Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
SAR Dog News
Published by the National Search Dog Alliance January/February 2017 Vol. 11, No. 1
Article page PODCAST 2 BOD Meeting Dates 2 Message from NSDA President 2 Notice for BOD Applications 3 NSDA Certifications 4 2017 Hero Dog Awards 4 NSDA Upcoming Tests & Seminars 5 Search Dog Saves a Life 7 Avalanche Season has Started 8 U.S. Avalanche Accident Reports 9 Faith Provides Closure 9 In Memory: K-9 Bocephus 12 What is a Team? 12 Child’s Body Found 13 Kibbles and Bits 14 Book Report: Rescue Me! 16 NSDA Sweatshirt 16 The Secret Lives of Cadavers 17 Body Farm Debunks Forensic Practice 18 Fentanyl: Danger to Handler & K-9 19 Cisco: South Dakota’s SAR Dog 20 Brown Recluse Spider 21 Search Dog Finds Missing Man 23
Board of Directors and Founding Members 24 Pella Courthouse Canine 25 Courthouse Dogs Foundation 26 Canine Companions for Independence 26 Most Popular Dog Names of 2016 27 Guam Sole SAR Dog Team 27 The Last Howl 28
Bucky Says:
…a bump is the best way to get your human's attention
when they are drinking a fresh cup of coffee or tea.
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 2
NSDA PODCAST
The January 15 podcast will feature an hour-long interview with Peter Kick, author of
Desparate Steps. The book chronicles twenty-five (25) true stories of people lost or otherwise in trouble in the wilderness in the
northeast. Some mishaps occurred more than 50 years ago and others within the last few years.
Peter talks about what inspired him to write the book, and how he did the extensive
research. Desperate Steps details not only what went wrong but lessons for both
individuals and the search and rescue community.
You can listen (and subscribe) to the Search Dog Podcast through iTunes and also find the
podcast on Podbean at saroc.podbean.com.
Please send questions, feedback and
suggestions to [email protected]
And the podcasts stay up indefinitely.
Stay tuned.
Eva Briggs
2017 Board Meeting Dates
February 2; March 2; April 6; May 4; June 1
Contact Secretary, Jen Skeldon at [email protected] for the call in number
for the meetings
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF NSDA
NSDA WITHDRAWS FROM NCSARA
At the November 2016, annual face-to-face board meeting, the NSDA Board voted to withdraw from NCSARA. I was fortunate to
work with some passionate members of the organizations in NCSARA and NSDA will continue to work cooperatively with other
organizations on an informal basis. NCSARA has “bit off more than it can chew” with the tremendous amount of work to be done to set
up guidelines for Evaluators, Evaluations, and Training. Much of the work is another effort to “reinvent the wheel.” The group
teleconferences less than once a month. Some of the teleconferences were less than 10 minutes long. Notes from the beginning
meetings of the group were not taken and often the teleconferences were poorly
attended. I remember a teleconference with one other member while I was in Maine “on vacation.” Some other members said they
would be on the call, but never dialed in. The reason for limiting the size of the group enables the group to be more manageable,
since teleconferencing is the only, except for one face-to-face meeting, vehicle to communicate. The problem with limiting the
size is other groups want to contribute and the finished product is only from the contributions of the NCSARA members. Considering NSCARA
is only a handful of organizations, I question whether the work of NCSARA will be accepted by most Search and Rescue Teams and Law
Enforcement. Susan Fleming
President, NSDA
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 3
This is the first bi-monthly issue of the SAR Dog News. The next issue will be March/April delivered on March 15, 2017.
NSDA Board of Directors Wants You
Applications Now Available
Nominations are open now until March 1st,
2017.
This year there are three (3)3 openings on the Board of Directors, two (2) Regional Representatives; one (1) in Region 1 and one
(1) in Region 2, plus one (1) Member at Large. In addition, NSDA is looking for Business Advisory Directors.
For more information and a Board application, please email Nominations Chair Julie Gibson at
[email protected] REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE
There are three (3) regions covering the United States with each region having two (2)
representatives. In addition, there are three (3) member-at-large positions which can be from any region. They will form the voting
Board of Directors. Of these representatives,
there will be a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Remaining Board
members may hold a Committee Chair or other position. Their term is three (3) years.
There can be up to five (5) non-voting Directors appointed to the Board by the
President, with approval of the Board. These Directors do not have to be members of NSDA. Their term will be one (1) year. One of these
may be a non-voting member of NSDA, the other four may appointed in another capacity.
BUSINESS ADVISORY Business Advisory Directors will be appointed
as part of the up to five non-voting members. Directors will be selected to help NSDA achieve its mission goals. They may be selected due to
willingness to work on special projects, assist in growth and visibility, marketing, fundraising,
grant writing and other professional skills deemed looked-for by the Board. Business Advisory applicants can send in a resume or CV
in lieu of the Board Application. The NSDA Regions are:
Region 1: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington,
Wyoming and the Pacific area. Region 2: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Canada.
Region 3. Connecticut, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, W. Virginia and Europe.
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 4
NSDA CERTIFICATIONS EL SALVADOR Jose David Argueta and K-9 Cora
Land and Water Human Remains Detection
EL SALVADOR Victor Rosales and K-9 Furst Land and Water Human Remains Detection
WASHINGTON Sally
Olsen and
K-9 Skye Area
II
201
7
HER
O
DOG
AWA
RDS
OPE
N
In
2017, NSDA will again participate as a charity partner in the
American Humane Hero Dog Awards.
If a nominated dog is NSDA’s
charity partner and they win their category, the American Humane
Association will donate $2,500 to the Alliance. If the nominated dog goes on to win the entire competition, NSDA will win an additional
$5,000!
NSDA encourages the SAR community to
nominate their dogs, designate NSDA as their charity partner and share the news on newsletters, e-mailings and social media
throughout the campaign.
The 2017 nominations round will open on
January 25.
