Memorials:
 Nix
: 1998-2005
Handler: Nathan Field
Areas of Certification: USAR (Basic), LSAR (Area Search)
On the 29th of july 1998, I picked up a little barking fluff-ball from the
pound in Levin. It curled up on my partner’s lap and sat there for
the duration of the trip back to Wellington. Nix grew to almost 40Kg but
unfortunately never quite grew out of his fondness for sitting in my lap!
What do you say to someone who’s search dog has just died?
Donna and I have felt the tremendous sense of loss…but that feeling
has been lessened by the outpouring of love and kind thoughts from the
SAR community throughout New Zealand. I cannot thank each of you enough
for your kind wishes, emails and phone calls. I thought rather than make
this a sad tribute, I’d tell you a few of the funny things that
have happened along this fantastic journey I’ve taken with Nix.
One of the earliest notes in Nix’s training diary is “Nix
hasn’t peed inside for 3 days now!!!” Isn’t it funny
how far you come, yet how important each little step is?
On a SAREX in Levin we’d stopped to make a brew and catch our
breath. We could hear the comms team calling us but they couldn’t
hear us replying. Nix was roaming around in the dark in his shiny new
glow-collar. The next thing I heard was the Iroquois crew saying, “Levin
SAR base, no sign of team 2, but there’s a dog down there hooning
around with it’s headlights on!”
One of the assessors said to me during a LandSAR exam, “where’s
your dog?”. I replied. “See that tree way over there that’s
waving about? He’ll be right there sitting on the patient slobbering
in their face.” Sure enough… one wet-faced patient was soon
located. I do feel sorry for my patient’s that don’t actually
like the taste of Nix slobber!!
Speaking of patients, I had no idea how many poor souls I’d hidden
or buried so they could be sniffed, licked, slobbered on and barked at!
I’ve received something in the order of 50 emails, text messages
and phone calls. It makes me very proud to know he had such a positive
effect on so many people, most of whom would gladly get back in a hole
or under some rubble for Nix and I.
If you told me 7 years ago that I’d do half the things I have
with my dog, I’d never have believed you. He has taken me to both
ends of the country, into some of the most hideous terrain I never want
to see again, and to the doorstep of my beautiful wife! You see, Donna
met my dog before she met me. In fact she couldn’t even remember
me! Such is the impression he made on people (usually the wet licky,
slobbery, cold nose kind of impression). Were it not for going to a SAREX
in a swamp with my dog, I may never have met her.
Since that SAREX Nix and I have ridden in rescue boats, front end loaders,
helicopters, planes and virtually everything with four wheels. I had
an Iroquois pilot say to me at the last SAREX “Wow, I’ve
never seen a dog drag it’s handler into the aircraft before!” When
we winched out of choppers, Nix always felt it necessary to help keep
us up by spinning his tail furiously. Maybe he thought merely wagging
it wasn’t enough…
Nix was like that, you could never deny him a ride in something. The mere sound
of my car keys and he was in the back of the ute… thump thump thump of
his tail bashing into the side of it.
We used to take the search dogs to pet expos. One thing that never
ceased to amaze me was how Nix would put up with two straight days of
pats, cuddles, tail pulls and pokes and prods from endless children.
Okay, maybe the pats and cuddles weren’t such hard work! But he
was so incredibly gentle with children it amazed me that they would happily
cuddle up to this huge black thing.
When I first got Nix I was too scared to let him off leash in a park.
I’d never had a dog before and was terrified he wouldn’t
come back. He did come back, usually if I ran away from him… and
so began our SAR training without me even realising it. But Nix did wander
off when he was young. One fine Saturday morning I couldn’t find
him anywhere. I spent about half an hour calling and walking around the
street. Finally I wandered down to the end of the street to the rugby
fields at the school where we often walked. Imagine my embarrassment
at having to go on to the field and take the rugby ball off my puppy
and give it back to the referee!! To this day I have no idea how long
they’d been chasing him around trying to retrieve it.
He taught me all about making big obvious STUPID mistakes and how to
laugh about them. At the end of the day, you have to try not to lose
sight of what’s really important and his happy-go-lucky tail wagging
always brought me back to reality. He taught me about unconditional love
and trust. He has left a massive hole in my life and yet he also filled
it with so much joy.
And for those that have had to do a training session with my lad still
in the ute, you’ll appreciate how eerily quiet the ute is now.
I’ll miss the tail thumping against the canopy, the back end bouncing
up and down as he announces to the world that he’d like to be out
searching thank you very much!
 He
was my best friend, my team mate and my confidante. It was a hell of
a ride and I wouldn’t trade any of it.
Nix now lies in the sun in my front yard at the foot of a Kowhai tree surrounded
by wild daffodils, he finally has a fetch-it to keep after barking so hard
for it for seven years. I hope one day he will be able to watch my children
play around his tree, and I’ll sit in it’s shade and tell them
about him.
You’ll never be replaced nor far from my thoughts little fella.
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