Visiting the Thai Volunteer SAR Dog Team

This last month, the American Rescue Dog Association (ARDA) was asked to come to Thailand by the Thai Volunteer Search and Rescue Dog team in order to train with them and provide some insight from our perspective on how they were doing. I was one of the lucky ones to go and represent ARDA, along with my teammate and ARDA President, Jennifer Massey.


The trip was a very successful and wonderful experience, and I wanted to just capture everything I could here for those that are interested and haven't had the opportunity to hear about it first hand from me.

The trip there:



Russia

 My team mate, Jennifer, and I left the Virginia area in about 50 degrees weather temperature. It was hard deciding what to pack and bring not knowing what kind of weather we would have there, or have upon our return. We also wanted to pack as much as we could, but not be inundated with luggage that could possibly get separated from us. We arrived at the airport in Dulles and started our adventure. First leg was to Chicago. That was easy. Second leg was to Japan. That was harder. Seventeen hours in the plane. You can only read so much, watch movies so much, and eat so much. What I didn't get to do so much was sleep. We flew over Russia, which was exciting.  The views of the snow covered mountains were awesome to see.  On our descent into Japan, I was excited to see the landscape of a country I've had the pleasure of living in before (1982-1984). I knew I was not in America anymore by looking at the traffic driving on the opposite side of the road. When we landed, I was excited to see all things Japanese. From the large school group of kids in their uniforms walking by, to the stores with the Japanese items for sale and the prices marked in Yen, to the people speaking in a language I could recognize from so long ago (although I was only catching phrases). Sadly, all these things I witnessed were only for about 30 minutes before we boarded our next plane for the last leg of our journey to Thailand. On this last leg, I again really didn't get any sleep during the next six hours. I spent my time brushing up on my Thai that I had learned before the trip. I spoke with a flight attendant to confirm my accent and phrases, and I felt prepared for when I'd arrive. I also was wondering about the team we would be visiting. From everything leading up to this point, I didn't know all that much. I'd seen pictures of their team on Facebook, but had shared only brief "comments" on various photographs. Jennifer had a better idea than I did, but even hers, she admitted, was not as clear as we Americans would have liked. One of the things I learned from this trip about our differences is how we plan. In my work, I've been taught that any job you expect to be successful needs to have 80% planning, 15% execution and 5% follow up. We had a rough schedule set up, and goals we hoped to accomplish, but we felt we were arriving in Thailand not as fully prepared as we Americans would expect to be.

The Arrival:

Sprite, Coke, and Bhat

 We arrived in the dark. I couldn't see much of Thailand from the air during our descent, but once in the airport terminal, I knew again we were not in Kansas anymore. I got to get my newly acquired passport it's first Visa stamp, and broken in. Happily our baggage was fine, and we were able to figure our way to where we needed to be for a shuttle. We updated our Facebook pages with the news of our safe arrival and marveled at the time zone difference (exactly 12 hours ahead of us in Virginia) and the length of time to get there. During the 30 minute shuttle ride to the hotel, we were trying to "See Bangkok", but it was midnight and not too much to observe. One thing I noticed were the side-street markets/stops/stores that were still open with people sitting and eating. I was later told by one of our hosts that the Thai people eat all day long! We arrived at our hotel, checked in and gave instructions for a wake-up call in four hours (we were scheduled to get picked up by the team and get right to training!). I got to use my Thai words for the first time and went to bed happy that I hadn't gotten any funny looks. I also downed some room service of some chicken/pork/beef Satay and an icy cold beer! If the food was going to be anything like this, then I knew I was in for a wonderful time eating.


Day 1:

I met the first member of the Thai Volunteer SAR Dog team, May, in the lobby of the hotel the next morning. I greeted her with a bow and a Thai greeting but also added in a good old fashion hug. That made an impression! Happily, her English, as with many of the people we met, had a great command of the language and we could talk and joke with each other easily. We boarded a van with a hired driver who was a professional at driving and headed out to the first training location to meet up with the rest of the team. But our first stop was to get some breakfast. We flew all the way to Thailand, and our first meal out on town was non-other than McDonald's! But this McD's had a Thai touch, with a welcoming Ronald statue out front giving the traditional Thai greeting. And instead of Apple pies, you had your choice of either a corn pie or pineapple pie. One of their members and I also walked next door to the Starbucks for a coffee! With breakfast down, we continued on our ride to the training location. But first a momentary break at a street side rest stop. Here's where I got to use my Thai currency for the first time buying the first of many, many, many Cokes. Also I learned about the many different style toilets that would be found on this trip. This one at the stop had no paper and no way of flushing it other than dipping a bowl in a bucket of water and pouring it into the toilet. You also didn't sit on it, but stood on it. And if needed, there was a handy hose with a kitchen sink styled nozzle to used to rinse clean.

Our first training was at a farm where there were banana and rubber trees as well as fish. Even though it was still early in the morning, the heat of the day was rising. Some farm workers that were also helpers with the team made some shade for the dogs and handlers. We met the majority of the team by this point and thankfully they all went by easier names thank their real Thai ones. We met Kate, Pop, Joe, Apple, May, and several others. Also in attendance was Kate and Pops daughter, Pin. Just like you might see in a training here in Virginia where kids of members are sometimes in attendance, the same was going on in Thailand.