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 5
Testing, Training Seminars & Conferences
Reach over 1,360 SAR K-9 handlers. List your tests, training seminars and conferences
in the SAR Dog News Contact Norma Snelling at: [email protected]
TESTING 2017 Topic Location Contact April
21-23 Tests, to be determined Florida Luis Vega [email protected]
TRAINING SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES
2017 Topic Location Contact January
28-29
K9410 Advanced Land Cadaver Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
February
4-5 K9555 Building Search Techniques for K9s
Muscatatuck, IN
Lillian Hardy
23-26 BCSO K9 Seminar TBD TBD March
3
K9220 Basic Air Scenting Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
4-5 K9300 Intermediate Air Scenting Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
14-16 Police K9 Conference & Vendor Show
Las Vegas, NV
Coordinator [email protected]
17-19 Disaster Search for K9s, Live and HRD
Baton Rouge, LA
Coordinator www.sdona.org/events.html
31-Apr 2 K9 SAR Basics Champaign, IL
Coordinator www.sdona.org/events.html
April
1-2 K9400 Advanced Air Scenting Search Techniques for K-9
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
8 K9220 Basic Tracking/Trailing Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
9 K9210 Basic Land Cadaver Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
20-23 IDHS SAR Conference: Area, Trailing, HRD Land, HRD Land Scenario, Disaster- Live & HR
Camp Atterbury, IN
Jan Meyer [email protected]
20-23 Virginia SAR Conference Appomattox, VA
Rob Blevins www.vasarco.net/
26-30 Law /enforcement Training Specialists (LETS) seminar
Central Indiana
Gail Cramer [email protected]
27-29 Penn. Search & Rescue Council SAR-EX Conference
Manheim, PA Coordinator [email protected]
28-30 Developing K9 Skills for SAR Champaign, IL
Coordinator www.sdona.org/events.html
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 6
TRAINING SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES continued
2017 Topic Location Contact
May
4-5 K9320 Basic Intro Disaster Search Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
6-7 K9330 Intermediate Disaster Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
12-13 Maine Assoc. for SAR Conference Newry, ME Coordinator emainehosting.com/masar/events.htm
19-21 Washington State SAR Conference Ferry Co., WA
Coordinator www.wasarcon.org/
20-21 K9500 Water Cadaver Search Techniques for K9s
TBD Lillian Hardy
26-28 Building Search for Live and HRD K9s
Dwight, IL Coordinator www.sdona.org/events.html
June
2-4 Area, Disaster, HRD, and IRO Elements with with instructors from The Netherlands
Ruckersville, VA
Coordinator www.sdona.org/events.html
2-4 Mountain Rescue Assoc. Conf. Boise, ID Coordinator http://mra.org/
3-4 K9320 Intermediate Tracking/Trailing Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
3-4 Utah State SAR Conference Fish Lake, UT Cody Barton
dem.utah.gov/2016/06/01/mark-your-calendars-2017-search-and-rescue-conference/
7-8 International Conf. on Urban Search and Rescue
San Francisco, CA
Website www.waset.org/conference/2017/06/san-francisco/ICUSR
9-11 Area, HRD, and Obedience Elements with instructors from The Netherlands
Flagstaff, AZ Coordinator www.sdona.org/events.html
10-11 K9310 Intermediate Cadaver Search Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
16-18 Disaster and Obedience Elements with instructors from The Netherlands
Camp Atterbury, IN
Coordinator www.sdona.org/events.html
23-25 Introduction to Water Search for K9s
Barrington, NJ
Coordinator www.sdona.org/events.html
July
15-16 K9500 Water Cadaver Search Techniques for K9s
TBD Lillian Hardy
29-30 K9420 Advanced Tracking/Trailing Search Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
August
19 K9210 Basic air Scenting Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
20 K9200 Basic Land Cadaver Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 7
TRAINING SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES continued
2017 Topic Location Contact September
8-10 SAREX Calif. SAR conference with K9 track
Merced Co, CA
Coordinator www.sarex.org/
19-20 K9320 Basic Intro Disaster Search Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
19-21 Nat. Conf. on Responding to Missing and Unidentified Persons
Atlanta, GA Coordinator [email protected]
21-22 K9330 Intermediate Disaster Techniques for K9s
Camp Atterbury, IN
Lillian Hardy
23-24 K9430 Advanced Disaster Techniques for K9s
Muscatatuck, IN
Lillian Hardy
October
1-6 CSAR Seminar: Air scent, trailing, HRD & water recovery topics
Peninsula, OH
Tudy Morris
[email protected] www.csar.org/
18-22 North Star Int. K9 Fall Seminar Saint Paul, IN [email protected] www.nsk9ta.com/
18-22 East of the Mississippi K9 Event Saint Paul, IN
November
6-9 Utah State Urban SAR Alliance Conference
Salt Lake City, UT
Coordinator [email protected]
9-12 K9 Scent Theory and Detection with Mike Suttle
Champaign, IL
Coordinator www.sdona.org/events.html
SEARCH DOG SAVES A LIFE
Late the evening of December 20, 2016, Blitz, a border collie, and her handler, Jess, were
called out to help find a 51-year-old woman, who'd vanished in the Swanpool area of Falmouth.
Just before 2:00 a.m. Blitz indicated on an area of deep undergrowth where the missing female was found in a critical condition. Due to the
effects of two cold nights and some significant injuries, she required immediate assistance
from Cornwall Search and Rescue Team medics.
Further team members were deployed to help
stabilize her before paramedics arrived and she could be evacuated to a waiting ambulance.
Once again this demonstrates the importance of our air-scenting search dogs, making the months and years of training so worthwhile.
So congratulations to Jess and Blitz on a great find, but also to all the team members who gave up their night to save a life. – Cornwall Search and Rescue Team
The Team regularly uses specially-trained dogs
to help to locate missing people. These dogs are normally air scenting dogs which can cover huge areas quickly and effectively. They
operate off the lead and will indicate to their handler when they have found someone.
Source: http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/update/2016-12-20/blitz-the-search-dog-saves-a-life/
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 8
AVALANCHE SEASON HAS STARTED
Search dogs guided crews to the location of a body buried in snow when an avalanche occurred in the Jackpot Chute area at Mt. Rose ski resort
near Lake Tahoe in western Nevada on Sunday afternoon December 12, 2016, Washoe County
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Bob Harmon said. Search and rescue crews found the body of the 60-year-old skier who was trapped in an
avalanche Saturday morning. The Washoe County Sheriff's Office said search
crews suspended their search on Saturday night due to the dangers of a continued avalanche threat. About 40 rescuers resumed the search
about 9 a.m. Sunday December 11, using search dogs to concentrate on one area.
Harmon said dogs narrowed the search area to a location up the mountainside from where the crew was searching at that moment. Searchers
found the man using a probe just before 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Sources: KOLO 8, Reno; Reno (CBS); CBS SFBay Area
The Washoe County Sheriff's Office Tweeted this
photograph of search crews heading out on Dec. 11, 2016
The rest of the story . . . Two skiers hiked/traversed
into CLOSED, uncontrolled terrain at Mt. Rose at 9,200’. This terrain had
NOT BEEN OPENED, HAD NOT BEEN SKIED, and HAD
NOT BEEN CONTROLLED this winter. It is more analogous to a backcountry
snowpack. They decided to drop into a steep wind-loaded slope.
The first skier triggered a large avalanche that swept him downslope and buried him 600-1000 ft. below in debris that averaged 5 ft deep and
reached up to 10 ft. deep in some areas. The second skier immediately called 911 and the search for his partner continued for the rest of
the day. As of 7:30 p.m. on December 10, the skier had not been found. The search will resume in the morning.
The avalanche that this skier triggered likely started as a wind slab failure and stepped down
onto the persistent weak layer of facets near the base of the snowpack.
This avalanche started on a 40-45 degree slope and pulled out adjacent slopes that reached up to
50 in steepness. The initial avalanche was likely
350-550 feet in width and connected multiple start zones. It was at least a D3 on the
destructive size scale (rated D1 to D5). The crown measured between 3 and 5 ft. in depth.
All of the dogs had interest in the area where the man was finally found. The areas of interest were tagged with flags but they spanned about a
40 to 50 foot area. Even when dogs were brought in (from other ski resorts) they were unable to pinpoint.
