By Polly Lynn
A cockapoo is breed of dogs that is a cross between the cocker spaniel and the poodle. It may not be the first breed one thinks about for search and rescue missions but owner Tom Levy says his dog Bluu is a natural. Weighing in at just 30 pounds, Bluu has no trouble navigating obstacles in the woods. “He’ll cross ponds, leap over logs, and bounds easily through snow,” Levy has observed. “If there is someone out there in the woods he’s going to find them. He has natural instincts.”
On Saturday, Dec. 13, Bluu’s skills were put to practice. He dashed into the woods off Wheelerville Road in Mendon and sure enough, moments later a skier emerged from the brush. The skier, identified as a local passholder named Joe, had skied off Pico’s “Giant Killer” run earlier that afternoon and become lost. There was an active search being mounted by Pico ski patrollers, Levy later found out.
Levy is trying to get Bluu into legitimate search and rescue training, “He wants to be an Otter,” Levy said, referring to the entry level step in training to be a search and rescue patrolman.
