Rocky is a four year old yellow Labrador Retriever. He has been trained to look for any person that might be lost. While some dogs will take a sniff of an article of clothing and then look for the person that the clothing belongs to, Rocky will get rewarded for finding anybody.

Below is a video of Rocky looking for someone hiding on the playground. (There is a spot where there is no audio in the video playback.) In the video, you can see Kim asking Rocky to search for a lost person. Rocky will run around the search area until he catches the scent of a person–any person. Then, Rocky runs back to bark at Kim, to let her know that she should follow him. When Rocky finds a lost person, he receives some treats and is told that he’s a good boy!

And here are some pictures of the scouts with the police and fire department vehicles:

A big thank you to Allan Hill, who was kind enough to take photos. His daughter is in boy Scouts and his son is a Wolf in the Cub Scouts.

Congratulations to Team Seamus for passing the IPWDA certifications this weekend for HRD-Land, HRD-Shoreline, and HRD-Water; Team Finn for HRD-Land; Team Booth for HRD-Land, HRD-Shoreline, and HRD-Water; Team Rocky for Wilderness Search – 40 Acres; Team Gunner for HRD-Land; Team Rey for Wilderness Search – 40 Acres; Team Gator for HRD-Land; and Team Rennes for Wilderness Search – 40 Acres.

Search Dog Network is gearing up for the Brazos Valley Gives campaign for 2020. Would you like to donate “matching funds?” Here is a summary of what that would mean:

* Donations would not be made online, they would be made (or pledged) directly to SDN, as early as October 1st, and as late as October 27th.

* “Matching funds” are intended to motivate other donors to contribute, so that their donations are “doubled.”

* Donors contributing “matching funds” can be recognized on our SDN web page, on the Brazos Valley Gives web page, on our FaceBook page, OR donors may remain anonymous.

* Organizations receiving $3000 or more in matching funds will be put in a drawing, eligible to receive $1000 more in donations from the event sponsors.

* SDN remains a 501c3 organization and a receipt for tax purposes will be sent for the amount donated. This page lists our current needs.

* Please email info@searchdogs.org to set up matching funds, or visit the Brazos Valley Gives web page for a regular donation October 1st – October 27th.

Search Dog Network assisted the Wortham, Texas Police Department in August. Canine Remi located the remains of the man, who had been missing for nearly a month. Here is a link to an article about the search.

Friends of Search Dog Network, we have chosen to participate in Brazos Valley Giving Day, an 18-hour event to be held on October 22, 2019. We humbly ask that you consider supporting us with a donation on that day, or beginning October 8th for pre-scheduled donations.

We are a 501(c)(3) organization that provides search services at no cost to the requesting agency.  Search Dog Network is a 100% volunteer team of unpaid professionals. We receive funds from our members, grants, and donations. Any funds donated will be used to purchase equipment to help us search more safely or effectively.

While our primary search area is the Brazos Valley (Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Milam, Robertson and Washington Counties in Texas), we respond outside of this area when contacted by Law Enforcement or when requested as mutual aid by another Search & Rescue resource.

Donations on the Brazos Valley Giving Day web page may start at $10, with no maximum limit, and are open to anyone inside or beyond the Brazos Valley. Receipts for tax purposes will be provided within an hour of donation.

Thank you for your support!

Search Dog Network’s mission is to train, certify, and deploy professional canine search teams to locate missing persons. In keeping with our mission, our canines participate in a national certification test every two years through the International Police Work Dog Association  (IPWDA). In collaboration with our response partners, SDN hosted this year’s test the first weekend of April. Throughout the weekend, 27 canine and handler teams from 7 canine search and rescue teams challenged the IPWDA certification standards for air scent, trailing, and human remains detection on land, shoreline, and water.

IPWDA testing for canine wilderness search involves an obedience and agility component. For the past couple of months, our canine teams have been practicing a group “down-stay,” walking at a heel, coming on command, walking across a plank, and allowing new people to load the dog into their car. Canine obedience both individually and in a group is crucial for the safety of dogs—especially in some of the terrain and weather conditions we face in this part of Texas.

The search portion of the test varies for each type of dog. Wilderness air scent dogs searched a 40 acre search segment, whereas human remains detection dogs searched a 2 acre segment (per IPWDA standards). Both testing scenarios have a time limit and could include up to two mock victims. Testing trailing dogs required more careful planning, because the mock victim had to lay a trail several hours in advance and remain in place until the search test was complete. These dogs used a scent object from the mock victim to help locate the trail.