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 9
On the second day the subject was located by a probe hit. When they dug him up they shoveled through 7.5 feet of hard packed, very wet
snow. There were multiple ice layers (2 of them were very hard ice). So it was not a specific dog find, but a cooperative effort with the dogs giving
the probe team a place to focus. Good work was done by all.
Rick Strasser & Lynn McCaulay, CARDA
U.S. Avalanche Accidents Reports
2016-2017
TOTAL FATALITIES: 2
Date Place
Fa
tali
ties
Sta
te Summary
2016-12-11 Henderson Mountain, near Cooke City 1 MT 2 backcountry skiers caught, 1 partially buried, 1 buried and killed
2016-12-10 Mt. Rose Chutes - Closed Area 1 NV 1 inbounds rider caught, buried, and killed
FAITH PROVIDES CLOSURE
Editor’s Note: This article contains both print media accounts and remarks from Mike Holmberg, K-9 Faith’s handler. Mike’s remarks are in italics.
Southern Methodist University (SMU) Police
Officer Mark McCullers, 46, served in the Marine Corps and worked private security before joining the
department in 2015.
He was sitting in his sedan in the early hours of July 5, 2016,
working off-duty private security at
a Highland Park construction site
when heavy rains caused Turtle Creek to overflow. McCullers called 911 around 1:40 a.m.
as he realized rising waters were overtaking and moving his car. Video footage from the Fitzhugh Avenue Bridge shows him climbing out a door.
The car was found thirteen (13) hours later about a half-mile downstream.
McCullers
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 10
Divers, mounted officers, and boaters along with search dogs and handlers combed first the
creek,then the river. Cranes were used to sift through debris.
Hundreds of police officers, firefighters, divers,
kayakers, pilots, and others had searched on and beneath the water and along the banks – everywhere except for a more-than-mile-long
drainage tunnel emptying into the Trinity River.
Searching Turtle Creek
But seven weeks after July 5 floodwaters swept
McCullers and his white Dodge Charger into Turtle Creek at the Fitzhugh Avenue Bridge, conditions still hadn’t allowed an adequate search
of that tunnel.
The article doesn’t really say but the entire creek was searched and probably 20 miles of river over a two month period with other search teams, dogs included. We weren’t called originally and were referred to the police department by TexSAR. We were asked to search the area where the car went in and cleared it. Then we went to the north end of the tunnel that the article mentions. It’s an approximately 10 ft. diameter tunnel that runs completely under downtown Dallas and ends at the water
utilities area where it dumps into the Trinity. It’s over two miles long. The tunnel was really the only area that hadn’t been searched other than a pond at the opening to the river. Faith and I worked the first quarter/to half mile inside of the tunnel but stopped when I felt it probably wasn’t safe due to gases/visibility etc. The police thought the officer might have gotten snagged up in a pea trap that was approximately 1,000 meters from the opposite end of the tunnel. We gained access to the water utilities area where the tunnel came out to the river. I told the police since water was still flowing through the tunnel and out the end that, if he was in the pea trap, she’d probably be able to pick up the scent. I let Faith out with about 25 police and fire watching on the bank. I really wasn’t expecting anything and sent her along the edge of the pond first. She didn’t show any interest and then went up the hill and over the top of the tunnel. She paused momentarily at the top but then continued to the other side of the tunnel and pond/bank. She then quickly turned around and went back to the top of the tunnel. She then leaned over the edge where there was a 12 ft. drop to the pond but was trying to scent the opening of the tunnel. There was about a 2 ft .opening above the water level; not sure if she scented from the air or the water coming out but immediately alerted by pawing the edge and then sitting. It was so quick that I didn’t quite believe it at first but she stared at me and slammed her paw down at the edge and sat again.
This time she didn’t even wait for me to give her the Frisbee. She ran over and jumped on me and tried to grab it. She’s never done that before and I just turned to the crowd watching and said
Handler Mike Holmberg & K-9 Faith
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 11
there is definitely source in that tunnel. The water level in the tunnel was still too high for engineers to get to the pea trap or check any of the tunnel. The State Guard’s Marine Unit was scheduled to come out and apparently has the ability to pump the water from the tunnel. However a couple of days before they were to come out, we had a big rain that apparently flushed him out. The detective had come out to check the area prior to the Guard coming out and saw the body about 10 ft. out from the opening of the tunnel in some debris that had flushed out of the tunnel. They told me they would have given up on the tunnel if not for Faith being so animated and alerting for all to see. She was the only dog that alerted. The officer said he’d been checking that opening every day since Faith alerted and it finally paid off.
Sgt. Keith McCain found his friend and fellow police officer’s remains on August 24 in a new pile of debris near Oak Lawn Avenue and East Levee
Street. The sergeant had not gone there to search but rather to check conditions near the often submerged tunnel outlet.
The discovery demonstrated what can happen
when those often described as “first responders”
keep on responding.
McCain was alone when he found the body, but estimates search efforts involved more than a
thousand people. The 3rd Battalion of the Texas State Guard, a maritime regiment, came to look. MARK9 Search and Rescue of Mesquite provided
Faith, viewed by SMU officers as the key search dog.
SMU Chief of Police Richard Shafer credits a cadaver dog
named Faith with helping focus the search for the body of
drowned officer Mark McCullers. (Photo by William Taylor)
The Search operation involved Dallas-Fire Rescue, Dallas Police Department, Highland Park
Department of Public Safety, Search One Rescue Team, Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden’s Office, and University Park Police Department.
Other participants included City of Dallas Water Department, Pure Technologies, PC2 Construction, North Texas Drone Society, Rain for
Rent, Texas EquuSearch, and Texas Search and Rescue.
The determination and perseverance of SMU
police officers merited their salute as People Newspapers’ 2016 newsmakers of the year. They were selected for their collective dedication and
efforts and also as representatives of the hundreds of volunteers and public safety
personnel who participated in the massive search.
Sources: prestonhollowpeople.com, www.parkcitiespeople.com
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 12
In Memory RIP K-9 Bocephus
By Handler: Special Operations Supervisor /SOG Canine Coordinator Robert Noziska
K-9 BOCEPHUS
Time in Service: 01/04/2010 – 10/08/2016
Service Canine Bocephus were certified by CBP in
the disciplines of Search and Rescue and
Tracking/Trailing, and participated in public
demonstrations. Events included were for foreign
and domestic dignitaries visiting both the SOG HQ
and CCEP.
SOS Noziska utilized Canine Bocephus to teach
other handlers and instructors not only how to
perform certain tasks but to prove that many
things unlisted in our curriculum could be trained
and accomplished. This lead to Canine Bocephus’s
demonstrations displaying unconventional training
methods in the SAR and Tracking/Trailing fields.
Not only has the Border Patrol benefited from the
unconventional training methods used with Canine
Bocephus but outside canine organizations such as
the North American Police Work Dog Association,
National Search Dog Alliance, and the National
Association for Search and Rescue have received
benefits.
