ohmidog!

A Lab mix rescued from a mountain pass in Washington two months ago helped rescue another stray stranded near the same spot.

Blewett was rescued — in the true meaning of the word — back in March from Blewett Pass, where he was spotted huddling in the snow.

Several attempts to catch him had failed. The dog would take food, but wouldn’t allow anyone to put a leash around his neck. Backcountry skiers, snowmobile riders, snowplow drivers and U.S. Forest Service employees fed the dog and kept an eye on him until a Wenatchee Valley Humane Society animal control officer teamed up with a snowmobiler, an animal rescuer and a snowplow driver March 10 to capture the dog. Humane Society employees named the dog Blewett.

An article about the rescue effort appeared in The Wenatchee World and was seen by Jay Smith and his wife, Janie, who had lost their black lab the month before. When they saw the picture of Blewett in the paper — and how much he resembled their deceased dog –  Smith went to the shelter and adopted him.

Which brings us back to this week, when the Smiths were walking Blewett on a trail high above the Wenatchee River. Blewett started barking, and raced down the steep bank to find another animal close to the river’s edge.

Smith went home and called the fire department, and rescuers using ropes lowered themselves down to the river. Blewett  ran down and stayed with the dog until the rescuers arrived, the Wenatchee World reported. The dog was weak, old and arthritic, but otherwise uninjured.

As it turned out, the dog had been staying with one of the Smith’s neighbors, Carol Hurt, to whom he was returned.

“The whole thing is a miracle,” said Hurt. The 11-year-old dog, named Pepper, belonged to her visiting daughter and had been lost since Saturday. “One big black lost dog found the other big black lost dog. It’s pretty heartwarming.”

(Photo: Blewett, after his March rescue; Wenatchee World)