We started off with taking a look at how they run a typical training. We watched the dogs do run-aways down a path and also a small area search. The dogs were either labs, or German shepherd, and even a Cocker spaniel named Milo. First impressions that Jen and I had with the team was that their members were professional, were on the right track doing training, and had some nice looking dogs. We quickly learned their dog’s names, and just like in America where it seems we remember the dog’s names more than the handlers, we made quick friends with the likes of Longgong, Milo, Sinci, and Almond. They also had a good set of helpers that were not dog handlers but willing and eager to hide from the dogs. Jen and I made several suggestions and tips after watching all the dogs run through a few problems. We stressed the importance of the lost subject (helper) playing and rewarding the dog properly and allowing the dog to return with their earned reward toy. They all listened with the aid of an interpreter and learned very quickly what we were hoping to get across. We worked a little bit more and then took a break from the middle part of the day, which was getting quite hot.

We drove into the city of Chanthaburi and ate at a small open air restaurant. You could see what was on the menu at the front of the building. I picked out the red pork and rice, which was delicious. We all also shared pork satay. It was here that I really learned about the Thai peoples good nature and genuine personalities. And their sense of humor was awesome. Jen and I also learned a very important lesson at this lunch…how to eat the food. Given a spoon and a fork, we at first were stabbing everything with our forks and putting it in our mouth as at home. But in Thailand, you eat with the spoon and use the fork to push your food around and onto your spoon. If not told about this, Jen and I would have gone the whole trip eating like an unknowing tourist!

Dinner was at a wonderful restaurant in a private room. We talked about our organization (ARDA) and our methods and about other organizations and answered their team’s questions. We presented them with ARDA books and tee-shirts. At this dinner, I earned my nickname of “the chameleon” since I would eat hot peppers and my face would turn red!

Our accommodations for the next two days were these cool private cabins. Behind the cabin was a mountain stream with fresh water and fish in it. The cabin had the firmest bed I’ve ever slept in my entire life, but I slept great!










Day 2:

This time we went to a rock quarry where we worked on rubble. We started off however with one of the best breakfasts Jen and I have ever had, with many new and tasty things that we’ve never heard of before. We noted that back at home, when we would eat at a training, we eat “on the fly”, stuffing things down alone. In Thailand, everyone ate together before getting started. Once started, we worked the dogs in and around the rocky terrain. It wasn’t the best of conditions for true rubble or “urban” training as it was practically impossible to hide the subjects down and out of site of the dogs. Using cracks in the rocks, we were able to hide the subjects and covered them up with tarps. We did some call outs, area searches, overhead, and multiple subject searching. Jen and I again offered some tips on training methods to strengthen drive or a bark, but were still impressed with their dogs and team members. The neat thing about this training site was that it was in the shade of the cliffs for much of the morning and a strong breeze was being pushed along through the area. But once the sun made its way up over the ridge line, the sun just beat down on us. Jen and I took turns working with the dogs, and also hiding. Also, the helpers the team had again proved to be very good at hiding from the dogs.

To beat the heat again, we took off for lunch. This time we went to the beach to have a nice ocean side lunch under a covered picnic pavilion. We were on the edge of the Gulf of Thailand, and the water looked too inviting not to go in. So I switched into my swimsuit and went for a swim with a couple of the teams dogs! The water was great!



Presentation on Selecting a SAR Dog

Lunch was an assortment of seafood (crabs, clams, etc.) and chicken, along with a tasty baggy of coconut milk and followed by some ice-cream. Once lunch was done, Jen gave two presentations on her laptop on selecting a dog to become a candidate for search and rescue work. It was the most scenic location to ever hold a seminar. Once the day started getting cooler, we returned to the quarry for some more training and then took a short break to see some sites in Chanthaburi.






I felt like a stripper coming out of a cake!


We then headed to a nearby school to do some building searching in the gymnasium. We worked the dogs in darkness inside, where they had to find me either hidden behind a door in a storage room, or in the middle of a stage. The most interesting was a play on the sitting on top of a ladder in the middle of a dark room and having the dog search for you. Since we didn’t have a ladder, I hid in a stack of truck tires. When the dogs would find me in the middle of the gym, I’d pop up and reward the dog and do my best not to get pulled over. After working all the dogs several times, we headed off to dinner.

Dinner was at an open air market. Tons of food of all types being sold everywhere you looked. Jen was more brave than I was when it came to trying all the foods passed to her, but I’d like to think I was pretty open myself.

Day 3:

Waking up in the private cabin was great. I was in range of free Wi-Fi, and was able to update my Facebook and do some emailing from my phone. The sound of geckos and the stream outside was very peaceful. For breakfast, we drove into the city to the market and walked along the streets looking at all the vendors selling everything from turtles and eels to popcorn! We bought a lot of food for breakfast and returned to cabins to dine on the back porch of Pop and Kate’s. After breakfast, we enjoyed watching Pop and their dogs Sinci and Milo go for a swim along with his daughter Pin.