SOS Noziska and Canine Bocephus deployed and
provided support to the Rio Grande Valley Sector
during SOG/BORSTAR’s South Texas Campaign support operations as well as SOG Operation
Keystone Resolve in September 2014. During this operation, CBP Special Operations Teams deployed
personnel to assist the Pennsylvania State Police in the dense woods of Pennsylvania’s Pocono
Mountains, on a seven (7) week manhunt for
suspected cop-killer Matthew Eric Frein. Because of SOS Noziska and Canine Bocephus' unique skillsets,
they were instrumental in searching and clearing
areas of “suspected” sightings of Frein, saving massive amounts of assets and resources from
being shifted to search these unproductive areas.
WHAT IS A TEAM? Contributed by a member concerned by a problem far too common to many SAR teams.
A search and rescue dog group must be first and foremost, a team.
A volunteer search and rescue dog team’s primary mission is to prepare dogs and their handlers in their purpose, to be at the disposal of
the sheriff’s department as needed to assist in finding lost, missing, and deceased people. Our purpose is to reunite families and, in sadder
circumstances, bring closure to hurting families and loved ones.
We need to be a cohesive team and each member needs to be trustworthy. We are asked
to work in dangerous surroundings, and must be hyper vigilant for the well-being of every member of our team, both two and four footed. Members
need to trust their partners during a search but
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 13
trust is also vital at incident command, in the training field, in the classroom and at meetings.
Trust cannot be taken for granted. Trust must be earned. Trust is earned through multiple
experiences where you have found your partner to function with honest intentions and integrity.
A team needs to honor and trust its members. We need to know that each member will strive for the greatest good of the group. Each member’s
position on the team is not just as a dog handler but also as a dog trainer, as a training subject, as dog team field support member, as incident
command support, as a public relations ambassador, as a grant writer and as a fund raiser. At times, a dog handler should find
themselves in every position.
Dogs become sick, they die, but the team must continue to function, should dog handlers
abandon their
team, simply when they think the job at
hand is beneath them? Each position
is necessary for the team to
fulfill their primary purpose.
Any member that feels that any one of these roles is unnecessary or beneath them are no
longer functioning for the good of the group as a whole. They have become an entitled individual,
expecting services afforded to them, courtesies extended to them without cost or sacrifice on their part. They become a liability; they expect,
and are often afforded, privileges they have not earned. This reinforces their entitled status at the cost of the true workers in the team.
Dog teams are made up of team members. These people are hard working and, ideally, fulfill
many roles. Each member should be given respect for what they contribute. We need to fiercely support each other. It is unconscionable
to deny funding or neglect to inform or actively exclude volunteer members from trainings because they are perceived to be lesser members
because of their dog’s breed, the handler’s gender, age, or their chosen training discipline.
This is a formula for disaster. We have all seen strong dog teams go through difficult times. As unbiased observers, we can see their mistakes
and long to stop their downward spiral. Often members with their own team see it. What are they supposed to do? And when their own OGL is
blind to the inequities and abuses, hard work, honesty and integrity has been devalued; they have allowed a breach of trust that will be difficult
if not impossible to repair.
CHILD’S BODY FOUND BY K-9
Six year old David Puckett of Aurora, CO, was last seen around 4:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. His
family searched for him for an hour before calling the police.
Sources said Puckett left his home after an argument with one of his siblings. The boy has a
history of wandering off, police said. Aurora Police said earlier that they had no reason to believe Puckett was abducted.
.
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 14
On Sunday and Monday, more
than 200 volunteers helped search for Puckett
but no trace of the boy was found. An Amber Alert was issued for Puckett Monday afternoon – 48 hours after he
first disappearedThe Colorado Bureau of Investigation says the alert was issued due to the length of time and cold weather. Temperatures
plunged into the teens Monday night and highs were not expected to exceed freezing on Tuesday.
On Monday night, January 2, 2017, a K-9 had picked up the boy’s scent in the Olympic Park
area. On January 3, 2017, the body of a child was found underneath the ice in a pond in the Park and a dive team began searching the small
body of water. During a news conference Tuesday morning, Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz
said Puckett’s family has been notified the body was found and were "devastated."
At this time, investigators can’t say if there are any signs of foul play and are treating the area where the body was found as a crime scene. The
coroner will confirm the child’s identity.
Source: USATODAY.com
In response to the question about the K-9’s identity, the following was
posted by: [email protected]:
It was an urban trailing dog from Search and Rescue Dogs of the United States (SARDUS).
KIBBLES & BITS by Susan Bulanda
To my loyal readers – Do you have any subjects that you would like me to cover? Send them to me at [email protected] with K & B in the subject line.
This month I will talk about a fairly new research/method of training dogs. It is very
interesting and has an impact on SAR dog training and handling. It is called social learning in dogs (and
other species). You can read about it in the book Do as I Do: Using Social Learning to Train Dogs by
Claudia Fugazza.
However, I want to stress that this is not a method to use to train SAR dogs or any other dog for obedience exercises.
The material in the book can help us understand why our SAR dogs do some of the things they do
and also how it can influence our dogs to do things we do not want them to do.
Do as I Do training teaches your dog to copy an action that you do first. For example, the handler walks over and taps a bell or other object, then
tells the dog “do as I do” or a similar command and the dog copies what the handler did. The research behind this method of training illustrated
that dogs can learn by copying what they see. The dog watches, remembers and then imitates.
When I was young, the first dog I earned my fame as a dog trainer with was a cross between a
Collie and GSD, his name was Pal. I taught
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 15
him to be a trick dog and thus established myself as a dog trainer. After looking into the topic of social learning in dogs, I recalled an interesting experience I had with Pal. When I would sit and cross my legs at the ankle, he would lay down and copy me. I thought it was funny
and would uncross my legs and then re-cross them the opposite way. Left ankle over right then right over left. Pal would watch me and copy what I did. We used to play games, I would do something and then often he would do it. William Campbell, an early canine
behaviorist, also noted that some dogs would copy the actions of their owners. Many times over the years’ clients would tell me how their dog watched another dog and then copied what the dog did. Not exactly but close enough to know that it was a copied, learned
behavior.
There have been many times when I was working with dogs that were hesitant to climb onto an object or crawl through an object and, after either I or the handler showed the dog what to do by doing it ourselves, the dog would do it. Sometimes the handler would show the dog and sometimes
another dog was used to show the dog. Was that copying? It is hard to be sure. No one paid much attention to this phenomenon until recently. Now researchers have studied and
understand how dogs learn socially. The first report according to Ms. Fugazza was published in 2006 by researchers from the Ethology Department at the University of Budapest.
To quote Ms. Fugazza, “Social learning in animals occurs when other individuals have a direct influence on an animal’s acquisition of a new skill or behavior. This means that, in certain instances, animals can acquire new information or new behaviors through observing the actions of other
individuals of the same species or other species that an individual comes in contact with. This stands in contrast to individual non-associative learning based on exposure to a stimulus (e.g. habituation) and to associative learning, by means of connecting various stimuli through classical conditioning or
the trial and error attempts typical of operant conditioning that many dog trainers use to teach new behaviors.”
What we can take away from this research and training method is how and why it is important to be very careful that your dog does not copy you when doing SAR dog training.
It can be hard to distinguish between cueing a dog and a dog copying our behavior. In both cases, the dog is working off of a signal and may not be working on his own.
