That is Golden Zoe's nose that you see above in the word "nose". Three-year-old Zoe (2/08) is the newest family member. She is a hurricane Katrina survivor and is now a Pet Detective along with being certified in narcotics.

The photo here shows Moose giving some love. It was taken at Linford Elementary School in Laramie, WY.  Cathy was giving a presentation (with all three Goldens aboard) to the 2nd graders about search and rescue and how to stay safe if they ever become lost in the forest.

Missing person cases can often puzzle authorities, who may spend extended periods of time investigating evidence and following leads. In certain missing person cases, authorities will call on a Cadaver dog to assist them in locating the missing individual. Cadaver dogs are highly trained dogs with a nose for forensic evidence. A cadaver dog can detect hair, teeth, bone, flesh and a number of human scents even after years of tumultuous weathering elements.

For three-year-old cadaver dog Moose, a golden retriever, sniffing out what the human eye can’t see is not only a job, it’s a game he loves to play. Moose resides with owners Curt and Cathy Orde in Centennial and has been hard at detecting lost persons since he was a young pup. “We had talked about getting a dog for Search and Rescue because of where we live,” Cathy said. “I’ve been involved in Search and Rescue for years, and so has Curt.” After they got Moose, she began training him for Search and Rescue when he was three months old. “We train pretty much every day,” Cathy said. At one year old, Moose completed his training to become a certified avalanche dog. Shortly after, his owners began training him as a cadaver dog.

Moose recently completed an advanced two-week course in Pennsylvania on cadaver and forensics training. The training consisted of detecting drops of blood hidden in various places as well as detecting human scents that were buried, up in trees and under water.

In March of this year, Moose discovered a suicide victim in Vedauwoo. The individual’s abandoned vehicle had been discovered earlier in the year after which Curt, a law enforcement officer for the Forest Service, contacted authorities from the state the vehicle had come from. Authorities from that state then contacted the individual’s family. Curt later discovered that the person’s family members had not been contacted by the individual for an extended period of time.

Owner and trainer Cathy Orde encourages the inquisitive and highly intelligent Moose. She said Moose has been trained to lie down or bark when he locates the scent source. Cadaver dogs like Moose have been used to successfully locate buried bodies in known Civil War battlefields. Photo by Michael Smith, Boomerang Staff

On March 3, “We decided to go up there and do a hasty search to see if maybe he had been camping,” Cathy said. She added that in this case, the search was conducted by allowing the dog to search various areas in and around the area where the vehicle had bee found. According to Cathy, Moose picked up a scent 200 yards past the fee hut at the Vedauwoo entrance. Shortly after the search began, Moose located the frozen body of the victim almost completely covered with snow. “It took him 23 minutes from the time he picked up the scent to cover approximately a quarter of a mile through about 30 to 40 inches of snow over rocks and boulders to locate the victim,” Curt said. He added authorities estimated the victim committed suicide sometime in early January.

Moose is one of an estimated 25 Cadaver dogs in the United States. “Moose is the only one in Wyoming that we’re aware of,” Curt said.
Moose has traveled to South Dakota, Kentucky, Colorado and various other states to assist in missing person cases. Moose’s services are provided year round for anyone in need of them. To attain his services, contact the Forest Service law enforcement office at 745-2442.

Moose is certified to fly in airplanes and helicopters. He and Cathy are also members of Rescue International and the K-9 special deputies with the sheriff’s department for Search and Rescue and Search and Recovery. Services provided by Moose and all training efforts are attributed to the voluntary efforts of the Ordes. “It’s our contribution to the community,” Cathy said. “We average about 18 to 20 calls between the Forest Service and sheriff’s office every fall and winter,” Curt said. He added that in addition to locating cadavers, Moose’s services are often used to locate lost hunters or people lost or abandoned while operating a snowmobile.

Donations to assist Moose in his training and to help cover the costs of traveling are appreciated. Those interested in making donations can send them to P.O. Box 118, Centennial WY, 82055.

