On October 30, 2025, SDF-trained search teams J.P. Hilsabeck & Bond, Ed Ruiz & Harper, and Mike Toepfer & Deacon of Los Angeles County Fire Department and California Task Force 2 deployed to the Caribbean, ready to lend aid to victims of Hurricane Melissa alongside rescuers from around the …
On October 18, 2025, our training team officially passed the leashes of three incredible search dog graduates to their new handlers. Friends, family, and SDF staff gathered to celebrate these teams and the hard work and dedication that got them to this moment and the beginning of their careers in service to the nation. Thanks …
Originally named “Happy,” this cheerful mutt indeed made the search game look like pure joy! He was discovered at the Western Hills Humane Society in Spearfish, SD, by Kellee Matthews of the South Dakota Canine Center in Sturgis. Kellee was visiting the kennel that day because she had been alerted to another dog that might be …
Java, a one-year-old Plott Hound mix, was picked up as a stray by the Humboldt County Animal Shelter in McKinleyville, CA. During a routine visit to this shelter to help save canine lives, staff from Bones Pet Rescue of Covelo, CA, adopted Java in an attempt to find her …
Geno’s owner had high hopes for championship titles in the world of field trial competition, but this rambunctious and eager black Labrador was too excited while on the job! Geno could not stop himself from barking in excitement, and his owner knew Geno was just too loud to do well …
Called “Oscar” at the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society in South Dakota where he was discovered by Tim and Kellee Matthews of the South Dakota Canine Center in late 2012, Decker had already spent nearly seven months in the shelter in the hopes of finding a forever home. Because Decker …
