The Signal Her Dog Had Been Giving All Along

When Kara Mullins began training as a search-and-rescue volunteer in the Cascades of Washington State, her biggest challenge was not the terrain or the cold — it was learning to read her dog. Her yellow Lab, Boone, would pause mid-trail, nose lifted, ears forward, then circle back to her with an intensity she mistook for restlessness. Twice during a training exercise in the Mount Baker wilderness, Boone stopped and pressed his muzzle against her hand.…