 

Finding the unknown
By David Watson, Laramie Boomerang Outdoors Writer, August 25, 2004

A dog’s sense of smell can be an essential tool for locating evidence in missing person cases, forensics, historical archeology, search and rescue and victim recovery.

But for a 4-year-old golden retriever named Moose, its just another day’s work.

Moose’s proud owners are Curt and Cathy Orde of Centennial and he has been in cadaver training since he was three months old. His special training still occurs daily for at least two hours and most of his assistance has been requested to help to find missing hunters and snowmobilers.

“Being a cadaver dog is a big thing to him — and he loves his work,” Cathy said.

Moose has already been trained and certified as a cadaver dog for search and rescue, avalanche and helicopter training. He is a certified level 2 cadaver dog, a K-9 special deputy with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office and even has his paw print on a volunteer application. Moose is also currently the only known cadaver dog in Wyoming.

This year Moose added to his special abilities after two recently completed courses.

On Aug. 12-16, Cathy, Curt and Moose traveled to Findley State Park in Ohio for an intensive four-day water training.

“We went out into the lake in a Zodiac boat and there were divers at about 20-feet below the surface,” Cathy said. “Moose would have to try and get a scent as we passed over them. Then when Moose thought he knew where the person was under the water, he would start barking. The person on the shore would radio to the diver to come up and the diver would release a tennis ball for a faster ascent.”

There were about 21 other search and rescue dogs also participating and Moose, which was one of the few cadaver dogs present, was correct 100 percent of the time.

“We also did cadaver training with a scent pump about 30-feet below the surface … He would find the scent every time,” Cathy said. “The instructors of K-9 Search Specialists (Andy Redman and Marshall Koenig) were really impressed with Moose.”

In late March, Moose also received special disaster training during a five-day course in Chico, Calif.

“We had to do building searches in the dark because in disasters, there is no power and you cannot see what you were going,” Cathy said. “So they were training the dogs and us to search with their noses. There was also a lot of heavy equipment around to simulate all the distractions that can be present at a disaster site — and Moose did excellent.”

This type of training is useful after earthquakes, tornadoes and floods when there is significant rubble hampering the efforts of first responders.

Although Moose has been called into action from a variety of federal agencies and law enforcement agencies in several states over the past couple of years, his disaster training could not have been conducted at a better time for the local authorities.

After a major pileup on Interstate 80 involving 36 vehicles, injuring 37 people, and four fatalities involving 10 separate crashes with a major debris field, Moose was called on the scene.

“After the accident occurred, the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security, and Colonel John Cox of the Wyoming Highway Patrol requested Moose’s assistance,” said Curt, who is a Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. “They knew they had victims, but they did not what or how many they had.”

Moose, Cathy and Curt responded during the first night after the accident, and Moose was invaluable in finding the location of three of the victims.

“The debris had a combination of diesel fuel, potatoes, spilled wine, burned fabric and burned metal,” Curt said. “Moose was able to locate through the surface debris and subsurface debris … with the semis, vehicles and debris stacked on top of one another. The victims were about six feet up and the scent was filtering back down through the pile. We told the sheriffs that something was in there, we just did not know where.”

When Moose finds a scent there is no mistaking that he is on to something. “He will start barking and then he will show me with his paw,” Cathy said. “If the scent is where he cannot touch it with his paw, he will come up to me, put his paw on my leg and look to the area where the scent was.”

In addition to several local search and rescue efforts, Moose is also on the register of Rescue International — and Curt and Cathy are always ready to pick up and go anywhere in the world or the nation on a moment’s notice. They also volunteer to do this using their own expenses.

“We want to give back to the community and to help families find missing loved ones or to help provide closure for the families of victims,” they both said. “Moose has about four to five good years of work left in him. Then when we get a new puppy, he can be a mentor, and we can start a new training program so that we have a dog to replace Moose when he goes into retirement.”