After breakfast, we had a little bit of time to do some site seeing in Chanthaburi before heading into Bangkok to meet up with the rest of the team. Today’s training was a seminar where various prospective members were invited along with some local officials and dog handlers from different agencies. Jen and I gave a talk about building drive, took a look at each dog one at a time and offered tips and advice about what they might be working on or goals with the dog, and spoke about dogs behaviors in general. We also were able to demonstrate agility. Unfortunately, nightfall came too soon, and we ended this training before getting all the dogs out a second time.


Jen shows how to keep a dogs attention and control
while Mim translates

 






I got to check the play drive of a lot of dogs.



Jen shows how to use treats to entice Milo over the ladder.



Jen and I moved into our next accommodation at one of the hotels in the center of Bangkok. If not for the assertiveness of the driver that the team had hired, we would have gotten to our hotel much later than we did! Sometimes reaching speeds of 85mph on open stretches, or honking at cars to move out of the way, or even cutting around them or across service roads! We were in downtown Bangkok, and it was a different world than the country side. After bidding a good night to those that came with us to drop us off, we checked into the hotel and then headed out for a short walk on the main streets. We looked at all the vendors, shrines, and buildings and did a little bit of shopping. Bangkok is a very bustling city, especially at night time. There was so much to see, but so little time.

Day 4:



Eating in the hotel, we didn’t get to have a traditional or authentic Thai breakfast, but it was still good and filling. Jen and I then met up with Mim in the lobby and took off for our last bit of training. This time Jen and I were giving a couple PowerPoint presentations on the use of SAR dogs. This was a joint lecture where we were joined with another presenter who spoke on the topic of injuries and conditioning of the working dog. After this part of the day was completed, we were officially over with our ARDA involvement with the Thai Volunteer SAR Dog team. Jen and I were presented with TSARD team shirts and we presented them with several small gifts. We had a joint lunch at the school where we had the presentation and then said many good byes to those that we would not see again for the remainder of our trip.

Buying some coconut milk

After lunch, we started our last evening in Bangkok, and we finished it with a bang (no pun intended!). We were taken to the Sunday Market, which is an enormous outdoor/indoor shopping district. Vendors selling everything from clothes, jewelry, pottery, food, artwork, and even animals. We even saw a squirrel wearing a Santa hat for sale! I thought about getting this, but didn’t think I’d be able to get on a plane with it! We saw performers as well. The market was so crowded with vendors and people that it was a literal maze and hard to navigate through. Pickpockets were rampant here, so Jen wore her backpack on her front side and my wallet was buried deep in my front pocket. One of the team members, and now our good friend, guided us through the throngs of people and kept us on schedule. He also assisted with bartering for items. I enjoyed using my Thai to say things like “how much”, “I don’t want this”, “thank you” and “hello”. It was funny, because I asked what was the phrase to say when you come to an accepted offer after bartering and agree to buy the item thinking there was some formal saying or Thai word…they said that I should simply say, “okay”!

We were whisked away from the market with some other planned outing. We were scheduled to meet up with several other team members at a dock on the river to take a dinner cruise. We rushed onto first the train, and from there a taxi. If not for our companion, we would have been woefully lost on the train system and taxi’s…or had been slowed down at a tremendous amount anyway. When we got to the place where we were to meet the boat for the cruise, we were too late. It had already left without us. But apparently, somehow communication was sent to the boat and the boat captain was willing to turn the boat around and return to the dock to pick us up! This was amazing to Jen and I that we were able to jump on board and make the dinner. During the dinner, this was the one time that I saw a lot of other Caucasians. I hadn’t seen any really before other than a couple in the Sunday Market. This cruise was wonderful in so many ways. This was our last Thai dinner in the country, and there was on-board entertainment with traditional Thai dancing and music. But the most spectacular were the views of all the palaces and shrines along the riverside.

Good times with good friends.

After dinner and our return to land, we were given a tour of the city. We were too late to go inside the king’s palace, but we did get some great views of it from the outside. We said our farewells after a late night and Jennifer and I spent the remainder of the evening packing. Our hosts were very generous and made sure we had several gifts to remember their team and Thailand before we left…this, on top of what Jennifer and I bought ourselves, made for some very creative packing!

The Flight Back:

Headed home seemed faster than our coming…and it was literally. With strong tail winds we were able to shave off a little over two hours of flying time. We did have a little longer lay over in Japan, but still not enough to exit the airport and see or do anything. So we just shopped in the duty free stores of the airport and updated our Facebook pages again. Landing in Chicago, we exited the airport to walk to our next flight to D.C.. We were greeted by a cool blast of cold air. It was very refreshing and although we could have taken a shuttle train to our next terminal, walking outside was a nice change from sitting for hours on end. The neat thing with all these flights was that there were little maps that showed you where you were at, and how high and fast the plane was flying. It was great seeing on the screen home getting closer and closer. Coming in for a landing in the dark, I knew I was back in the land of traffic, overcrowding, and hectic lifestyles when I saw the thousands of lights and vehicles on the roads as far as I could see.

Just a few thoughts:

The Thai Volunteer SAR Dog team members are all very professional and have a clear goal of what they want to accomplish. It’s our hopes that our visit will help them on their way to achieving the results they are looking for. Jennifer and I were proud to represent the American Rescue Dog Association and our training methods with them. Just like in America, where teams do public appearances and in doing so, promotes wilderness safety or dog safety, their team does the same. They demonstrate some skills and even donate blood from their dogs. One thing they promote as an add-on to their program is how to be a good pet owner.

