After many months of hard work, SDN recently finished Phase I of our Operations Trailer project.  The addition of the trailer allows us to access the computer and information systems required to manage a complex search operation within a secure and weather resistant environment.  The trailer started life with Search Once Rescue Team of Lewisville, TX where it served as their operations center for 14 productive years.  SDN acquired the trailer in June of 2012 and pressed it into service at a search in Milam County.  We then began a long refit process building on the work of Search One.

The trailer served Search One well for 14 years

Members spent many hours scraping, sanding, hammering, and rebuilding where necessary.

Joel in his element

Blanton ponders life’s many questions

Off with the old

Viktor tackles the wiring

We were able to complete the work in stages, and continue to train with and deploy the trailer as required.

Trailer at Fort Boggy State Park before her shiny new decals

Jim briefs a team before deployment

Members track resources during a BVCART Exercise

After many long days and late nights, Phase I is complete.  Phase II will include improvements to the battery system, computer displays, and an expanded storage area.  As anyone with an RV or boat will testify, there is always more work to do!

Ellen at the revamped Plans station

Denise tracks her troops

Deployed at a search in College Station (courtesy KAGS – @KAGSnews)

A happy team & shiny new (to us) trailer

We could not have done it without the steadfast support of the following:

• Search One Rescue Team
• The George Bush Foundation
• Pilger’s Tire & Automotive
• The Bill and Jackie Clark Memorial Foundation
• The Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley
• Fast Signs
• RDM Audio

Search Dog Network would like to thank the Bryan-College Station Eagle for Wednesday’s wonderful article.  We appreciate the opportunity to share the hard work of our two legged and four legged team members with the community!

Stuart Villanueva/ The Eagle

K-9 handler Mary Haislet of the Search Dog Network and her dog, Noggin, trek through the woods while training at Lake Bryan on Tuesday.

Follow the link for the full article: Training Pays Off for Bryan’s Search Dog Network

Kiba following trail to tower – Kocher seminar

In March 2013 SDN assisted TC Crippen, Seeker Dogs, Inc In hosting a trailing seminar with instructor Kevin Kocher. Attendees came from College Station, Bryan, Dallas, Fort Worth, Texarkana, Kansas, and other surrounding areas. Kevin’s health is deteriorating so for many of us, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Kevin has written a book called “The Kocher Method” describing his successful training methods. These methods have been adopted both nationally and internationally in places such as Germany, Ukraine, Netherlands, France, Italy, and elsewhere. Several members of SDN volunteered to be “rabbits” (trail layers) and learn more about this training style. Others assisted with food preparation to help attendees and instructors stay focused on the training (and maybe the desserts!)

Kiba and Jeannette in training

Kevin’s method is extremely motivational, teaching the dog to follow scent rather than search for it. One dog, Kiba, from SDN participated in the seminar and has improved leaps and bounds in the past few months using the Kocher method. Several topics that were covered in the seminar include high finds, car pickups, drownings, crime scenarios, starting a new puppy, and plenty of urban search scenarios with cement as the trailing medium. Kevin helped everyone think critically and creatively about situations that they may encounter in a call out and taught them to expose their dogs to as many things as possible.

Rewarding Kiba for finding Cindy

SDN is extremely grateful for the experience Kevin and his instructors provided us with. We hope to bring along many more dogs with the help of his method and expertise. If you are interested in his method please visit http://www.bloodhoundtraining.com/for more information and feel free to come to a training to watch our dogs work! Or learn to be a rabbit!

Kiba and Jeannette following a trail

Thank you to Kroger on Boonville Road for the cake!

Search Dog Network is celebrating our 16th birthday this month!

Search Dog Network originally started in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1996. The Team’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer was Dave Bartel, a retired El Paso County Deputy, Canine Handler and County Search & Rescue Coordinator.

