It is amazing that the dog knew where to go, to the campsite where the friend was waiting. The article said they had camped there before. But I would have thought that the dog would instinctively try to get to its home. And how animals find their way in situations like this is something I guess we still donât understand well.
And that the friend figured out why the dog was there alone, no Brandon, no truck. I guess an accident is something people have on their minds as a possiblity in that terrain.
Quite a story. I hope the human and dogs all recover ok.
I wish there were pictures of the dog.
I doesnât say where home was, it could be quite a distance away. Iâm wondering if this was a regular trip he had taken the dog on several times before so the dog knew where they were going and was friends with other people at the camp. I know when I take trailer my horse to a trailhead she will orient to the trailer, not home if I get lost.
Thank you!!!
True enough, loose horses at an off-site area do tend to head for the trailer, or to overnight stabling if it is on site.
But the horses know the way back, because they traveled it themselves to go out. If that makes sense.
Itâs well-documented that dogs and cats, probably other species as well, can find their way to âknownâ and even unknown destinations they have never traveled to on their own feet. Sometimes over much greater distances than this whippet. I donât know if weâll ever figure out how they do that.
This dog could have huddled with its owner. Itâs amazing that it went onward to the campsite. And it was so fortunate that the friend correctly understood what it meant that the dog arrived on itâs own. In the same situation, I think I would have understood that some misadventure had delayed my friend and separated the dog from him, but Iâm not sure I would ever have guessed that the dog came from as far away as it did.
Wow. That GSD is amazing. The Lassie effect is real.
One time my black lab âdid a Lassieâ. He woke me up in the middle of a cold winterâs night, which he never, ever did. Just from his posture and intensity, I knew his message was âYOU HAVE TO COME, RIGHT NOWâ. I climbed groggily out of bed and followed him to the front door where my dementia-addled 90+ yo father was trying to open the front door and âleaveâ. The next day I had Simply Safe alarms put on all of the exterior doors.
Incredibly story! Remarkable on the part of the dog.
My first Whippet was also named Blue - we got him at 9 months and he immediately bonded to me (was fond of but didnât âloveâ my DH and my DD - to the great dismay of my 8 year old at the time daughter.) Our subsequent two Whippets were puppies when we got them.
Not a breed that is generally âhardyâ in cold and wet conditions - and IMO it would be highly unusual for them to go find help (GSDs they are not! 
), but my third Whippet is wicked smart and I can possibly see her doing this; sheâs a thinker and a problem solver. Not so much the other two, though they both did obedience and dog sports and had their CGCs, did Pets on Wheels, etc. Very sweet, gentle dogs - our youngest (smartest) is a bit more neurotic and is also more selective in terms of who she likes.
That said, the photo of this dog makes me wonder: He doesnât look like a pure Whippet - too thick and the head is not refined enough - maybe a mix? Regardless, what a good boy
I wondered about that, but if itâs a dog 6 or more years old, would the streamlined whippet body not be so streamlined any more? I donât know the whippet breed.
Oh wow. Your beautiful dog looks like an Egyptian sculpture! 
Thank you! Yes, they are like âliving sculptureâ around the house
The middle two are not mine - but you can see how refined they are. Iâm going to see if I can find a picture of me with her at a show, then you can see a few other whippets.
I read somewhere that holding a greyhound or a whippet is like having a lapful of triangles. Is that true? She looks lovely and flexible!
Thatâs very true, especially my youngest whippet who is on the lean side â but all of them have âpokey sticksâ instead of legs!
They do have the capacity to be âsoft and floppyâ, but not when picking them up â only when they are reclining on the couch cushions, which is their favorite place to be.
Perhaps his Whippet was âbackyard bredâ. My Great Dane was, and though his breeders were nice people who took good care of their animals, he was a very heavy, thick boned dog. He didnât look like the Danes you see in the show ring.
Well, maybe, but purebred whippets are fairly rare as a breed â and there are very few âbackyard breedersâ of whippets â at least in this country!
Pretty much all the Whippet breeders breed for show or sport â and all Whippet lines are athletic, refined dogs, though there are of course, a few outliers/individuals who are a little thicker. Still, nothing like the dog in the article.
Iâm thinking he might be a Lurcher? Sometimes people will cross whippets with other breeds like collies or herding dogs, so maybe this is a whippet cross.