The Thai people are a wonderful people. They have such a long history, are friendly, and have great senses of humor. They were understanding if we did not know any customs (it’s rude to eat and walk around in the market, don’t point your foot at something, much less a person, don’t touch someone on the head) and patient with us. They made sure we were very well taken care of and even went above and beyond. They are tolerant of different religions and also have a great respect for the elderly. I asked how to you call someone over to you with your hand, and learned how to call a peer or a child, but they stressed you NEVER call an elderly person over to you…you go to THEM.

The training areas were interesting. The wilderness contained vegetation that was not only dense, but could also be very hazardous. Because of the spikes on several plant species, the dogs can not wear vests while working. The urban was either an intact building, or a quarry. They can not find any true rubble, which will be a necessity for pursuing any kind of urban training. Trying to find a collapsed building and getting approval to work on it is apparently hard, and making a pile is unheard of.

It was interesting to note that they train very similarly to methods that we do in America. There were only a very few differences. One difference is that they remove their dogs from their vehicles and tie them out in the shade at training.

The issues they have, just like we do, are:
1) Finding suitable training locations.

2) Finding sponsors or supporters to assist with funding.

3) Trying to determine if a dogs drive is sufficient enough to be able to turn it into a SAR dog.

There are four different types of dogs in Thailand:

1) The street dog that is a stray. This dog is usually very skinny, has no collar. It is ignored and just lays about where ever it wants.



The dog is not hit...it is just sleeping there in the road.



2) The street dog that is cared for, wears a collar, but free to roam wherever it likes.

3) The little “Paris Hilton” type dogs complete with clothes and carrying bags.  These dogs are very much pampered.



4) The working dogs like the members of the TSARD have or the metro transit authority police have. They are their pets, but have a job.



O-Lieng means "Iced Black Coffee"





To our new Thai friends, we say Sa-wat-dee Kah and Sa-wat-dee kraup!



For more pictures of wonderful Thailand, please visit these photo albums:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=257331&id=718523706&l=8bd18e23e3

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=257336&id=718523706&l=ee96bf0c74

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=257329&id=718523706&l=c0d747094a

What's It Like...

I was asked recently what it's like to do volunteer search and rescue with my dog.  An easy enough question, but not so to answer.  Thinking about it now, and forming an answer to myself, I have to wonder why I do it even... 

The map above shows the searches I've responded to in just Virginia.

There's the commitment:

So many people contact my team interested in joining. One of my responsibilities with the team is to answer their inquiries. In doing so, I briefly outline the level of dedication that will be needed. Time, money, sweat, mileage, and more time. A large number never respond back to me. Others more daring, and feel it is still something they would like to do, arrange to come out to a training to see what goes on. Of those, many never come back out. But still some do. Of those that come several times and decide to embark on this journey they will put in an application and join the team and start training with their dogs...for upwards of 2-3 YEARS before they become certified as a dog team with their canine. And from joining to certification, I have been told before in the past that a mere 9% make it to becoming certified. Of those that become certified, even less stick around long enough to train a second dog when the first one retires or passes away. It's rare to find anyone that's been involved in search and rescue for longer than ten years. The turnover rate is fairly high. Anyone that has been doing it longer than ten years becomes a "dinosaur"...a highly trained, highly skilled, highly dedicated dinosaur, but a dinosaur none-the-less.




There's the impact on personal life:

Along the road to becoming certified, comes the obvious issues...buying gear, traveling far, and managing time. The biggest issue would be time. Consider that I train pretty much every Sunday of the month and once during the week if possible. Sometimes there are weekend long and even WEEK long trainings. This makes it hard to spend time with my fiancé, hard to schedule things with family and friends, and hard to feel like I've had a relaxing weekend before heading back to work. Usually what happens is my one true day off each week is reserved for catching up with work around the house. For my first dog, Hero, Lori did an amazing amount of training with me, which really helped minimize the times that I would normally not have been with her. Together, she and I trained Hero. And this is just trainings...Then there are the searches...

Above are two missing persons fliers that I've received at searches.  As you can see, some are professionally done with tons of information, and others are done on the fly with just scanning a photo and handwriting information before copying.

Searches:

One thing I said in answer to the person asking me about SAR was that I've seen the best in humanity and the worst in humanity...often times during the course of the same search. When I was in full swing with responding to searches, I would get called out for a search on average once a month. Sometimes it would be more frequently, sometimes a month would go by with nothing. And when you get called out, here are the times that it happens:

1) When you're at work
2) When you've JUST gotten home from a long hard day at work
3) When it's 1:00am
4) When the weather is blizzarding, or hot and humid
5) When you're in a movie theater
6) When it’s New Years Eve
7) When it's 2 miles from home or when it's 250 miles from home.

In a personal search report, you can see I was celebrating Hero's birthday after just getting home from work. And while on the way, the missing person was found.