In 1997 the Team established a Chapter in Bryan/College Station to meet the needs of the Brazos Valley. In 1998, while searching for a lost mushroom collector in the mountains of Colorado, Dave died of a heart attack. After about a year the Team in Colorado dissolved and the Team management moved to Texas.

Search Dog Network’s mission is to Train, Certify, and Deploy professional Search Teams to locate lost and missing persons.

Since 1997 we have deployed Teams on 93 missions, fielding 180 search teams. The Teams have included Canine Wilderness Air Scent, Canine Human Remains Detection, Canine Disaster Search, Canine Water Search as well as Ground Teams and a boat with Side Scan Sonar for Water Recovery.

Our strength comes from the dedication of our Team Members; we currently have trained 18 trained Volunteers and 8 certified Canines. In addition to our members we are able to call on our mutual aid agreements with other professional Teams in Texas including:

• Alamo Area Search & Rescue in San Antonio
• Travis County Search & Rescue in Austin
• Search One Rescue Team in Dallas
• Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department’s Rescue Team in Cy-Fair

In addition our Team gains experience by working with:

• Brazos Valley Child Abduction Response Team
• Brazos Valley Search & Rescue

Our “Birthday” present is an Operations Trailer that will allow us to better manage search operations and planning and better support the Teams in the field.

Newest team acquisition: Humminbird 1198c Sonar

SDN Team members training on the sonar at Lake Bryan

Thanks to a grant from the American Kennel Club, Search Dog Network was able to purchase a Humminbird 1198c Sonar unit. The team has been training on it since its receipt in May, 2012. This unit is a side-scan sonar that allows the user to view objects under the water to the sides of the boat. Also, it tells the user the water depth, boat speed, GPS coordinate, as well as other information. Members are training on it on a regular basis to increase proficiency.

This sonar unit is an important addition to SDN missions due to the number of water recovery missions for which we’re deployed. A water recovery canine is useful for narrowing down the search area in a big lake. The sonar can narrow this larger area down to a smaller area, so divers don’t have to search such a large area. This greatly increases diver safety.

Image from the sonar

SDN members Cindy Grant and Mary Haislet, both Human Remains Detection Dog Handlers, took the opportunity to attend a Cadaver Dog Training Workshop March 2-4, 2012 offered by the Western Carolina University (WCU) Human Identification Lab and the Forensic Anthropology Program in Cullowhee, NC. They also attended a two day workshop on Basic Field Recovery and Bone Identification Feb. 29-March 1 offered by professors at WCU.  The Cadaver Dog workshop instructors were Lisa Higgins, Brad Dennis, and Paul S. Martin.

Cindy, Mary and their canines were able to work search areas including grassy fields, mountainous terrain, urban environments, buildings, and vehicle lineups. They were able to expose their dogs to full body decomposition in the Forensic Osteology Research Station (FOREST). Classroom instruction included the human decomposition process, bone identification, forensic taphonomy, and much more. The Bone identification instructors were John Schweikart and Cheryl A. Johnston, Ph.D.

This workshop offered an incredible opportunity to train with canines on full body decomposition. Western Carolina University is the only research facility doing research using donated bodies that generously opens its doors to Human Remains Detections K-9 teams. The workshop filled up in less than 10 minutes after opening its registration on line, and it was well worth the cost and travel time. If anyone signs up for future workshops, offered in a basic and advanced level, Cindy and Mary suggest you sign up the second registration opens and if you don’t type fast—find someone who does! Here is the following link for more information:
http://www.wcu.edu/28710.asp

Special thanks to the following for making this seminar possible:

Western Carolina University and Dept. of Anthropology
David O. Belcher, Chancellor WCU
John Williams, Director of Forensic Anthropology
Bobby Hensley, Associate Director of Continuing Education
John Schweikart
Cheryl A. Johnston, Ph.D
Steven Yates and other students that assisted
Cadaver Dog Instructors
Lisa Higgins, Louisiana Search and Rescue
Brad Dennis, Director of Search Operations for Klaas KIDS Foundation
Paul S. Martin, WCU Graduate