An example of how this phenomenon could work against us is, if a dog who has been taught to sit or lay down as a signal, watches the handler and if the handler
bows down as they approach the scent source or bends over even slightly, the dog who copies may lay down or sit when the handler moves a certain way instead of waiting to get to the scent source.
It might be a good idea for SAR dog handlers to understand how social learning in dogs works. It may solve some training problems or help to avoid some.
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 16
Book Report By Susan Bulanda
Rescue Me! Rescued K9 to Hero K9, By Maryln Adams with Dave Weik, ISBN: 153556105X and ISBN:
13:9781535561051, $19.95, 158 pgs.
This is a very refreshing, and different type of SAR book. It tells the story of a hound
(mostly Bloodhound) rescue and how some of the rescued dogs became SAR dogs. The
two authors both dog SAR work with Bloodhounds.
Ms. Adams is a retired Speech and Language Pathologist, is the co-founder of North Star
International K9 Training Association, and the chief of North Star International K9 Search and Recovery team.
Dave Weik is a supervisor for the West Virginia Department of Corrections. He is president and a
principal founder of Appalachian Mountain Man Trailing and Rescue which is a sanctuary for Bloodhound and hound mixes. He is also a
member of the Pocahontas County Search and Rescue Team.
The book has 25 chapters, an epilogue and an index. The beginning of the book tells about
some of the dogs that were rescued, how they were evaluated and placed with the right people. I felt that the book was well written with a
minimum number of formatting and grammatical errors which can be expected for a self-published book. The photos were black and white, not the
best quality and some of the captions were not large enough to read.
What I sincerely enjoyed was the second half of
the book which gave the reader a day-by-day journal of the search at White Sulphur Springs,
WV. This alone makes the book worth reading. Without being negative, the authors show the reader what it is like to be on a mission, the
politics and hardships that every searcher has encountered at some time in their SAR careers.
For the non-search person, this book will give them a clear idea of what searchers must go through on a mission. I do recommend this book
for all readers. Note: The profits from this book will go toward the author’s non-profit organization.
COLD WEATHER
CALLS FOR AN NSDA SWEATSHIRT
Order the NSDA sweatshirt and other NSDA supplies at SARSHOPS.COM
Click on the NSDA tab to order.
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 17
FOR OUR HRD HANDLERS:
The Secret Lives of Cadavers How lifeless bodies become life-saving tools. By Matt McCall July 29, 2016
There are more than 120 million registered organ
donors in the United States, and an average of 79
people received transplants each day, according to the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. The federal government does not monitor whole body
donations in the United States but researchers estimate each year fewer
than 20,000 Americans donate their bodies to medical research and training. While organ
donation is a point of pride, body donation is often stigmatized.
Most people have only a vague notion of what “body donation” even means but a closer look reveals the process as both strange and
wonderful, clinical and deeply human. A donated organ can save a life but a body provides the foundation to save many more.
Cadavers lead all sorts of interesting lives. They allow doctors to practice on patients who don’t
feel pain. They help surgeons develop new procedures without risking lives. Dentists dissect their heads and torsos, and physical therapists
study their musculoskeletal systems. Pharmaceutical companies test drugs on them, and automakers employ them as crash-test
dummies. At the University of Tennessee's Forensic Anthropology Center—nicknamed “the
Body Farm”—CSI teams learn how corpses
decompose over time. But the majority of cadavers teach.
Anatomy class is a rite of passage for all aspiring doctors and body donors become their first
patients. Active
learning in the lab is the foundation of
every treatment and diagnosis the future physicians
will render. A dead body can become a life-
saving tool down the road.
At Harvard, students begin with virtual anatomy, but that learning is only a prelude to the lab.
They put their first IV in a cadaver, a patient who will not hurt. They practice appendectomies—procedures done 280,000 times each year in the
U.S.—on cadavers.
Though no dependable national statistics exist,
numbers from individual agencies indicate that the body donor pool is shrinking. First-year medical school enrollment is increasing and, for
the sake of effective hands-on learning, most medical schools allot one cadaver to every four to six students. The expansion of physician
assistant and nurse practitioner programs further strains supply. The use of cadavers outside medical schools is also increasing. Nonacademic
programs that accept tissue and whole body donations for research have increased
competition for bodies.
More sections: TEACHING DOCTORS TO HEAL FROM DEATH TO DISSECTION
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 18
IN THE ANATOMY LAB
For the full article go online to nationalgeographic.com and look up The Secret Lives of Cadavers
Editor’s Note: This competition for bodies may eventually affect HRD handlers and their training methods. Fortunately cadaver training only needs small samples i.e. tissue, blood, etc.
‘Body Farm’ Debunks
Forensic Practice
Researchers at the University of Tennessee Knoxville say a first-of-its-kind study debunks a common standard used in forensic science–a
finding that could potentially impact court cases around the world.
The study conducted by UT’s Anthropology Research Facility, commonly referred to as the “Body Farm,” shows that human remains
decompose at different rates and patterns than pigs and rabbits. That’s important because
forensic court cases worldwide routinely use
animal models to estimate the time since death for human remains, yet the new study reveals that those methods can yield flawed results
since there are large variations in decay, insect activity, and scavenger activity between human bodies and non-human species, UT said in an
announcement Wednesday. “This research provides guidance to lawyers
and judges concerning the admissibility of testimony by anthropologists and entomologists,” Dawnie Steadman, director of
UT’s Forensic Anthropology Center and the project’s lead investigator, said in a statement.
Steadman and seven other colleagues who worked on the project have thus far presented three papers on the findings and are preparing
to submit three others to the Journal of Forensic Sciences for review.
UT’s “Body Farm” has gained notoriety as the first outdoor laboratory in the world to study
human composition. For this study,
researchers placed a total of 15 corpses of each species of pig, rabbit and human outside
to assess decomposition patterns and rates over the course of three seasons. Five bodies of each species were placed out during each
season, in the spring, then in the summer, and also in the winter.
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 19
Overall the findings indicate that human decay
varies more than that of pigs or rabbits. Researchers offered a detailed summary of each trial on Wednesday:
“The first trial, which occurred in the spring, included five humans, five pigs and five rabbits.
Decomposition of the pigs and humans tracked similarly until insect activity began in earnest
about 25 days into the test, and then the pigs began to skeletonize faster than the humans. For the rabbit subjects, decomposition appeared
to progress slower until maggot activity peaked, and then the process sped up. Significant maggot activity occurred in the lower portion of
the body and the skeleton was visible. Just 24 hours prior, the same rabbit showed no external signs of decomposition.
“In the second trial, which occurred in the summer, pig decomposition occurred more rapidly than that of rabbits and humans and
quickly skeletonized by day 12 because maggot activity occurred more rapidly and consumed the pigs more completely than the humans.
“In the third trial, which occurred in the winter,
there was no insect activity for the first 100 days. During that time, scavengers such as raccoons, birds, opossum and skunks frequented
the study areas. The timing and area of the scavenging activities greatly differed depending on species. The scavengers extracted bits from
the pigs and rabbits—such as the fur from rabbits early on—but did not return to them until all five of the humans had been consumed.”