When responding to a search, a large portion of the missing people are found before you can get there. You might just be leaving your house after having packed up your gear, suited up (and not to forget your dog!), and hitting the road ~ which is nicer than, getting turned around when you're just a few miles from the scene. It's great that they were found, and even better if they were found alive and well...but there's something inside that is still just a little disappointed that I wasn't able to get my dog out and do a task. More often, I would make it to a search scene and it would be any number of environments. I've arrived at a search where it's set up like a small city, with hundreds of people. Searchers, law enforcement, management, media, family, and general public all doing whatever they can. Other times I've pulled up and been the first responder there and having to be the first one out into the field. When that happens, you get to make your own task, and leave information on where you went and for what you might recommend for the next searchers to arrive. Some searches are based out of fire stations or churches...others are based right out of the missing persons front yard....and others out of a squad car at the beginning of a trailhead.

A web article of a search after very high temperatures that caused one dog to have to get carried back in out of the field and me only working Hero in short 20-30 minute segments at the risk of him overheating.  Ironically, this search was in an area where we used to train all the time!  So we were pretty familiar with the area.  This article also mentions all the agencies and teams that responded together.

Some searchers don't really want to read the news stories about the missing person, or get to know too much about them. I'm not one of them. I like to put their "human-ness" to them. That helps with motivating me to get out of bed in the middle of the night to head out on a search, or makes me take that much more care with looking for clues and completing my coverage of my assigned sectors. But the toll is that you see some really bad things that really bad people can do to others. Family members sexually assaulting family members, children killed for making a simple mistake, children raped and buried, a mother killing her own daughter and saying she was abducted, a family friend killing a daughter and stealing her money out of an ATM. And the tragic things, like a small boy visiting the area running away from the house he was staying at because he was afraid of dogs that lived there and being found too late, or a man that drowned because he jumped off the boat to save a child that had flipped off an innertube being towed behind and panicked, or two teenaged youths stealing a canoe for a quick "joyride" around a lake and flipping it and drowning. Even a man that for whatever reason went off on his own to end his life with a handgun. And also a woman that shot herself while sitting under a tree with a picture of her family in her lap. Some tragic things can even be done by Mother Nature. Responding to the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans after Katrina & Rita showed me peoples lives being washed away...literally. Seeing where their last moments were in an attic waiting for help with nothing but a bag of Cheez-Its and a bible or being washed into a fence with thousands of boards and debris, or even under a house, makes me appreciate what I have and makes me think how I might go out and would I have any control on how when it's my time. Coming home from these searches is always very emotionally draining. But the UPSIDE is seeing the best in humanity, like the older neighbors that aren't fit enough to go hiking about but are able to carve hiking staffs for the searchers, or set out food and drink. Or the children that aren't trained searchers, but remembered seeing the photo of the missing woman and stumbling across her in the woods and getting a cab to drive them into the base camp to say they saw her. And even better are the times when the missing person is found alive, when a dog catches scent in the middle of the night and takes off 200 yards to the missing people and jumps around on them all happy, or the searcher that looks where you wouldn't expect to find someone (like in a culvert under a road) and finding the person who answers back "I'm okay" when asked if they were alright...like it was nothing but just being normal laying under a road!

You may have noticed, but I was able to pull out of my head way too many "sad endings" than "happy endings"...all too often, that's just the case really. But bottom line, people are happy that we either bring closure, or help them START closure, by bringing their loved ones home one way or another.

A picture of Hero and I about to head out on a search task.

There's the reward:

All the people on my team are people that I would normally not ever have met from the circles I run with. Pretty much everyone comes from a different background, or enjoys different things. The only thing we have in common is our drive to do the volunteer work with our dogs and enjoying the outdoors and using our skills to help people. But of all the people on my team, and the others that I've met on other teams, every single one of them is doing it for the right reasons, and I would be comforted to know that they would be looking for me if ever I was lost. They are the best group of people I could ever hope to meet.

Then there's the thanks we receive from the community.  Getting a personal thanks from a family member, even after the results of the search may not have been what all had hoped for, is a very touching thing.  One mother of a drowned child said afterwards "This was my sons last gift to give...that it brought all the people of the community together".

And working with my dog is amazing. I enjoy having the relationship with him where he is my pet where I can laugh at him and scratch my head wondering why he does half the stuff he does, but also where he is my partner and I'm seeing him grow into his own where he's learning his skills, and has a working mentality when the orange vest goes on and the words "Find ‘Em" is said to him. If he's going to be anything like my last dog, then I'll be extremely lucky. He's what's keeping me doing this. He's what turned me into a dinosaur last year. Doing this for a hair under eleven years is all because he enjoys what he's doing, and because he is, I am too.

3 Days of SAR

Probably the only thing missing from these last three days was an actual search call out.  Everything from a team training, to running a test for another handler and dog, to a huge demonstration happened and I'm just finally getting a moment to sit down and relax.  It's what I do with my days off when away from work...

Sunday was a team training day at a fabulous park, Caledon Natural Area, where eagles soar over the river banks and pristine woodlands.  I always like going to this location.  Not long ago it was on the chopping block for being closed down to the public due to budget issues within the park system (and really state).  But better heads prevailed, and the park remains open.  I always enjoy looking for eagles in flight when I'm there.  This training was a special one, because we took a break in the middle of the day to honor several of our canines that have died this year for various reasons.  2010 has been a bad year for search and rescue dogs in our group, and for SAR dogs in general it seems!  On our mobile command post trailer, we list the names of our dogs that have gone but are not forgotten.  This weekend we honored them by adding their names, saying a little something about them, and reading a short poem.  In attendance were prior team mates, newbies to the team, old dinosaurs like myself that have been on the team for over ten years, and one of the park rangers.  It was a moving ceremony, and it was sad to see that the space on the side of the trailer is filling up faster than we might have hoped.

