The dog that crossed Australia

In 1979 a Labrador/Boxer cross called Jimpa trekked 2000 miles (3218 km) from Nyabing Western Australia to Pimpinio Victoria after being lost while his owner was temporarily working on a farm. The feat took him 14 months and as result, he entered the Guinness Book of World Records.

In 1923/24 Bobby, described as a Scottish Collie did 2551 miles (4105 Km) from Wolcott Indiana to Silverton Oregon after his owners were visiting family and Bobby was attacked by other dogs and ran off.

Whilst Jimpa was recognised as having completed his entire trip on foot without any external assistance, ie being carried on a vehicle the other one although having completed a longer distance was not considered for recognition as it was impossible to authenticate his achievement. (Not sure how they even authenticated Jimpa)

There are of course many other examples of dogs travelling extraordinary distances to return home after being separated from their owners and these two are at the extreme end of the spectrum. What we don’t know is how many dogs attempt to do this but fail because of the obvious problem of finding food and water. After all, Jimpa took 14 months to do this, pet dogs have no experience of having to hunt for food and water is an absolute necessity.

To put this into perspective for UK readers the distance between Lands End and John o’Groats the entire length of Great Britain is reckoned to be around 900miles if one is using the public highway. That being the case Jimpa travelled more than the length of Great Britain TWICE in one go. Not even Ian Botham did that!!

Lands End to John o’Groats is 603miles (970Km) in a straight line but would require a swim in the Irish sea is using that route!!

So how do they do it?

Theories abound, starting with;

They have a homing instinct just like homing pigeons.

They use Ley lines.

They have the ability to navigate using the moon and the stars.

They track their owners using their incredibly sensitive nose. ( For more information see The Nose.)

Well, recent research by the Czech University of Life Sciences and Virginia Tech have led scientists to believe that it is all down to their sensitivity to the Earth’s magnet field. The implications being that any lost canine has the ability to find its way home.

Now before we get excited let’s be clear about this. The research is in its infancy and didn’t even come close to coming to a conclusion and I suspect it will be many years before we have a definitive answer.

The obvious question is going to be if Jimpa can travel 2000 miles over a 14 month period, how is it that a dog that is lost in the local park can’t find his way home when it is less than a mile away?

Hopefully, the scientists will be able to explain that one.

But think about this, if dogs can do it why can’t we? And if we can do it does that mean that in the future we won’t need maps!