Search & Rescue Dogs

On this page you will find more stories about... Hunter deployed to Hurricane Michael Looking for a Few Good Dogs Loki, New SAR! Stretch Armstrong Adirondac's Stretch Armstrong Loki Shaka of the Squaw Valley Avalanche Rescue Team Hunter Update Ginger K-9 Unit Boosts Mission of West Virginia University Police Sergeant Joshua J. Cook and Adirondac Ginger sweeping the West Virginia Stadium for explosives Scout Ginger to spice things up for WVU Police Luke and "Sandy" Kode Moxie Twist Lilly Hawk AKC - Search & Rescue - Wilderness Adirondac Noreaster AKC - Search & Rescue - Wilderness GOOD-BYE... Shaka, Avalanche Rescue dog Loki Coconino Majic SHAKA on the job at Squaw Valley (part 1) SHAKA on the job at Squaw Valley (part 2) SHAKA on the job at Squaw Valley (part 3) Looking for a Few Good Dogs Loki, New SAR! Adirondac has a new SAR certified working dog. At just over a year old, "Loki" (Adirondac Loki Coconino Majic) has met the requirements for NASAR type III (highest level) human remains detection certification. Loki is a pup from Magic's final litter,sired by Buddy. Stretch Armstrong Search and Rescue dog, Adirondac Stretch Armstrong, a Pokey X Dodger puppy from 2014 successfully located the remains of a body that had been buried for several years in Page, AZ. This was only the fourth search he had participated in. He should have a long and illustrious career....he's only a year and a half old. News Report: PAGE AZ. - Page police are investigating the discovery of a body found buried in a yard this week, police reported Wednesday. A Page Police Department news release said the department received information late last week about the possibility of a body being buried in a yard at 103 S. Navajo Drive in Page. A cadaver dog team with the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office responded to Page and alerted to an area in the yard, the release said. Page Police contacted the Arizona Department of Public Safety Major Crimes District for assistance with locating the possible buried body. A buried body recovery team made up of detectives from the Special Investigations Unit, the Vehicular Crimes Unit and the Crime Scene Response Team was assembled and began work on Monday. The next day, after about 14 hours of digging, the team located human remains consistent with that of an adult. This investigation is currently ongoing. Adirondac's Stretch Armstrong Stretch self-initiated this balancing act by jumping onto this downed log with the stick already in his mouth. Hi Carol, Had to touch base to update you on Stretch. On August 8th, his 1st birthday and the 1st day he was eligible, he tested for (2) top-level NASAR certifications. He aced the 160 acre Canine SAR Tech I area search test by finding 2 subjects in the wilderness in 2.5 hours, the time allotted is 4 hours. The Human Remains Detection III includes (4) 1 acre wilderness tests, a building search and vehicle search. The longest he took on any component was 2.75 minutes!!! The time allotted was 30 minutes per acre and building, and 15 minutes total time for (5) vehicles. He has surpassed my wildest dreams with his amazing intelligence, drive, work ethic, agility, nerve strength and dedication to his work. He still has a streak of independence but I now realize that even that trait is just what he needs to perform flawlessly without even looking to me for direction. Thank you so much for your dedication to breeding the best working Goldens in the nation, Cindy McArthur Loki "Loki", a daughter from Magic's final litter is perfecting her Search & Rescue skills in Arizona, working a small rubble pile. She has a lot of work and a hard job ahead of her, but will be up to the challenge. Shaka of the Squaw Valley Avalanche Rescue Team ADIRONDAC Golden Retrievers donated this Echoe X Stormy pup to the Squaw Valley Avalanche Rescue Team. His name is Adirondac Storm King, and they call him Shaka. Look for him riding the chair lift by next winter. Hunter Update August, 2013 Hi Carol, I had meant to give you an update much sooner but as you know time seems to fly by. I couldn't be happier with Hunter's (Trixie x Midas 11/2012) progress. He is a healthy, happy, confident pup who is excelling at search and rescue. This past weekend he passed his first Human Remains Detection (HRD) land search test. He is on schedule to pass his FEMA HRD test by the end of the year and his water HRD test next March. Hunter's strength, agility and intelligence have made him such a great search and rescue partner! I have several workshops that I will be teaching at this fall so I hope to get some good pictures of him in action. I'll be sure to send you some. Hope all is well with you! Take care, Deana Hudgins Ohio Search and Recovery Canines FEMA OH-TF1 March, 2013 Hi Carol, I hope you are well. I wanted to give you an update on Hunter. We passed our FEMA cadaver certification and on April 2 we were deployed to Oso, WA to assist with the recovery of those missing from the catastrophic mudslide that happened on March 22. We were there for a 14 day deployment and we returned home on April 16. We were one of 20 FEMA canine teams from across the country. This was the first cadaver deployment in the history of FEMA. I had numerous people comment that he was the most agile dog they had ever seen work. He got a minor cut on his pad the third day we were there while working in an area of standing water but we wrapped his foot each day and he continued to work. I could not be more proud of him! He did an outstanding job and amazed me every day. Take care, Deana Ginger Adirondac Lady Mountaineer aka "Ginger" working the stadium prior to a game at West Virginia University. Ginger is a Trixie X Midas pup handled and owned by Lt. Joshua Cook, of WVU Campus Police. K-9 Unit Boosts Mission of West Virginia University Police Bella & Ginger are featured in the K-9 Cop Magazine this month! Follow the link K-9 Unit Boosts Mission of West Virginia University Police Sergeant Joshua J. Cook and Adirondac Ginger sweeping the West Virginia Stadium for explosives Hi Carol, Ginger