Community turns out to save Wattle and Scooter from Pauanui cliff

Andrea and David Schroeder with pups Scooter and Wattle home safe after a 48hr mission in Pauanui. Photo / Alison Smith

The recorded sound of a squeaky toy achieved what no infra-red cameras on helicopters could - leading rescuers to mini dachshund puppies Scooter and Wattle, lost in the bush in Pauanui.

The 18-month-old pups are safely home and staying close to the feet of their owners David and Andrea Schroeder, after a 48-hour search and rescue effort that involved hours of volunteering from willing hunters, hikers and animal lovers from Pauanui and Tairua.

"With our awesome community searching over a few nights and days in the open without their comforts they were found," Andrea said in thanks to the community, incredulous at the 950 likes on her call for help on the community Facebook page, in a settlement with some 800 permanent residents.

David was on his driveway in the foothills of rugged Mt Pauanui when the brother and sister dogs bolted off through a neighbour's garden.

"Their mission in life is to save the world from hedgehogs," David said, as to the likely cause of their sudden disappearance.

"And there's a lot of hedgehogs up there."

The search was made almost impossible because the dogs barely barked when called.

Butter wouldn't melt, says owner David Schroeder, of his pup Wattle who refused to bark when rescuers were looking for her and brother Scooter in Pauanui bush. Photo / Alison Smith

Andrea had 19 messages from people wanting to join the search, and those who did included New Zealand actress Sara Wiseman, Pauanui locals Kelly Humphries, Liam Ashworth, Kim Coppersmith and Tairua's Billy Turner.

At one point in her desperation to find the pets, Andrea contacted helicopter companies who told her they wouldn't charge her for flying with infra-red cameras because it was unlikely it would work.

A recording of a favourite squeaker toy, however, was just the trick.

"I downloaded a squeaker toy noise and carried a UE Boom speaker, then we could find them," David said.

The dogs were trapped on a cliff ledge behind Pauanui's Puka Park Resort, not far from where they'd been last seen on video surveillance cameras at the home of another resident, Warren Male.

Male was away, but contacted the dog's owners to report the surveillance sighting on Saturday.

"They were just scratching on the deck," he said.

Billy Turner, a recreational hunter who grew up as a volunteer local SAR and firefighter, hiked up Mt Pauanui and beyond from 3pm until 8pm Sunday and 8am until 6pm Monday with his dog.

He eventually got to enjoy the moment when they were found.

David scaled the cliff with one while Turner, whose previous SAR animal rescues included a labrador on a cliff, carried the other.

"It's hard because dogs don't know to respond to you when you call. They might be having the best time out there."

David doubts this was the case for Scooter and Wattle, who slept in the couple's bed last night.

"The first thing they did was drink 750ml of flavoured water," David said, who says the pups have since rediscovered their bark.