For people wishing to donate to help compensate Moose’s travels and future training, contact Curt and Cathy Orde at P.O. Box 118, Centennial, WY, 82055.
 

Moose—Physical and Forensic Evidence Location 1998 Cold Homicide Case Solved
By Cathy Orde, 2006

In 2006, Moose was instrumental in assisting with solving a 1998 unreported homicide. From the forensic evidence Moose located at a residence, detectives were able to obtain confessions from both suspects.

Both suspects have been convicted of homicide, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit homicide. One suspect is currently in prison and the second suspect is awaiting sentencing for his crimes.

Moose was an invaluable investigation asset with bringing this case to conclusion and obtaining the convictions.

Rescue retriever
By Aaron LeClair, Laramie Boomerang Staff Writer, February 11, 2007

If dogs could talk, Moose probably would have said Tuesday was one of the best days of his life. A cadaver and search-and-rescue dog, Moose was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by officials from the United States Police Canine Association (USPCA) at the county commissioners meeting on Tuesday. The yellow golden retriever was accompanied by his handlers, Cathy and Curt Orde.

But while plaques look good on the wall, accolades are not the reason Moose searches for missing people. Recognition is not the reason why Moose, who is originally from Kansas, has spent countless hours training to become certified in wilderness tracking/trailing, advanced urban tracking, avalanche search and recovery and water detection and recovery. Fame is not the reason he became an official scout dog for the United States Marshall Service (USMS), a K-9 first responder for mass disaster or a special deputy with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office.

Instead, it’s both a love of the chase and being a natural tracker that excite Moose when on assignment. “He was a natural tracker is what it boils down to,” Curt Orde, Moose’s support handler, said. “He showed the disposition, the temperament and the drive to do tracking and trailing. He’s probably the smartest dog I’ve ever worked with in my life.”

Beginning when he was only 8 months old, Moose’s talent for finding people has made him a vital component of search-and-rescue missions. Cathy Orde said they have worked on more than 100 cases for state and federal law enforcement agencies throughout Wyoming, northern Colorado and South Dakota.

Moose’s list of accomplishments are too long to list in one news article. He has worked cases involving suicides, homicides, drownings, evidence location and mass disasters like the Wright tornado of 2005. Last spring, Moose guided investigators to evidence that has led to a confession in a cold homicide case, Cathy Orde said. “The homicide happened in ’98 and Moose was able to help,” she said. And last June, Moose found the body of a drowning victim in 40 feet of water at the North Crow Reservoir.

Whether he is searching for people in snow, dirt or water, Moose takes his job seriously. “When he works he’s down to business,” Cathy Orde said.

Nevertheless, when Moose is not working, he finds time to have fun. He’s always smiling, and he likes to play with water bottles, his handlers say. “He’s just a happy-go-lucky guy,” Cathy Orde said. “After he’s finished with his work, if you put a lampshade on him he’d be dancing on the table,” added Curt Orde. “He’s just a big, loveable dog.”

Golden Fur Ball
Going from one case to the next, the Ordes have spent thousands of dollars of their own money driving Moose across the region. “In the past three years we’ve been averaging over $6,000 a year,” Curt Orde said. That’s not counting the $2,500 bill the Ordes had to pay for surgery following a vicious fight Moose had with another dog during a search mission. The costs of Moose’s training and upkeep are compounded by the fact that he is part of a team — Cold Nose Investigators — that includes his sister, Josephine, and Zoe, a 2-year-old golden retriever.

Josephine is a therapy dog. She takes part in after-school reading programs and visits hospitals and hospices throughout Albany County. Zoe, meanwhile, is training to become a search-and-rescue dog like her mentor, Moose.

Because of how much it costs to train the dogs and take Moose on cadaver and search-and-rescue missions, a group of Centennial residents is organizing a benefit on March 31. Called the Golden Fur Ball in honor of the three golden retrievers, the benefit will be at the Snowy Range Mountain Lodge 31 miles west of Laramie. “These guys do so much for not only Centennial, but the entire state of Wyoming and northern Colorado,” event publicist Nancy Taft said. “This is a service that we all benefit from.”