Here I'm adding the names of our dogs that are gone but not forgotten

Another neat thing about Caledon is that when you work certain search problems, you stand the chance of running by the rivers edge.  It's always very scenic, and great to take a quick moment to let your dog cool off in the water before continuing on.  Other times I've intentionally hid someone right at the waters edge so it would serve as a distraction to a dog that LOVES the water and would possibly abandon searching for the moment to get a chance to take a dip!  My last dog, Hero, was a dog that loved the water.  One time long ago, we were searching along the high ridge-line above the waters edge...really a cliff in some areas, and what follows is his adventure.  Hero did well not getting distracted by the call of the refreshing water and did his searching as he was expected to.  When he was done, I was going to allow him to go into the water and told him "Let's go swimming!"...well, he took the most direct route to the waters edge and went right over the cliff bouncing down the side about 50 feet until he reached the bottom where he promptly went into the water and laid down in it all happy as could be.  This location was at the end of a road called "Lookout Road"...that in itself should cause you to wonder...you can go to this point at the end of the road and look out over the water taking in a fantastic view.  Hero could not come back up that same point, so had to run down the shoreline until he came to a drainage where he could make it back up.

Flash forward to this last Sunday.  Sirius just completed a fantastic trail problem, and I saw that we were at Lookout Road.  Remembering the water was right there, I said, "Let's go swimming!"...Sirius went right to the edge of the cliff and jumped down it as well!  I was right at the edge with him, thinking that we would look together for a good place for him to go down.  I looked over the side and thought no way would that be good...but before I could direct him away, down he went...sliding at first, causing a landslide of loose soil, then a controlled "jump/fall" over a tree branch, and then two bounds descending 50 feet to the bottom where he, just like Hero, went right into the water happy as a clam!  Sirius could not get back up the side, but he tried several times.  I tried directing him to go along the shoreline to the drainage that I remembered was somewhere nearby, but he didn't listen to that and instead kept trying to climb back up. Every time he tried climbing back up, he slid back down...so worried that he would hurt himself I put myself over the side and slid all the way down on my butt digging in with both feet and both hands to slow my decent as best as I could.  When I got to the bottom, I was able to meet up with one of my walkers that had come along and had found a manageable way to get down AND back up a little ways down the shore.  Together, all of us got back up to the top, and I got quite the laughs when people saw my muddy backside!  Another moment worth noting is that I've taken Hero's bell that he wore when searching and have given it to Sirius to wear.  After Hero died, and I got Sirius, I started over with things that were not Hero's...new leashes, new search dog vests, new collars, and new toys.  I felt it would be nice for Sirius to carry back into the field something that was Hero's, and during this training day was the first day that he did so.  It was nice to hear the tinkling of the bell because I had heard it so often with Hero, that it's a special sound to me and makes me think he is there whispering into Sirius' ear "focus on the scent...ignore that deer...don't get too far ahead of David".

Then comes Monday.  It's test day for one of my team mates, and I'm administering it.  I'm usually known with my elaborate story lines that I use for the missing person.  Another team mate, who shall go nameless, volunteered to hide for this Open Field test (where the dog and handler have to search about 30-40 acres in approximately one hour) at Great Meadow in their pristine polo fields.  The story for him was that he was a horse rider who was known for his flamboyance and clumsiness.  He was last seen wearing magenta, mauve, salmon, chartreuse and azul colored silks doing some jumping.  His horse came back to the stable without him, so a search was in order.  My team mate, Robin, and her dog Leah, worked the problem great paying no mind to the heat and humidity.  They passed, and are now one test down with five more to go!  Congratulations to Robin and Leah!

We finished up the morning with a nice open field search for Sirius, and his recall/refind (where after he finds the person, he leaves them and comes back to get me telling me he's found them by jumping on me, and we run back together) must have been 150 yards!  Seeing it in the open field setting was great because normally you can't really see where your dog has gone when they've gotten into scent and have to wait until they come back to indicate that they've made the find.  In the field, I could watch him go all the way to the person and come back to me like a bullet!

Then comes Tuesday...the last of three full days of SAR.  And we saved the biggest for the last!  If ever you want to test your dogs temperament and confidence (and patience), sign up to go to the Stafford County Sheriffs office annual DARE Day.  The 9th Annual DARE Day was held at Pratt Park in Fredericksburg.  Between the hours of 9:30 am and 12:30 pm, TWO THOUSAND fifth graders were bused in to see cool things like helicopters, emergency vehicles, police dog demonstrations, kite flying and parachuting.  Also to participate in fun activities like games and even fencing!  Well, my search team has attended numerous DARE Days, and you have to have the right dog to pull this event off!  Sirius and I, along with Autumn and Cooper and Cathy H. attended this year, and it was a blast.  There were SO many kids wanting to meet our dogs.  Sure there were other dogs there, but they were police dogs that could not be pet.  So if you want to pet a dog there were only a very few to choose from!  Sirius must have met more people in these few hours than he has his in his whole life!

