Team Info
Task Force: Nebraska Task Force 1 (NE-TF1)
Agency: Lincoln Fire-Rescue
Level: FEMA Certified
Search Dog Info
Breed: Belgian Malinois
Sex: Male
Born: December 1, 2020
Rescued from: East Bay SPCA
Sponsors: Carol George and Roger Stewart, Lazin Animal Foundation
Dodger ended up at the East Bay SPCA in Oakland, CA, for being a young, exuberant Malinois who needed more structure than his family could give him. His family did not have the time to pursue much-needed training for Dodger and decided it was best he be rehomed. Noticing his listing online, SDF reached out to the rescue, whose staff noted that Dodger demonstrated nice focus and strong toy drive at only three months old. Dodger was approved to enter search dog training and flown to our campus with the help of volunteer pilots at Angel Flight West.
Once at our training center, it was apparent that although Dodger was a young puppy, he had the confidence of a king! Intelligent and thoughtful in his training, he quickly learned to bark for his toy and enjoyed exploring the rubble pile. As he matured, Dodger continued to impress trainers with his dedication to work, quickly moving through his obedience and foundational elements. As a sophomore search dog, Dodger was even performing the same searches as dogs in the senior class!
Fully grown, Dodger proves he was practically born for this job. He excels at agility and has a blast climbing ladders, traversing elevated planks, and boldly riding the teeter-totter as it drops. There’s nothing he’d rather do than search a rubble pile, though, and he’s fantastic at it: finding victims quickly and wasting no time to alert with gusto!
Dodger was paired with his first responder handler, Adam Schaaf of Lincoln-Fire Rescue, Nebraska Task Force 1, on July 2, 2022. With a lifelong dream to be a firefighter, Adam joined the Nebraska Air National Guard as a firefighter right out of high school and joined Lincoln Fire and Rescue a few years later. Now eighteen years into his firefighting career, he had been considering becoming a handler for the last ten years but needed to fulfill his military service before he could take the next step.
Adam says he knew Dodger was his perfect match after one memorable training together. After being rewarded for a job well done, Dodger likes to run celebratory laps. When Dodger was a good distance away on one of his laps and Adam recalled him, Dodger made eye contact and ran toward Adam at top speed! Adam said at that moment, “I knew; this is my man!”
We are so excited for Adam and Dodger to continue building their partnership. We know they’ll do everything possible to keep their skills sharp and our communities safe.