Mocha was initially raised by a family in Utah who had hopes of training her as a hunting dog. However, when her owners realized that they simply didn’t have the time necessary to dedicate to her training, they decided to list her for adoption in hopes of finding her a better fit. An SDF recruiter saw the listing and reached out to the owners, and after a preliminary evaluation, Mocha was on her way to SDF thanks to our friends at Angel Flight West!
Once she had arrived on campus, Mocha was officially accepted into our program and began her formal training. As we soon learned, Mocha is an incredibly sweet girl with a silly side that made her trainers laugh every day, but she also has a fierce streak that comes out when she’s working. She loves to hunt and enjoyed many aspects of her training, but when it came to the rubble pile, she wasn’t so sure. Our trainers worked with her to try to increase her confidence, but Mocha’s continued uncertainty made it clear that searching a rubble pile just wasn’t her cup of tea.
Off the rubble, our team could see how much she loved to work, so we started reaching out to our career change partners to find Mocha a great placement where she could put her search skills to use in an environment she enjoys. Soon, she was headed to Scenturion K9 to try out arson detection training!
Mocha took to her new training right away, and it turns out, she’s a natural! After an initial bonding period with her new handler, she eagerly got to work and quickly advanced through her training. She and her handler recently deployed for the first time as a team to the aftermath of a fire, and Mocha correctly alerted on all accessible points of origin for the fire! We’re incredibly proud of this talented girl, and we know this is just the beginning. We look forward to following Mocha’s career as she and her handler continue serving their community and beyond!