In addition to dinner and music, North Ridge Liquors will host a wine tasting. There also will be raffles for items that have been donated by Laramie and Centennial merchants, Taft said. The money raised will go toward purchasing a snow coach (a small, enclosed trailer that hitches onto a snow machine) and a Zodiac boat for Moose and Zoe. Tickets, which will cost $25, will go on sale by Feb. 20. “They will be available at several local business,” Taft said. “They will also be available on the Internet (through) PayPal.”

For more information or locations to purchase tickets, visit www.centenniallibrary.net and click on the “Community Calendar” link.

Rescue dog attacked on mission
By Karla Pomeroy, Boomerang Staff Writer, February 13, 2007

(Editor's note: The story about Moose in the Sunday edition of the Laramie Boomerang said that the owners, Curt and Cathy Orde spent approximately $2,500 in veterinarian care following a fight that Moose was involved in. Moose was attacked by a dog that was running loose in a restricted area.)

In the early fall of 2004, Curt and Cathy Orde had their search and rescue/cadaver golden retriever, Moose, on a mission in search of a Centennial resident when the mission changed to rescuing the dog.

Cathy Orde said after conducting a search, they returned to incident command when an unauthorized dog was let loose and immediately attacked Moose, pinning him down on his back and getting a death grip on his neck. Orde said she grabbed the other dog's mouth to try and pull it away from Moose's neck, or to at least loosen the grip. She said Lee Jacobs, Centennial resident, "body-slammed" the other dog away from Moose.

The Orde's are "eternally grateful to Jacobs for saving Moose's life."
Orde said while Moose was attempting to save someone's life, his life was put in jeopardy.

Moose was rushed to a Cheyenne veterinarian where he was treated for puncture wounds on his neck and swelling of the esophagus. She said while the physical wounds healed, the Ordes also had to treat Moose's emotional wounds as he was nervous around other dogs after the incident. She said Dr. Vicki Burton, who practices holistic medicine, treated Moose and he was able to make a full recovery.

Physically, she said, about six months after the incident, Moose had to have a lump removed from his neck by a specialist in Colorado. The lump was from scar tissue created by the attack, Orde said.

The person that Moose had been searching for eventually walked out of the forest on his own, Orde said.

Moose—Wilderness and Advanced Urban Tracking
Toddler is found alive by K-9 Moose!
By Cathy Orde, 2007 

In July 2007, Moose performed an outstanding track and undoubtedly saved the life of a two year old toddler who wandered away from his parents trailer in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range in WY. The toddler had been missing for 4½ hours when Cathy and Moose arrived at the scene. Moose was placed in his tracking harness and his lead attached.

Moose picked up on the family's anxiety and his body language said "Let's get going!" Darkness was fast approaching with the temperature dropping. 

Cathy and Moose were provided an article with the toddlers scent and started searching near the trailer. Moose picked up the toddlers scent immediately and tracked him through the forest, down and across ridges and a small stream.

Moose started pulling extremely hard wanting to go further down the ridge. His lead was unhooked and Moose continued running down the ridge another 50 yards, disappearing into the trees. At this point, Cathy and Moose had tracked one mile, covering the distance in 35 minutes.

Moose ran back to Cathy and dropped a camouflage baseball cap at her feet. Cathy then asked Moose to "show her". Moose took Cathy back to the area where the toddler was sitting next to juniper bushes. Cathy did a quick physical assessment on the toddler making sure he wasn't injured. She picked up the toddler, hugged him and told him she was taking him back to his mommy; the toddler hugged her tightly and put his head on her shoulder. Moose was bouncing up and down as they walked out of the woods towards the head lights of the waiting ATV's and the boy's mom. What an AWESOME rescue!

FAIR USE NOTICE
These articles contain copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to provide background knowledge on areas related to canine cancer. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for educational purposes.