Item of the Week: Ziva the Dog Survives the Flood

Jul 25

Jul 25 Item of the Week: Ziva the Dog Survives the Flood

A 120-pound Turkish Kangal shepherd named Ziva survived the July 4 Texas floods, but only after a harrowing 16 hours trapped in a gully. The big dog owes his life to his GPS collar, which his owner accessed – from hundreds of miles away – to lead to his rescue.

Erin Doguet, owner of a central Texas ranch with over 200 animals, had gone on vacation to Colorado the day before the floods hit. She’d left the animals in the care of a sitter and her sister while she was away.

“Ziva took off after a predator or possibly also spooked by the big storm, causing her to end up on the back section of the ranch, which is bordered by the Medina River,” Doguet tells People magazine. “As she crossed the river, the flood waters rose swiftly, trapping her.”

Doguet's sister and the pet sitter didn't know Ziva’s location but Doguet did, even though she was 1,500 miles away in Colorado. Ziva was wearing a Tractive GPS collar, so Doguet was able to relay his whereabouts to the animal sitters, who eventually reached the dog trapped in a flooded gully.

When Ziva’s rescuers reached the spot they still couldn't see the dog, as he was trapped behind brush and debris high up on the gully. Once again the collar proved invaluable, because the Tractive app could sound an alarm, which Doguet set off from Colorado. And there he was, 16 hours stuck alone and confused, but uninjured.

“I burst into tears knowing they found her alive! When the collar kept reporting her same location for hours on the river, I feared she was dead,” Doguet says. “Once home, she guzzled water and slept for the next 12 hours. She was physically unharmed.”

The Kangal shepherd, protector of flocks around the world, is believed to have the strongest bite of all breeds, with jaws that can clamp down at over 700 pounds per square inch. They are among the dogs protecting farms – and by extension, cheetahs – in Namibia.