Rewilding Scout: Take Your Kids to Work Day

Welcome to my new blog series about Rewilding “Scout,” a young Maltese on the path to rediscovering his wild side. I’ll publish posts occasionally so you can join me in watching him wander and grow!

Scout came to us 14 months ago from a relative who could no longer keep him. How hard could it be to find the right home for a white ball of fluff? Robert and I figured we’d foster him until he got his paws on the ground.

A week later, Scout had a grand mal seizure…and then another…and another. Blood work. MRI. Epilepsy drugs 3x a day. Fast forward to this morning and we were packing up our white ball of fluff for a 6-mile snowshoe. Seizure-free for a year and almost weaned off medication. He’s our second dog, both rescues. Love finds a way.

Scout’s mentor, Alder, is our 11-year-old husky mix from Eastern Washington. We’ve had him since he was a puppy and he was born wild. Literally, under a shed, or so the story goes.

When we first brought Alder backpacking, he barked at every shadow in the forest; what in dog’s name are we doing out here?! He’s been our field companion ever since and he knows how to move mountains for me. Scout couldn’t have asked for a better big brother.

Today we needed to check in on a camera station in the mountains, deployed by Robert and me last summer. We knew the weather would be mild—temps in the 30s—and the snowy terrain would be relatively flat, save a few ups and downs. I borrowed a sled from friends with (human) children and did a trial run in our yard yesterday…minus the snow. (Note that you can enlarge videos by clicking on the broken-square icon in the bottom righthand corner of the image box.)

How was Scout’s winter field work debut? See for yourself below.