Steadman noted that pigs can still be useful in
answering some forensic questions, but stressed the importance of using human data in criminal cases when estimating the time a body has
remained after a person’s death. Source: Knoxville Mercury: The Daily Dumpster Blog
FENTANYL Danger to both Handler & K-9
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times
stronger than heroin sold on the streets. It is given to patients as a pain medication and comes in an oral liquid, powder, pill
and patch form. Street versions of the drug are often mixed with heroin and can be even more potent, and thus,
more dangerous. Much of it has come from Mexico and China and has killed hundreds of users, including music
legend Prince. The Drug Enforcement Administration says it also poses a "grave threat" to first responders and
law enforcement officers — both human and canine. This includes SAR personnel as well.
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 20
Fentanyl is so potent that a few grains can be deadly. It can be ingested, inhaled or absorbed through
the skin and mucous membranes. And, because dealers cut other drugs with it, fentanyl is often a hidden menace, especially for dogs using their noses to pick up
a scent.
"If fentanyl is loose in an environment, it can spread out where a dog can absorb
it through his pads. He could sniff it up through his jowls," said K-9 Deputy Weiman of the Broward County Florida Sheriff’s Office. "And fentanyl is so toxic, so strong that the very smallest amount of it — that you couldn't even see —
could affect the dog. You wouldn't know they've even ingested it."
Usually when a person dies of an opioid overdose, they stop breathing. Same with animals," said Dr.
Christopher McLaughlin veterinarian of the Coral Springs Animal Hospital. "And the treatment for dogs is the same as it is for people."
The most common treatment for drug overdose is Narcan, the brand name of the opioid opponent naloxone. It is metabolized as quickly as fentanyl and can
reverse an overdose if administered in time. It is important for all SAR dog handlers to be aware of this
potential threat to themselves as well as their K-9s. Symptoms of opioid poisoning are trouble breathing or shallow breathing or arrest; tiredness, extreme sleepiness,
or sedation; inability to think/confusion, talk, or walk normally.
In Broward County, Florida, the Coral Springs vets are now training police officers in the region to recognize and respond to K-9 fentanyl exposure and dog handlers in the sheriff's office will start carrying Narcan to treat a suffering dog before symptoms get out of
control. SAR K-9 groups may want to incorporate these symptoms and treatments into their training and discuss the possible purchase of a Narcan kit with their veterinarian.
Source: msn.com, projectknow.com
Cisco: South Dakota's
search and rescue dog
Cisco, South Dakota’s first and only search and rescue dog, is a live search dog, which means his job is to find live people and is specifically
trained in the area of structure collapse. The two-year-old Belgian Malinois was sworn in to
the Rapid City Fire Department in 2014 under
the care of handler and 14-year firefighter Jeremy Gibbons.
Many on the other side of the state didn't know about Cisco until the morning of December 2,
2016,when the former Copper Lounge building collapsed. South Dakota Task Force 1, a group
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 21
of firefighters from Rapid City, Watertown, Aberdeen and Sioux Falls, were requested to the
scene. Task Force 1, which includes Gibbons and Cisco, is a part of the South Dakota Department
of Homeland Security and is trained in specialized rescue techniques including land-based search, structural-collapse, swift-water, confined-space,
high-angle and rope rescue. While Cisco and Jeremy were en route to Sioux
Falls, Emily Fodness and one of the three missing dogs were rescued from the rubble pile in the early afternoon. At around 5 p.m., it was Cisco's
turn to search the scene. Once on the pile, Cisco used his agility and
training to maneuver over the rubble without hesitation. His body size made it easy to check areas where those on two legs could not go. It
was a thorough search, with every command obeyed.
Cisco didn’t bark that day because he is a live find dog but the body of Ethan McMahon was
recovered a short time after Cisco had finished his search. Cisco was instrumental in locating the two dogs that remained missing.
Gibbons knows Cisco and his habits and he could
tell that the dog was on to something. He kept
going back to two places. The first place was the area where Emily Fodness and the first dog
where found. Gibbons thought that might be because a scent remained from earlier but the second spot was farther away. Gibbons noted
both spots where Cisco was paying most of his attention and told rescuers on scene. Later that night, the second of three dogs was found alive.
The spot? The second location to which Cisco kept returning.
Source: http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2016/12/13/cisco-south-dakotas-search-and-rescue-dog/95371514/
BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER Venom Toxicosis in Dogs
The brown recluse is known as the “fiddle-back,” or “violin” spider because of the violin-shaped pattern on its back. It is generally found in the Midwest section of the U.S. - west to Colorado and New Mexico and east to Northern Georgia
and throughout the southern U.S. and up the Mississippi River valley to southern Wisconsin.
As its name suggests, it is brown in color, with a violin shaped marking on the upper portion of the body where the legs connect with the neck of the “fiddle” extending to the tail.
closeup of brown recluse or fiddle back spider
K-9 Cisco photo: Jeremy Gibbons/Rapid City Fire Department
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 22
Not all recluses have this marking. For example, young brown recluse's often do not
but generally, this is an accurate method for recognizing them. The spider measures about 8–15 mm in body size with longish legs
approximately 2–3 cm long. As the name suggests, the brown recluse is a
reclusive, non-aggressive spider, preferring dark and uninhabited spaces away from humans and animals. They are active at night.
Bites usually occur when the spider becomes trapped in bedding while it is out prowling and
an animal or human rolls over on the spider. It also tends to occur when an animal unintentionally disturbs the spider in its space.
The bite from a recluse can be classified by its necrotizing nature i.e. localized death of living
tissue. Reaction typically occurs at the site of the bite with an ulcerated, necrotic wound that results in the death of the surrounding soft
tissue.
close up of brown recluse spider bite on a human
The wound is slow to heal, leaving an open sore that is at risk of further infection. Serious complications occur when the ulcer progresses
to gangrene or when the venom enters the blood stream and is carried to the internal organs. Destruction of red cells, renal failure,
coagulation disruption, and death are all
possible known complications of a recluse bite. These complications are rare but have been known to occur.
Symptoms
2 -6 hours after bite: Red, swollen area surrounding the bite site
Fever Nausea
Local pain and stinging (may last 6–8 hours), followed by itching and soreness
May be no symptoms
12 hours after bite: Blister forms at bite site
7 - 10 days after bite: Rapid cell damage surrounding the bite site
Bite site with a black center
Other Lesion - white with a dark central scab on
an uneven red background; after 2–5 weeks a central scab may slough, leaving a deep,
slow healing ulcer that usually kills soft tissue while sparing muscle tissue
Less common - anemia with bloody urine in
the first 24 hours Other possible systemic manifestations
within the first 2–3 days after the bite – fever, chills, rash, weakness, rapid growth of
white blood cells, nausea, joint pain Diagnosis
The veterinarian will need a thorough history of the dog's health and onset of symptoms.
The bite from a brown recluse can mimic other types of wounds so the veterinarian will look for a wide range of possible causes for the
symptoms unless the spider that bit the dog was seen.
As part of a standard examination, a complete blood profile will be conducted, including a chemical blood profile, a complete blood count,
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 23
and a urinalysis. A blood test will reveal much of the information the veterinarian needs to make an accurate diagnosis. A coagulation profile may
also be conducted to check the dog's blood clotting ability.
