With friends and family cheering them on, four new Canine Disaster Search Teams joined the elite roster of urban search and rescue responders at the Search Dog Foundation’s (SDF) National Training Center on Friday, February 2, 2018. These new teams will follow in the foot and paw prints of generations …
Congratulations to all of the Canine Disaster Search Teams who achieved FEMA Certification on January 20th and 21st, including 10 SDF-trained teams! Despite cold and windy conditions, SDF Head Trainer Sonja Heritage and Program Administrator Kate Horwick were at Del Valle Training Center in Castaic, CA, to support SDF’s Search …
Tanker came to the Search Dog Foundation in an unusual way. Formerly known as “Tank,” this beautiful Lab was donated to the Search Dog Foundation by his previous Handler, Adam Cooper, of Colorado Task Force 1, in the fall of 2011. Adam and Tanker had not yet certified together and …
FINAL UPDATE – THE SEARCH DOGS ARE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS! FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22 – 1:00 PM When we evacuated from our National Training Center (NTC) campus on the night of December 4, we weren’t sure if we would have a home to come back to after the devastating Thomas …
Bonnie and her sister Clyde, purebred Labrador Retrievers, were born on October 12, 2003. Although they were littermates, their personalities couldn’t have been more different. Clyde responded to training, but Bonnie’s future was on thin ice. Bonnie’s owner, Becky Rutledge, feared that Bonnie might ultimately land in a shelter. Bonnie’s …
On November 3rd, SDF’s training team passed the leashes of four Search Dogs to their brand new Firefighter-Handlers (L to R above): Aide Barbat & Fender (San Diego Fire-Rescue), Clint Schepe & Georgia (Chula Vista Fire), Joe Zakar & Dora (San Diego Fire-Rescue), all with California Task Force 8, and …
Charity Carlson has raised service dogs for the disabled for many years. While she loves training service dogs and plans to continue this work, she was looking for something more challenging to do. She contacted the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) to inquire about becoming a Prep Home volunteer, …
Congratulations to SDF’s three veteran Canine Disaster Search Teams who achieved FEMA Certification on October 21: Brent Brainard & Decker, Linda D’Orsi & Haley, and Julie Padelford-Jansen & Ricochet! SDF Program Manager Debra Tosch was in College Station, TX, to support SDF’s Search Teams testing and shared that all three …
Charity Carlson had raised service dogs for the disabled for many years. While she loved training service dogs and planned to continue this work, she was looking for something more challenging to do in 2003. She contacted the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) to inquire about becoming a Prep …
Ellie was born on August 4, 2004 and was an eager ball of energy right from the beginning. At just three and a half months, this Yellow Lab was exceeding any “normal” activity levels. Due to her energy level, it was apparent that Ellie needed to be more than a …