We set up a "booth" at my car, where many people came by to say "Hi", meet the dogs and look at some items that we had pulled out of our vehicles to show what we carry when we go searching (flashlights, helmet, compass, powder, maps, etc.) and passed out fliers on how to be safe when hiking.  We also did several demonstrations of the dogs "finding" someone and of their obedience skills.  And periodically took turns doing a walk through the park area to meet people.  What would normally be a five minute walk to one end of the fields and back turned into almost an hour!  Every ten feet you'd meet up with more kids wanting to pet your dog, get their picture taken with them, and even get autographs.  For fun, if the kids had paper to sign, I had Sirius bite the paper and then I'd sign it with an arrow showing his tooth mark!  Other times it was just signing their tee-shirts...I didn't ask Sirius to bite those!  It was hard to even get a moment alone...I was trying to walk Sirius off to the side of the fields so he could go to the bathroom, but kids were shouting, "Can I pet your dog?!"  or "Can I get your autograph?!".  Sirius ended up peeing right in the middle of the field and while he was peeing, a kid came over and was petting him!  Sirius never stopped and just dealt with it!  When we got home, Sirius got a nice cheeseburger from McD's for being so good.  And now as I'm writing this, he's been sleeping soundly at my side.  I'd love to pet him, but I think he's had enough for today!  I think I'll just join him instead.

Mississippi Bound for NASAR

Sirius and I had the honor of being sent to this years National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) annual conference representing the American Rescue Dog Association (ARDA), which is our organization  (VSRDA is the Virginia unit of ARDA).  The neat thing about these annual conferences (besides being held in various parts of the country) is that you get to spend several days with fantastic people AND dogs.  The days are filled with very interesting lectures.  I got to bring Sirius on this trip, which was his first big travel involving airplanes, shuttle buses, hotel rooms, and to his delight, room service.  Having him there was awesome...he was such a great travel companion.  He helped break the ice in meeting people, guarded my room against evil doers in the hallways of the hotel, and sat patiently next to me in each lecture I attended.  This entry will be mostly about his adventure.

Woofin' the friendly skies...

...well, actually not "woofin"...Sirius was quiet as a mouse the entire time traveling to Mississippi.  He was such a hit that even the pilots came out after landing to meet him and get their picture with him.  Above is a photo of me taking a picture of a pilot with his camera and Sirius.

The dog that was and wasn't there

Traveling with a dog is very interesting.  Walking through the airport with a dog like Sirius gets lots of attention.  But he was so well mannered that sometimes people didn't see him if he wasn't moving.  One lady came over and sat next to us while we were waiting to board the plane and we engaged in some light conversation.  Sirius then sat up after a few minutes and she was startled and asked where did he come from.  I explained that he was always there right at my feet.  She was amazed she missed him and stated that if she had known he was there, she wouldn't have sat near me!  And after getting off the plane on one of the legs, people saw Sirius after debarking (no pun intended) and were amazed that there was a dog on the flight the whole time and that they never knew it.  They said they knew of the loud kids and babies onboard, but never heard a single woof or whine from Sirius!

Above is a video of Sirius during boarding

Other times Sirius drew LOTS of attention.  You can easily separate the dog people from the non-dog people by their reactions.  Those that loved Sirius would stop in their tracks and watch him go by.  I'd hear out of the side of my ear "Look at that beautiful dog!".  Some would go out of their way to come over and meet him.  Even the pilots would learn he was on board and rush out of the cabin after landing to meet him.  Flight attendants made sure to offer him ice or water before they offered anyone anything else.  Sirius was just bummed they didn't serve Milk-bones on the flight!  One Air Force service member came over and sat near us waiting for one flight.  We were talking for a bit about dogs and Sirius' training.  She was on her way leaving home for duty somewhere far.  What amazed me was she thanked ME for what I was doing with volunteer search and rescue.  I was floored and taken aback that a military soldier would thank ME because I'm usually the first to thank THEM for all that they do.  The last bit of attention we got was going through one of the security check points.  Here is where obedience training comes in very handy.  I couldn't go through the metal detector with Sirius, nor could I let him go through with his collar and leash.  So I had to put him in a "down" and go through alone...then I would call to him to "come" and have him go through the detector.  One time he was simply frisked by hand, but the last time was very interesting.  Even though neither of us beeped going through, they decided they wanted a closer look.  They had Sirius and I go into a glass room and wait to be escorted to the side for further examination.  They frisked him again, but also myself.  They used the wand on both of us even.  They also checked my boots and camera for explosive residue by swabbing them and putting the swabs in an analyzer.  They looked through every single thing I was bringing on board, even thumbing through my book "K9 Heroes"!  It was a funny moment when they looked at Sirius' leather tug toy with strapping attached and they couldn't figure out what it was.  Sirius was looking at it like he was about to pounce on it for a nice bit of tugging, which would have been bad!  The screeners were very friendly asking all about Sirius and the volunteer work I do and also thanked me for what I did.  They said that us coming through that morning made their day which was nice to hear.  I was sure to thank THEM for helping keep all us travelers safe.

Sirius napping in class.