If the area is known for having brown recluse spiders, ask the veterinarian to check for the presence of venom in the
dog's blood stream. An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, or ELISA test, can be used to detect the venom but this is not
commonly used unless a brown recluse bite is specifically suspected.
The venom from a brown recluse has the potential to cause serious harm. In some cases,
the necrotizing spreads, causing tissue death to the degree that the entire limb will need to be removed. The faster this is diagnosed, the better
chance of preventing complications. Treatment
If it is suspected that the dog has been bitten by a brown recluse spider:
Apply an ice pack to the bite site to reduce pain and swelling.
If the spider is seen, CAREFULLY try to catch it in a jar for later identification.
Contact a veterinarian immediately. The veterinarian will
recommend routine
wound care unless the
dog is extremely ill, in which case, intravenous therapy provided in a
hospital setting will be necessary. Your dog may also need blood
transfusions so that the body can send fresh blood to the wounded area.
If the venom is mild, cold compresses are sometimes adequate for reducing inflammation
and reducing pain. If there has been a lot of cell destruction at the wound site, the doctor will need to surgically remove some of the dead
tissue. If the venom was very potent with a lot of cellular and tissue damage, the dog may need skin grafting after the lesion reaches full maturity.
Living and Management
The veterinarian will want to monitor the wound site weekly until it is fully healed. Brown recluse spider bites usually take a long time to heal and it
may take six to eight (6-8) months to heal completely.
If black necrotic tissue has formed, it may fall away and expose the muscles underneath. It is
very important to keep these wounds clean to avoid infection. A sunken scar will usually develop.
Source: Pet360.com; petMD
SEARCH DOG FINDS MISSING MAN
A missing elderly man was found by a Lake District search dog called Bracken following a
two-day search. The 79-year-old man, who suffered from diabetes, went missing from the Maryport area while on a walk on December 16,
2016.
After he failed to return home, police became
anxious for his wellbeing and requested the assistance of the Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team. The Lake District Mountain Rescue Search
Dogs (MRT) were also requested to assist the search overnight.
Fields and shoreline areas were searched based
on information given as to the man's last known location but no trace of him was found.
The following day a member of the public
reported seeing him near the coast road closer to his home so the MRT returned to cover footpaths,
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 24
waterways and fields in the area, again without result. The local community was also out
searching for the man, as many knew him and were concerned for him.
On Sunday morning, more Lakes Search Dogs
were mobilized and re-cleared some of the previously searched areas as well as fields between the man’s home village and the coast.
On late Sunday afternoon, he was finally found by search dog Bracken.
The man was in a serious condition and he was
suffering from hypothermia. The night time temperatures had been very low at the time.
Bracken’s
handler Elly
Whiteford was soon joined by
fellow search dog
handlers, police and
Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team, who assisted the paramedics in caring for the casualty
and carrying him to the Great North Air Ambulance.
Source: http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/14982771.Lake_District_search_dog_finds_missing_man/
You never know how STRONG you are until being STRONG is the only choice you have.
JOIN THIS GROUP OF LEADERS.
CONTACT JULIE GIBSON AT
[email protected] FOR AN
APPLICATION.
Board of Directors— OFFICERS Susan Fleming, President, Pennsylvania [email protected] Terry Crooks, Vice-President, Montana [email protected] Jen Skeldon, Secretary, Idaho [email protected] Julie Gibson, Treasurer, Idaho DIRECTORS Bridget Jackson, Missouri [email protected] Heather Proper-VanValkenberg, Pennsylvania [email protected] Kathleen Kelsey, Missouri
[email protected] Norma Snelling, Washington [email protected] Sue Wolff, Tennessee [email protected]
Founding Members—
K-9 Thor, Eileen M. Nobles, Susan Bulanda K-9 Roo, Leslie Godchaux, Brian R. Hendrickson Continental Kennel Club, Inc., K-9 River, K-9 Persha; Jan Thompson, K-9 Cali, Peggy Ann Buchman; K-9 Geist
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 25
PELLA
COURTHOUSE CANINE
Colorado’s first “facility dog” is averaging 100
cases per year. Pella, a brown-eyed, Lab-Golden Retriever mix, made her debut as Colorado’s first-ever “facility dog” in 2012, after lifelong animal
lover and former Aurora police officer Amber Urban worked for years to bring her to Colorado. Officer Urban is a criminal investigator for the 18th
Judicial District in Arapahoe County.
Pella has played a role in more than 400 cases between Sungate, a child advocacy center; the
Arapahoe County District Attorney’s office; and the courthouse. Since moving to the district attorney’s office, Pella’s use has doubled so those
numbers will continue to increase.
Recently, prosecutors announced a 24-years-to-
life sentence for a Denver man convicted of sex trafficking a 15-year-old girl — the first such case to be tried under Colorado’s 2014 updated human
trafficking law. Pella was on the stand with the victim when she testified during the trial.
It was justice for dogs in that the defendant was
charged with animal cruelty for stabbing a bulldog puppy five times. This time a dog helped the victim testify against him.
A courthouse facility dog
Arapaho County Courthouse
Urban spent years importing this program from
the Courthouse Dogs organization in Seattle. Since Pella’s 2012 debut, law enforcement and courts in Mesa County, Glenwood Springs and
Boulder have begun using dogs for similar purposes and Arapahoe County has added two
more of its own. But 6-year-old Pella was the first and still considered to be the best.
The national organization, Canine Companions for
Independence, trained Pella as a service dog then donated her to Urban as a facility dog. Urban
gave Pella additional training to meet the demands of the courtroom and working with victims.
Pella was selected for her calm personality and her ability to adapt to situations by making
herself essentially unseen. This is an asset when the future of someone’s life can be determined by testimony or the outcome of a criminal trial
especially since the animal remains unseen in the courtroom.
Children and families are always given the right to say no to Pella’s presence, whether because of
allergies or the fact they don’t like dogs. Most say yes and the results are immediate.
Pella is also part of a growing number of facility dogs in use nationwide. This can mean anything from the 26-member Canine Airport Therapy
Squad soothing passengers at Denver International Airport to dogs at Kaiser Permanente Hospital and Veterans Administration
clinics.
Source: denverpost.com
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 26
Courthouse Dogs
Foundation
Courthouse Dogs Foundation provides technical assistance and training for agencies
that want to establish a best practices program for utilizing a dog to provide emotional support to people in legal proceedings.
In a Courthouse Dog® Program:
1. The dog is a graduate facility dog from an assistance dog school that is a member of Assistance Dogs International.
2. The dog’s handler is a professional in the legal system.
3. The courthouse facility dog is utilized in such a way as to not disrupt legal proceedings or
create legal issues.
Courthouse facility dogs work at children's
advocacy centers, prosecutor's offices, law enforcement agencies, CASA programs, family justice centers, and sexual assault resource
centers.
From their website: courthousedogs.org
.
Canine Companions trains four types of
assistance dogs:
Service Teams - assist adults with physical
disabilities by performing daily tasks.
Hearing Teams - alert the deaf and hard of
hearing to important sounds.
Skilled Companion Teams - enhance
independence for children and adults with
physical, cognitive and developmental
disabilities.
