When Peat was taken to his local veterinarian’s office for a checkup, his original owners asked for help rehoming him, as they no longer wished to keep him as their hunting dog. A veterinary staff member generously agreed to foster Peat while they looked for a placement for him, and while getting to know Peat, noticed that in addition to his great personality, he had a very high toy drive. His foster suspected that he could be a great working dog candidate and posted on Facebook in hopes of finding him a fitting career placement. SDF noticed the post and reached out, and soon Peat was making his way from Minnesota to California to become the first German Wirehaired Pointer to join SDF’s program!
Here, staff quickly grew to love everything about this happy-go-lucky boy, including, of course, his adorable beard (yes—it’s real!). Incredibly smart and highly driven, Peat excelled in all aspects of his training, conquering each obstacle thrown his way with ease. There was no doubt that he would be an outstanding working dog, but when he was introduced to the rubble pile, his enthusiasm for the work began to wane. His trainers worked with him to increase his confidence on the rubble pile, but to little avail. Peat simply didn’t have the same affinity for searching on the rubble as he did on flat ground.
Rubble may not have been his cup of tea, but off the rubble, Peat demonstrated without question that he was passionate about the search. With months of live-find search training under his belt, our team set out to find a partnership for Peat where he could continue to utilize these life-saving skills in an environment better suited to his talents. We began reaching out to our network of detection canine handlers and were thrilled when Wilderness SAR handler Amanda Cubbage expressed her interest in adopting and training Peat!
Amanda made the trip from Virginia to California, where she spent more than a week working closely with Peat to determine whether they’d be a good match. They became fast friends, and at the end of her trip, they headed home to Virginia together! In Virginia, Peat joins K9 Merle Haggard, Amanda’s live-find search and rescue partner who works with the Fort Valley Fire Department, and also happens to be a (very handsome) German Wirehaired Pointer.
Just 30 days after being adopted, Peat made us all proud when he and Amanda tested and passed their state behavior, obedience and agility test with the Virginia Search and Rescue Dog Association. This is the first of seven tests to become a certified and deployable wilderness air scenting team, and we look forward to celebrating each success as this impressive pair continues to accomplish all they set out to do!
Click here to learn more about our Canine Placement Program!