Rescued black Labrador retriever pays it forward

[May 30, 2009]  WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) -- Blewett the black Labrador retriever knows what it's like to need a little help. For nearly a week last March, the lost dog barked for attention on Washington's Blewett Pass, capturing the hearts of dozens of travelers who fed him and tried unsuccessfully to catch him. After he was finally captured, Jay and Janie Smith of Plain, Wash., gave him a home.

Jay Smith said his wife were walking Blewett on a trail above the Wenatchee River on Monday when the dog started barking and raced down the steep bank to sniff an animal near the river's edge. Janie Smith thought it was a dead bear, but it was an old, arthritic black dog - and it was alive.

The dog's tags showed it to be Pepper, an 11-year-old dog lost since Saturday. Carol Hurt, who lives nearby, had been baby-sitting Pepper for the weekend. She thinks the old dog was swept away by the river while taking a drink. She calls the rescue "pretty heartwarming."

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Information from: The Wenatchee World, http://www.wenworld.com

[Associated Press]

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