Facility Teams - work with a professional in a
visitation, education or healthcare setting.
From their website: cci.org
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 27
MOST POPULAR DOG NAMES OF 2016
Bella and Max are the top dog names of 2016,
according to Rover.com. The pet care website used their database of hundreds of thousands of dogs to compile their list of most popular dog
names of 2016. Bella, Lucy and Daisy topped the list for female
dog names. Max, Charlie and Buddy were the most popular male dog names.
More than half of dog owners named their pets after celebrities or TV, movie and book characters. Pokemon, Harry Potter and Game of Thrones were among the most popular sources of inspiration.
Here are the top 10 female dog names: 1. Bella 2. Lucy
3. Daisy 4. Lola
5. Luna 6. Molly 7. Sadie
8. Sophie 9. Bailey 10. Maggie
Here are the top 10 male dog names: 1. Max
2. Charlie 3. Buddy 4. Cooper
5. Jack 6. Rocky 7. Bear
8. Duke 9. Toby
10. Tucker
Sources: http://abc7news.com/pets/most-popular-dog-names-of-2016/1665318/;
https://www.rover.com/blog/dog-names/
GUAM’S SOLE SEARCH-AND-
RESCUE DOG TEAM
Richard Burkhart and his two-year-old certified German shepherd, Hunter,
are on standby to search and save the lives of missing
people lost throughout Guam’s varied terrain.
“Hunter’s my dog, but he’s your dog to the firefighters, he’s your dog to the police,
he’s your dog to the community — whoever calls,” Richard Burkhart said, a resident of Sinajana and member of the CAPE or Community
Assisted Police Effort program.
To date, Hunter, and Burkhart’s now-deceased
dog Scout, have helped the Guam Fire Department and Guam Police Department in numerous missing persons cases since 2008.
These included several missing hikers in 2016 and that of 8-year-old Daisy Gruber who went missing in May after not returning from school only to be
found at a friend’s house later.
Two weeks ago, the National Search and Rescue Dog Association or NSARDA re-certified Hunter for another year. This is an initial grade
certification that allows the dog and handler to aid law enforcement in search and rescue efforts. NSARDA search dogs are used to search for
missing people including hikers, the elderly, people with special needs, those who are despondent, children, and sometimes the victims
of crime.
Search and Rescue Dogs Guam is one of the non-
profit branch associations run by Burkhart. He has led the one-man, one-dog team since 2010, receiving certification from National Search and
Rescue Dog Association in 2012.
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 28
As Guam’s sole search-and-rescue
dog, Hunter, like all NSARDA dogs, underwent 18 months of vigorous training that included searching for people in the wilderness, water,
over long distances, at night, and in other extreme real-life circumstances.
The National Search and Rescue Dog Association is an umbrella organization representing Search Dog Associations, based out
of the United Kingdom with branch associations in Ireland, Greece, Malta, Australia, and Guam.
Each of the individual associations is a voluntary, charitable non-profit organization responsible for the training and deployment of
dogs to search for and find thousands of vulnerable missing persons that get lost every year. NSARDA upholds standards by which
search dogs train and qualify to find persons that are believed to be missing, may have drowned, may be in a collapsed building, or may
even be deceased.
Richard Burkhart & K-9 Hunter
Always prepared, Burkhart takes Hunter out on weekly practices throughout the year in a
variety of different areas around Guam including Nimitz Hill, downtown Agana, several beaches, and the outlaying areas surrounding
the Leo Palace Resort Guam and Two Lovers’ Point. In certifying tests, the evaluator sees
how the handler trains and looks after the dogs. They assess the dogs and handlers and make sure that they’re working to top standards
because in SAR work, lives are in the balance. These dogs go out, find people and return them back to their loved ones. They need to be
efficient and accurate; that’s what’s important.
Sources: The Guam Daily Post, http://www.mvariety.com/cnmi/cnmi-news/local/91698-meet-
guam-s-sole-search-and-rescue-dog-team
THE LAST HOWL
By Sue Wolff
Opinions expressed in this column are
those of the author and not necessarily
those of the National Search Dog
Alliance.
As the Alliance embarks on its tenth year, it’s time to review NSDA’s beginning. In 2007, several K-9 handlers, led
by Dee Wild and Lisa Higgins, formed the
National Search Dog Alliance (NSDA) and
disconnected themselves from
the Canine Section of the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR). Not many remember why so here’s a refresher.
NASAR’s SAR Dog Section had received a grant solely for the benefit of SAR K-9s. This money
was to be held separately from other funds for the sole use of the SAR Dog Group. Due to various situations, monies were taken from the
Dee Wild
Lisa Higgins
SAR DOG NEWS January/February 2017 Page 29
K-9 funds…without the SAR Dog Section’s permission or knowledge! Dee Wild had already resigned as head of the
SAR Dog Section and Norma Snelling had resigned from the NASAR Board as well as from her position as Western Field Projects
Coordinator for the SAR Dog Section. They, along with a dozen other reputable and well thought of K-9 handlers (see page 20 of this
newsletter for a complete list), gathered together to form the Alliance.
Most of these founding handlers had been in the SAR K-9 field since its inception i.e. been
there, done that. They wrote certification testing standards which reflected what handler/K-9 teams would find on a real
search. They published financial statements as well as posting the minutes of their Board meetings in a very timely manner.
One of the Alliance’s concerns was the rising cost of K-9 certification testing and lack of
hands-on training. With that in mind, NSDA’s testing fees were set at a reasonable cost to the handler. The written test was put online,
again at a reasonable fee, which freed up both handlers and Evaluators to take these
tests before they spent time and money to go to the location only to fail the written test and not be able to take the field test.
NSDA’s K-9 field tests were designed to duplicate actual search scenarios. After
passing these tests, field searches would, in fact, become easier to deal with by NSDA certified handler/K-9 teams.
NSDA also sought to provide free and/or easily affordable K-9 education. Therefore
they set out to have seminars which were held in the field and not in a hotel meeting room. Certifications were also offered at the
same time thus allowing handlers to get more
bang for their buck. In addition online training via the NSDA website along with always-available PODCASTS was also offered
to the SAR K-9 handlers free of charge. NSDA is starting on its second decade of
supporting the efforts of all search and rescue personnel as they enhance their knowledge and capabilities in the field of search and rescue canines. It is now essential and fitting for SAR K-9 handlers to give NSDA the support that the Alliance has given to them.
If NSDA is going to continue to grow as the
Voice of K-9 Search and Rescue, handlers in the SAR community need to work together with the Alliance to further NSDA’s national
certification program and to introduce it to the law enforcement community as a highly competent sign of the holder’s proficiency in
K-9 SAR. Alliance is defined by Merriam-Webster as a union between people, groups, etc.; a relationship in which people agree to work together. NSDA is continuing to strive to
become that union for the SAR K-9 community but cannot do it without the cooperation of SAR K-9 handlers and their
teams. Together we can do it all; singularly we are a voice lost in the wilderness.
Support NSDA in your community, your state and nationally. Become a member. Obtain
your NSDA certification. Continue to put NSDA on the national scene and let NSDA be your voice as no other SAR organization has
ever been.
