat when called by name and was hauled aboard -- skinny, with a hurt leg, fur matted with tree sap, but alive and wiggling with joy, according to friends of the fishermen.

The discovery of 8-year-old Brick last week sent a shock through the close-knit Southeast Alaska rain forest community of mariners and loggers, who had given up hope of recovering their neighbor and friend, 48-year-old Greg Clark.

"I was blown away," said John Pugh, speaking by cell phone from Prince of Wales Island, with Brick at his side, on Tuesday afternoon.

The dog -- a powerfully built black Lab with a curly cue tail, gray muzzle and white patch on his chest -- seemed sad but was starting to rebound, Pugh said. "He's hungry as hell and a little skinny, but he's doing all right."

"Isn't this wonderful!" added Myra Pugh, John's wife. Clark "was a phenomenal gentleman, and it warmed my heart to think he was with his best friend, Brick. But Brick made it! It was very emotional to know that Brick survived."

Clark, a longtime beach logger who lived alone with five or six adult Labs and their pups, was lost on Jan. 22 after his 32-foot boat Katrina broke apart on rocks near Cape Lynch of Hecata Island. Clark had been making a supply run into Craig from his home on Kosciusko Island when he radioed his boat had lost power.

With him was Brick, his constant companion, and a 2-month-old puppy Clark had planned to deliver to new owners in town.

A three-day search by local residents and Coast Guard crews found a rolled-up survival suit, part of the Katrina's stern and other debris, but no sign of Clark or his beloved dogs.

Over the past month, people had resigned themselves that Clark and his dogs were gone, Pugh said. The animals left at home were adopted by Clark's brother in Oregon and friends in Alaska.

On Thursday, Kevin Dau -- a partner with Pugh in the oyster operation -- was fishing for winter kings with his father, Dick, off the northwestern coast of Hecata near the accident site. When the two men motored into Port Alice to anchor for the night, Dau spied a black animal on the beach.

"His father said, 'That's a wolf.' But Kevin said, 'No, that's Brick,' " Pugh said. "And he got out on the bow and started calling, 'Brick! Brick!'

"And then (the dog) looked up and started swimming right out to the boat. Kevin said he was swimming so fast there was a wake coming off of him."

When Dau brought Brick to the oyster site the next day, Pugh said, "I didn't speak for about 20 minutes. I couldn't."

That Brick had survived a month alone on the thick, jungly island during harsh winter weather has amazed and moved local people, Pugh said.

"It's such a rural area, your friends are really your family out here, and Greg was family to all of us," he said. "Losing him, it's hard to explain to people how we really felt. He was such a unique person. It's hard to explain when you're having to search for him and you don't know what you're going to find. ... Then, after a month, to find Brick -- it brings back a whole slew of feelings."

Locals had given up the search after three days partly because there was no sign of the big Lab on any of the beaches, Pugh said. But had they given up too soon?

"I have a lot of tough feelings about this," he said.

Now people have begun taking another look at the shore, hoping perhaps that they might recover Clark's remains, said Michael Wilks, speaking from Clark's home at Cape Pole.

"It has brightened everything right up," Wilks said. "My opinion is that Brick would stay with Greg as long as he could, if Greg made it to shore. ... Our hope is, if we can nurse Brick back to health, maybe he'll lead us to where Greg was."

Edna Bay fisherman Steve Hendershot, who adopted another Clark Lab named Dude, was looking over beaches on Tuesday, Wilks said. "He's been kayaking around there picking up different stuff from the boat and checking the shore and seeing if there's any sign."

The Coast Guard would not reactivate its search, said Chief Petty Officer Marsha Delaney. But Alaska State Troopers will help recover any remains if found, said spokesman Greg Wilkinson.

Clark, who friends called a "self-made professor" of the sea, had lived for years in a cabin at Cape Pole, where he bred his own line of Labradors. Brick is ornery and smart, the alpha male of Clark's Labrador family, Pugh said. Dozens of dogs owned by local residents had been sired by Brick, too. "There's probably about 50 of them out there," Pugh said.

Pugh said he doesn't know whether Brick will stay at the oyster farm or move back to Cape Pole. But the big black Lab will be welcome.

"It's more than an honor," he said. "I feel like it's a message from Greg -- saying who knows what, I haven't quite figured it out. But it is a miracle, that's for sure."

Daily News reporter Doug O'Harra can be reached at do'harra@adn.com.”

“I just read this in the morning paper”

“Unbelievable!”

“it is a sad story with a tail waggin happy ending.”

“I want a doggie!”

“Great looking dog.

When I backpack with my dog alone, I always wonder if the dog would stay with me if I was hurt or if she would eventually take off. It nice to know that they can survive.”

“I am not usually much of an animal fan but Brick is a beautiful dog--no wonder everyone wants one just like him. I hope that if and when they find Clark they don't think he survived and suffered because they gave up looking--that would be hard to live with.”

“Wow!”

“i read about that this morning,... what an awesome ending to a tragic story...”