Sirius was great in the lectures.  The main part of the conference involved the entire group regardless of what track people were in.  When we were all together, if there was clapping involved, that would get Sirius excited...he knows what clapping is from his many demonstrations and when he hears it he thinks he's done something good and gets excited.  But any other time, he simply lay there and would take naps.  When we broke up into our specific tracks (we were obviously in the SAR Dog Track),  there would be about twenty people in the rooms along with about six or seven other dogs.  At first, Sirius couldn't understand why he couldn't meet every dog he saw from a distance and got upset that he was being asked to just stay there calmly.  But after a while, he learned the drill and settled in.  Soon he was napping away in each lecture.  Occasionally he'd let out his trademarked Grumble which he produces when he was bored or trying to get comfortable.  This always was good for getting lots of smiles from those that heard him.  He'd also at times wake up and see what was going on, or move to another end of his leash to meet someone sitting near me.  I wouldn't be able to rely on him for any answers or notes as he slept in class almost as much as I did through high school!

Sirius at the Tunica Hotel

I had brought Hero to five NASAR conferences in the past.  It was nice to see people from those years remember and ask about him, and it was also nice to be able to introduce them now to Sirius.

Meet Sirius Black

This handsome gentleman is Sirius Black, the dog which this blog is named after.  He is a 2 yo German shepherd.  A lot of people think he's something else, maybe along the lines of a black lab.  But German shepherds can be all white and all black in addition to the more common black and tan coloring.

K-9 Sirius Black

This post will be about the story of how I came upon young Sirius.  He didn't come to me grown,  but rather a size so little that it was easy to just carry him in your arms.  His first SAR vest was a size small, and even that was baggy on him.  But he quickly outgrew it.

A small Sirius in his small vest shortly after I got him

The plan with search and rescue was that I was going to work Hero until he retired and then retire from it myself as well.  I was expecting him to continue working until he was between 10 and 12 years old (the later years just doing water recovery work) and have a nice easy transition.  I figured that after he was done, he could have the nice life relaxing at home and I'd have time to spend on things that had otherwise been taken up with SAR.  But with his untimely (and quick) death before he even reached the age of nine canceled all those plans.  I was not thinking I'd be stopping volunteer SAR so soon, but I wasn't thinking I'd run out and get another dog to continue on either.  I was at a crossroad...End SAR earlier than I thought, or continue on with another dog.

One of my team mates took my fiance and I out to dinner shortly after our loss, and I was explaining my thoughts about all this.  I did say that if I did end up getting another dog to continue SAR, it would have to look nothing like Hero, so would get an all black one.  We then added to the conversation that we should name such a dog "Sirius Black" after the Harry Potter character.

Sirius about to do a runaway with a recall/refind indication

Well the next day, my same team mate had me go out to Colonial K9 with her to scout out an area for our teams agility course to be built.  After parking we walked across the lot in the direction where the course would likely be built and low and behold, off to my left was a pen set up outside in the shade filled with lots of little black German shepherd puppies.  I steered over to take a look at them and quickly sized them all up.  I seperated the males from the females, seperated the obnoxioius barkers from the quiet ones, seperated the curious from the non-caring, and made eyecontact with them all.  One stood out that I was interested in.  We pulled him out of the group to see how he liked people..he loved us...we threw a ball and engaged him in play...he liked to play...he seemed perfect!  He even had a hunter orange string around his neck for his identifying color...truly a sign!

Sirius runs to the hiding person after being given the "find" command.

I left him there that day questioning if it was too soon to get another dog.  Another team mate in attendance gave these words of wisdom, "It can never be too soon, but it can be too long" before we all left.  I returned the next day with my fiance and her and I took him for a little stroll around the property.  We were very impressed that for his little size he was keeping up with us on some steep embankments...he really wanted to stay with us.  He did not care whatsoever about leaving the pen filled with all the other pups behind...he liked being free of them and hanging with us.  We "borrowed" him and took him to the shore of Leesylvania (where Hero was put down) to see if there would be some sort of sign maybe that we should take this new bundle of fur.  We feel close to Hero there, and we felt that it was right to take young Sirius and make him ours.

Since then, Sirius as grown to be a fantastic dog.  He's smart, funny, and a happy go lucky kind of dog.  He just wants to be with his people.  He loves his work as a search and rescue dog.  He has his own nicknames, such as the Stealth Bomber, the Ninja, and Cereal.  He's building his reputation and making his mark.  Heck, he has his own Facebook page, team Trading Cards, and even his own team email!  Looking back on it, we're believing that I was "set up", and that my team mate knew there was a litter of little black GSD's at Colonial K9, and that's why I was asked to go the next day there with her...but she has never admitted it to this day!

Sirius has found the person and returned to me performing

his "jump" indication to say he's found them.

The original plan for search and rescue was that I at least do it for ten years, which was up last October, and if Sirius didn't seem to take to it or enjoy it, then I would call it quits and decide what to do next.  But if he were to really take off with it and in a sense decide himself that he likes it, I would keep doing it for as long as he liked.  Search and rescue has become fun for me again (after two years of staring at a crossroad), and our team has lots of good people and dogs that make it all that much more easier to keep coming out to trainings for, but what really is keeping me in the game is a great dog named Sirius Black.