Water test scenarios for human remains detection dogs included a shoreline test with the source a few feet underwater near a shoreline or involved the canine perching on the bow of a boat sniffing for source fully-submerged in a larger body of water. Water testing for canines is a more advanced skill that takes lots of practice. Search Dog Network is often called to help with water searches, so we practice water searching as frequently as we can.

Setting up testing was an intense team effort and required careful coordination of resources. SDN found a suitable testing location, mapped out search segments for each type of test, planned and coordinated the testing schedule with all the testing teams, recruited mock victims for the air scent tests, and managed the logistics of test days with resource tracking from the SDN trailer, on-site veterinary care, transportation, and refreshments for all those testing. While weather conditions were near-perfect during the first two testing days, intense storm forecasts for the third required on-the-fly adjustments to condense three days of testing into two so that all canine teams could safely test before the bad weather arrived. Our SDN testing coordinators, Matt Young and Teresa Medearis did an amazing job with these schedule changes and all testing teams were fairly accommodated.

In all, SDN certified 4 new canine handler teams and recertified 5 veteran canine handler teams, doubling our canine resources. Congratulations to all who challenged and passed the test!

• Kaitlin & K9 Sadie in Trailing
• Daniel & K9 RJ in Wilderness Air Scent
• Kim & K9 Seamus in Human Remains
• LaNell & K9 Remi in Human Remains

Recertified Handlers:

• Katie & K9 Aziva in Wilderness Air Scent and Human Remains
• Teresa & K9 Noggin in Human Remains
• Teresa & K9 Gator in Human Remains
• Jim & K9 Sonic in Wilderness Air Scent
• Matt & K9 Zapp in Human Remains

 

Photos are courtesy of Mark Garton.

Every year, Brazos Valley Search & Rescue (BVSAR) hosts an annual mock deployment exercise. BVSAR is a consortium of emergency response teams in the Brazos Valley who unite in response to missing and lost persons incidents. On Saturday, January 28^th, Search Dog Network joined members of BVSAR in the annual exercise at Grimes County at Gibbons Creek Reservoir. The mock search scenario was a response to a boating accident resulting in three missing people. Response partners for the exercise included Grimes County Fire Department, Bryan Fire Department, Washington County Fire Department, Rocky Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Shiro Volunteer Fire Department, Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), Citizens Air Patrol, the Center for Robot-Assisted Search & Rescue (CRASAR) from Texas A&M University, and the Grimes County Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT).

Water rescue teams from Bryan FD and Washington County FD deployed into the reservoir searching for the victims using assistance from both unmanned water and aerial vehicles. Ground searchers and a canine team deployed on land to search the thickly wooded land surrounding the reservoir. By the end of the day, all three victims (a live volunteer and two floating rescue dummies) were located. Practicing working together in a large scale exercise is vital for all the responding teams.

A water search scenario for the exercise was useful training for the responding teams because many real-life missions in recent years have been water-related. For Search Dog Network, two ground search teams deployed to search segments near the shoreline. SDN searchers wore the self-inflating personal flotation devices from our Water Rescue pack as a safety precaution because they were near the water. The Water Rescue pack is a recent addition to Search Dog Network resources and was funded through a donation to Search Dog Network from D. Grimm Inc.

Your dog’s eye is watering, sinks in and is reddened at times. Did he run into a mesquite shrub, get stung? Normal questions for SAR handlers and their trouble prone dogs! However, when the eye is involved, I recommend getting vet advice as soon as possible.

Brennan experienced these symptoms and despite multiple vet visits, he lost vision in the left eye and eventually had to have it removed. We had participated in the free eye exam for service dogs several times at Gulf Coast Eye Clinic in Houston with some minor problems noted in his eye lids and a comment about the angles of his eye. Our last visit was in 2011. I should definitely have paid more attention to understanding the impact of bad angles. (By the way, this is an awesome opportunity for SAR handlers and their partners and I highly recommend you take advantage of it if you are eligible!! See ACVO/Merial Service dog eye exams, usually offered in the spring.)

When the symptoms started, we treated him for an eye infection and he had a small mass on his shoulder that was a mast cell tumor. He was noted to be anemic during his pre op blood work, so we delayed the surgery. By the time we got his blood work more normal, the mass had disappeared. The eye had a small corneal ulcer that we also treated.

We were referred back to the Houston eye clinic and they got us in quickly, just to confirm that he was blind in the left eye and given the diagnosis of glaucoma. Treatment began – there were 3 sets of drops for the involved eye (2- 3 x day) and 1 set of drops for the other eye (2 x day).

