Ole the Welsh corgi looks like he’d fit right in at Buckingham Palace, on Queen Elizabeth II’s lap. But the foot-high Montana pooch has proven he’s got the survival instincts of a Saint Bernard.
And then some.
After his owner was killed in a snow avalanche on New Year’s Eve, Ole (pronounced “Ohl”), somehow found his way back to the motel where they had been staying, 3 or 4 miles away, in freezing temperatures and across steep terrain that included at least two rivers.
It took him four days.
“It’s a miracle, there’s nothing else,” said Robert Weinstein, 29, the manager of the Alpine Motel in Cooke City, Mont.
Weinstein found the dog on Wednesday in front of the door to the motel room where Dave Gaillard had been staying before setting out on the fateful back-country ski adventure.
“They make movies out of stuff like this,” he told The Daily.
On New Year’s Day, rescuers recovered the body of Gaillard, 44, a wildlife conservationist from Bozeman. He had been skiing at an elevation of 9,200 feet with his wife, Kerry, and their dog when he realized an avalanche was about to descend.
Gaillard was asphyxiated under 3 feet of snow. His wife managed to grab hold of a tree and survived without injuries.
Later that night she told Weinstein that Ole had perished along with her husband.
“She said, ‘No, (the dog is) gone, too. It got buried,’ ” Weinstein said.
When Ole made it back to the motel days later, Weinstein couldn’t believe his eyes. He recognized the dog with stubby legs because days earlier, when the couple checked in, he had to tell them about the motel’s pet policies. Gaillard had read the policies out loud to the dog, saying things like, “You can’t sit on the furniture, do you agree with that?”
“I’ve never had somebody do that with their dog,” he said. “(Gaillard) must have had a special connection with the dog.”
Gaillard’s 11-year-old daughter, Marguerite, had been pasting photos of Ole on poster board for a memorial on Wednesday afternoon when word came that the dog had survived. A member of the rescue team that searched for Gaillard drove Ole to the family in Bozeman, about three hours away.
The whole family is marveling at the pluckiness of the dog, a family member told The Daily.
“It’s just absolutely amazing that the dog survived and showed up at the door,” said John Daggett. “It’s the one little glimmer of hope in the whole thing.”
It’s unclear whether Ole was buried in the avalanche and survived by breathing through an air pocket, or whether the small dog escaped in the nick of time.
Weinstein favors the superdog theory.
He thinks Ole was trapped under the snow for several days because Kerry Gaillard was on the scene searching for her husband for a few hours after the avalanche. If Ole had jumped out of the avalanche’s way, he probably would have found his way to her, Weinstein reasoned.
“He’s a spunky little bugger,” said local Park County Sheriff Allan Lutes. “For a corgi, a short little thing, to swim out of that, it’s amazing. Nobody knows (how he did it), ’cause he’s not going to talk.”
Karen.Keller@thedaily.com
And then some.
After his owner was killed in a snow avalanche on New Year’s Eve, Ole (pronounced “Ohl”), somehow found his way back to the motel where they had been staying, 3 or 4 miles away, in freezing temperatures and across steep terrain that included at least two rivers.
It took him four days.
“It’s a miracle, there’s nothing else,” said Robert Weinstein, 29, the manager of the Alpine Motel in Cooke City, Mont.
Weinstein found the dog on Wednesday in front of the door to the motel room where Dave Gaillard had been staying before setting out on the fateful back-country ski adventure.
“They make movies out of stuff like this,” he told The Daily.
On New Year’s Day, rescuers recovered the body of Gaillard, 44, a wildlife conservationist from Bozeman. He had been skiing at an elevation of 9,200 feet with his wife, Kerry, and their dog when he realized an avalanche was about to descend.
Gaillard was asphyxiated under 3 feet of snow. His wife managed to grab hold of a tree and survived without injuries.
Later that night she told Weinstein that Ole had perished along with her husband.
“She said, ‘No, (the dog is) gone, too. It got buried,’ ” Weinstein said.
When Ole made it back to the motel days later, Weinstein couldn’t believe his eyes. He recognized the dog with stubby legs because days earlier, when the couple checked in, he had to tell them about the motel’s pet policies. Gaillard had read the policies out loud to the dog, saying things like, “You can’t sit on the furniture, do you agree with that?”
“I’ve never had somebody do that with their dog,” he said. “(Gaillard) must have had a special connection with the dog.”
Gaillard’s 11-year-old daughter, Marguerite, had been pasting photos of Ole on poster board for a memorial on Wednesday afternoon when word came that the dog had survived. A member of the rescue team that searched for Gaillard drove Ole to the family in Bozeman, about three hours away.
The whole family is marveling at the pluckiness of the dog, a family member told The Daily.
“It’s just absolutely amazing that the dog survived and showed up at the door,” said John Daggett. “It’s the one little glimmer of hope in the whole thing.”
It’s unclear whether Ole was buried in the avalanche and survived by breathing through an air pocket, or whether the small dog escaped in the nick of time.
Weinstein favors the superdog theory.
He thinks Ole was trapped under the snow for several days because Kerry Gaillard was on the scene searching for her husband for a few hours after the avalanche. If Ole had jumped out of the avalanche’s way, he probably would have found his way to her, Weinstein reasoned.
“He’s a spunky little bugger,” said local Park County Sheriff Allan Lutes. “For a corgi, a short little thing, to swim out of that, it’s amazing. Nobody knows (how he did it), ’cause he’s not going to talk.”
Karen.Keller@thedaily.com
PHOTO: Facebook
Avalanche victim Dave Gaillard.
