(This article first appeared in the October print edition of the Hendersonian.)
You may have heard about the dog who was living by himself on a Henderson beach for months this past summer.
A German Shepherd now named Driftwood River Banks, he survived for months on his own on Henderson’s Horseshoe Bend. Now he’s at the Humane Society getting ready for his next stop in life.
The story began on Aug. 3 when Stacey McCord-Crooks, the president of the Henderson Humane Society, got a call about a dog living on the isolated land and quickly reached out to Henderson County Animal Control Officer John Moore, who that evening drove to Horseshoe Bend to the end of the public road, where a fence stops any farther travel, and called out in search of the dog. He got no response. The next day he returned but had the same results.
On Monday, Aug. 5, McCord-Crooks, Moore and fellow officer Jake Ashby hitched a ride on the Henderson City-County Rescue Squad boat and motored to the beach.
There they immediately spotted Driftwood (though he wasn’t named that yet) but the dog stayed away. They set up a trap and put chicken strips inside it and got back in the boat, pushing away from shore to give the dog space. After circling the trap 10 times, according to McCord-Crooks, the dog went inside.
Officers quickly returned to the beach and retrieved him from the trap. When he came on the boat, he went to each person there and gave them a kiss, according to McCord-Crooks.
“He was very sweet, very grateful,” said McCord-Crooks.
On the way back to the boat ramp, each gave a piece of what would become his name: one said, “River” and another said, “Banks” and then “Driftwood.” And so, he became known as Driftwood River Banks.
They had received word that Driftwood had been on Horseshoe Bend for a couple months. Boaters had been coming to the beach throughout the summer to see the stray dog and many had been feeding him sandwiches, they said. He had fleas and ticks, but he had survived, finding his own food probably by foraging and hunting and also taking the sandwiches given him, they said.
In fact, the three animal experts agree that Driftwood was probably on Horseshoe Bend longer than three months. Moore said the dog was starting to get feral. Ashby said the amount of the trails Driftwood created in his time there was extensive.
And all agreed that when Driftwood got to the kennels on Drury Lane, something was amiss with him. He acted tough toward other dogs, but really, he was scared and wanted to be far away from the other dogs. It was a result of his isolation, they say.
“He will let anyone pet him,” Moore said. “He will not let any other animal get near him.”
The intention when he came to the shelter was to let Driftwood rehabilitate and get healthy before adopting him out, and there were many who wanted to adopt him after hearing the dog’s story on social media and other news outlets, McCord-Crooks said. (He has so many Facebook fans that McCord-Crooks has nicknamed them the “Drifties.”)
After a while at the Humane Society, they knew that Driftwood wouldn’t be ready to adopt out for a while, and after longer time spent, they knew going to a family to become an inside dog that lies on the couch is not the life for Driftwood.
Ashby, who formerly worked a few years as a detention center K-9 handler, started to take Driftwood out for walks, and he’d give some basic training. Driftwood started listening and started to follow basic commands.
They set up a couple search and finds and learned Driftwood can follow fresh scents and fresh tracks. He can traverse strange terrain and jump up on taller obstructions, Ashby said.
McCord-Crooks doesn’t know what kind of dog Driftwood was before his stint on Horseshoe Bend or how he even got there—was he abandoned or forgotten?—but she knows he has a purpose now.
“He wants a job, and he needs a job,” she said.
Although officials at the shelter say Driftwood is not quite ready to leave—he still needs to acclimatize himself to civilized life—they have begun to look for a suitable home for him.
McCord-Crooks said he would be great as a K-9 for law enforcement departments, though he does need much more training. He might even be a good service dog, but that, also, would require more training. They’ve begun making contacts to find a home where Driftwood can “go out there and do stuff,” she said.
“He’s the rescued who wants to be the rescuer,” she said.