By late September, we were losing the battle. The ulcer was progressing despite being trimmed and treated with antibiotics. He had been blind in the eye for some time with some compensation starting to evolve. The pressure in the eye was in the low 30s. Normal for a dog is 8 – 18. People report a great deal of pain and headache with elevated pressures and the vets believe he was also very uncomfortable.

The eye was removed in early October 2013, just after I had minor surgery as well. So we spent a few very quiet days and then began the journey back to work. To complicate matters, the mast cell tumor reappeared at his post op check for the eye. We waited a bit to allow recovery from the first surgery, then had the tumor and another small growth removed. After about 6 months, he had adjusted enough to catch a ball in the air, jump into the truck with only a minor delay, and return to full search training and his pet therapy visits.

Due to the abnormal structure of his eye, we treat the right eye with drops to control the pressure 2 x day. He is being monitored by Gulf Coast eye clinic veterinarians, who come to TAMU 2 x month, every 3 to 6 months. The pressure in his right eye is staying in the low range of normal with the medication.

The good news is that SAR dogs need their noses more than both eyes.

He assisted with a recovery for the team on a search in June 2014 and it was truly a celebration of healing and teamwork for our SDN family!

Brennan came from the San Marcos Animal Shelter in 2009, heartworm positive and underweight, but one happy dog loving to chase a ball and tug. I am privileged to share his journey and hope his story will help someone else catch this disease in their canine partner.

In May, Search Dog Network helped respond to the floods in Hays County. We responded with two human remains detection canine teams and several ground team members. There were numerous new lessons learned among all responders during this search, but two stand out that will improve how our team approaches working large scale floods.

The first was that a shoreline search can cover an enormous area of land because the waters continued to recede for weeks after such large scale flooding. What is shoreline today will not be part of the shoreline tomorrow, so an area may need to be continually re-searched at the waterline until the water fully recedes back to normal levels.

The second was that heavy equipment was used to efficiently shift large amounts of flood debris. Working safely around this equipment was an important part of the search. The use of spotters, proper procedures, and personal protective equipment was critical to a safe and effective operation.

In such a large search response, it was highly valuable to have an emergency veterinary team available to take care of the canines. During a natural disaster search like this, canines often returned from the field with minor scrapes from the difficult terrain and the need to be decontaminated with the emergency dog wash. It was also very important to pay attention to the dog’s heat tolerance, since not only can heat impact their ability to scent effectively, heat exhaustion is always a danger when working in Texas during this time of the year. To help offset risk, canine teams took breaks frequently and often worked smaller search segments.

Search Dog Network played a very small part in what was a tremendous effort in response to the Hays County flooding and we are grateful for all the logistics support provided to help our canine teams work with maximum effectiveness.

Search Dog Network hosted an International Police Working Dog Association (IPWDA) evaluation on February 5th, 6th, and 7th, 2015. Our dogs and their people certainly worked long hours to prepare for this rigorous certification process, and all that hard work certainly paid off!

Our IPWDA evaluators were Dianne Bettis, Master Trainer and Evaluator from North Carolina and Mary Lehman, Evaluator from Texas. We invited our Response Partners to participate and wish to sincerely congratulate all Search Teams that passed:

Human Remains Search – Land

1. Katie Breland and Aziva from Search Dog Network
2. Matt Young and Zapp from Search Dog Network
3. Cindy Grant and Brennan from Search Dog Network
4. Christy Borman and Callie from Alamo Area Search & Rescue
5. Brian Deschenes and Rory from Alamo Area Search & Rescue
6. Rhywnn Gaffney and Luna from Travis County Search & Rescue
7. Sean Glynn and Max, Independent Handler

Live Find Wilderness Search – 40 Acres

8. Katie Breland and Aziva from Search Dog Network
9. Jim Yeager and Sonic from Search Dog Network
10. Christy Bormann and Cody from Alamo Area Search & Rescue
11. Joe Palfini and Sophie from Alamo Area Search & Rescue
12. Rhywnn Gaffney and Kenya from Travis County Search & Rescue

SAR Trailing

13. Amanda Ott and Izzy from Travis County Search & Rescue
Human Remains Search Water

14. Mary Haislet and Noggin from Search Dog Network
15. Cindy Grant and Brennan from Search Dog Network
16. Teresa Medearis and Noggin from Search Dog Network
17. Katie Breland and Aziva from Search Dog Network
18. Debbie Parashak and Rory from Alamo Area Search & Rescue