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Pair of wayward puppies<br>survive Canyon adventure

A pair of floppy-eared puppies nicknamed "Soap" and "Salt" have gone through the ultimate Grand Canyon adventure in the past week.

Ranger Lori Rome spends a few minutes with Soap and Salt before the puppies were airlifted out of the Canyon. (Photo courtesy of NPS Helitack)

After a two-mile inner Canyon hike and a wild ride through Colorado River rapids, the puppies ended up at Phantom Ranch. Despite breaking the rules of no puppies below the rim, the National Park Service says they will not be cited.

"They are so cute ... when they sleep, they have to be touching. They totally need each other," park ranger Lori Rome said in a phone interview from Phantom Ranch. "We’ll take them up ... and we’re hoping someone would adopt the two of them together."

Rome estimated the age of the puppies at about 3 months. There’s Salt, the white, six-pound hyperactive pup that resembles a heeler. Then there’s Soap, a black, eight-pound shepherd mix who’s definitely more laid back. Although the mules don’t think much of them, both pups entertained Phantom Ranch visitors last week with their floppy ears and cute looks.

Just how did the two puppies end up at the bottom of the Grand Canyon? It involves an exciting adventure most humans never experience.

Salt and Soap first encountered a National Park Service backcountry crew on March 14. The dogs followed the crew of three down a two-mile trail in Marble Canyon. They were not scooped up at the time because they were still outside the park boundary.

"The puppies wouldn’t leave and spent the night with them," Rome said. "The next morning, another backcountry patrol hiked out with them."

Kirstin Heins, backcountry ranger, told Rome that the pups "knew what they were doing" on the trail. "They knew the route, they’d been up and down the trail before," Rome said.

The puppies eventually made their way down to the Saltwater Wash-Soap Creek area, located at river mile 11. A private river trip came along and discovered the pair.

"They said, oh, look at the little babies, abandoned with no collars, no tags, no straps," Rome said. "So they scooped them up and put them on a raft, thinking they had better get them out of here."

So the pups began the long trek downstream toward Phantom Ranch. And it wasn’t exactly a smoothwater adventure.

"These dogs rafted from Salt Water Wash to Phantom Ranch, 75 miles without a permit," Rome joked, adding they would not be ticketed.

The most exciting moments came in a stretch of Class 9 rapids when the raft flipped over.

"The puppies fell in and while swimming the rapids, they had to grab the puppies and get the boat upright," Rome said of the private river runners. "Then they had to pump water out with a puppy in one hand and pump in the other."

The pups arrived at Phantom Ranch this past Wednesday. That’s when Rome and the other staff learned of the unique ordeal. The dogs were then stuck over the following days.

"People should understand, this is unusual," Rome said. "Nobody’s ever brought us puppies."

The NPS urges people to not take dogs below the rim. Besides being against the law, such an action could be fatal to dogs.

"The little black one has been overheating already," Rome said. "We have it in a little mister and we’re keeping it inside. They would just die out there. We walk up to the ranch and back and they just poop out. It’s so hot."

Phantom Ranch’s visitors have been enjoying the dogs, but Rome said they bark when the mules go by. Mules have been known to become jittery over the smallest things.

"We have to be honest with the public. We show them the dogs and it gives us an opportunity to tell people why they can’t take pets into the Canyon," Rome said.

Rangers wrestled over the question of how to get the puppies out of the Canyon, considering rides with mules or outgoing visitors.

On Saturday morning, the pups caught a ride with a NPS helicopter that went to Phantom to deliver water.

The dogs went home with a local ranger and has been staying with that family. They would like to see the dogs stay together.


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