is doing great! I just did a photo shoot with K-9 Cop Magazine last week (top k-9 mag in the world) hopefully Ginger will be on the cover, she has performed numerous bomb sweeps for us, and she is always very energetic and focused at her tasks. I will get a receipt out to you today and when the magazine is published this summer I will send you a copy! Hope all is well . Below is a link to a silhouette of me and Ginger it will probably be our logo Sergeant Joshua J Cook Explosives Detection K-9's "Bella" & "Ginger" WVU Police Department K-9 Unit Morgantown WV 26506 Scout Scout scouts out his new backyard in Delaware. He's one of the recent Jane X Rusty pups. Ginger to spice things up for WVU Police Third bomb dog in Monongalia County donated to agency by Cassie Shaner - The Dominion Post July 4, 2012. A little spice - or rather, Ginger- will help WVA Police check the Coliseum Milan Puskar Stadium and area schools for explosives more efficiently. The 6-month-old golden retriever joined WVU Police in April. Ginger's breeder: Adirondac Golden Retrievers in Mexico, New York offered to donate her after hearing the K-9 Officer Josh Cook and his dog Bella, were finalists in the American Kennel Club's ACS awards for Canine Excellence in Law Enforcement last year. GInger, registered under the name Adirondac Lady Mountaineer, is Monongalia County's third bomb dog. Cook said the sheriff's department also has a K-9 trained in explosive detection. Once Ginger is fully trained, she will allow Cook to alternate dogs during bomb sweeps, which can take two days before a home football game at Milan Puskar Stadium. Bella typically begins panting after 15-20 minutes and has to take a break. Cook waits while she rests, but he'll eventually be able to continue searching the stands with Ginger. "It will be more efficient and more thorough," Cook said, "I can double-check everything." Bomb dogs don't typically begin training until they're about a year old, but Cook said Ginger can already detect three kinds of explosives. He's been training her himself, using a $2,000.00 training kit the WVU athletic department purchased for him last year. "She's way ahead of the game for being that young," Cook said. Bella, who's now five years old, can detect hundreds of explosives and combinations thereof. She trained at Chiodo Kennels in Philippi. Cook has been in touch with the same trainers about Ginger; but he said her training will depend on her progression. He works with her in brief sessions every day, doing five or so repetitions at a time. Ginger only comes to work with Cook once or twice a week, but that will change as the summer progresses. He tries to expose her to people, other animals and elevators, among other things, so she won't get distracted in the future when she has work to do. Ginger has already been exposed to children. Cook brought both dogs to Kids Rock Summer Camp this week at Suncrest United Methodist Church. Director Jenny Nicholson said the 10-week camp focuses on a different theme each week. This week's theme was health and safety. "The kids were very responsive to the dogs." Nicholson said, as well as Cook's lesson about safety. "The dogs were very good to the kids." Cook takes Bella - now Ginger, too - to at least one school a month to educate students about the dogs and demonstrate what they do. Luke and "Sandy" Luke and "Sandy" are littermates from the Ruby X Paint breeding whelped 11/08/01. They are both recent graduates of the National Search Dog Foundation, Luke being a certified cadaver dog. To donate to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, call 888-4K9 HERO, or click on the link below. www.searchdogfoundation.org Kode Sat, 17 Jan 2009 Hi Carol, I have been toying with the idea of starting another SAR dog sometime in the near future and was looking at your future breedings. I am particularly interested in the Foxy X Rusty breeding. Do you anticipate this as a spring litter? Kode is still a fantastic working dog - one of the most reliable SAR K9s in the state, IMHO. In January 2008 I testified in a triple homicide case here in the NYS State Supreme as an expert witness K9 handler for forensic evidence Kode detected (blood drops in a vacuum cleaner) on a case where the Rochester Police Dept. had requested help from our team's cadaver dogs. It was a horrendous crime and the individual was convicted of two counts of 1st degree murder and one count of 2nd degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. Saving lives taking bad guys off the street... At age six, Kode's health is great and her energy is still sky high - everyone is always asking me "how old is your puppy?" Given that it takes at least two years to get a SAR dog trained to operational and I expect to work Kode until around age 10 if she stays healthy, I figure I should start another dog in the next year. Attached are two photos from Disaster training at Camp Atterbery IN from Oct 08. BTW - I have had a chance to train a little with Suzanne Mueller and her pup Moxie - that dog is a little spitfire and is doing very well in her training - she reminds me a lot of Kode. Kathryn Owner Kathryn Ruby X Jimmy "Kode" Moxie Carol, I thought you'd enjoy this picture of Moxie at work. She's doing great at SAR. I've also just started her in Agility training too! Foxy X Trooper "Moxie" DOB: 11/23/07 Twist Carol, Over the last 18 months Twist has made very nice progress. She is very smart and very perceptive. On Saturday, January 12, 2008 Twist became operational with my Team (Chesapeake Search Dogs WWW.Chesarda.org ) as an Air Scent Search Dog. The testing process on our team progresses in stages as the dog grows. Our dogs must complete a basic obedience test as well as be A.K.C. Good Citizens. All of the following Eval(uations) have different time requirements and are conducted in areas unfamiliar to us. 9-25-2006 Puppy Eval (no age requirement)...Twist must find a person in an area 100yds x 100 yds no indication is required but at the end of the Eval the dog must be able to demonstrate an indication on command. (I chose a recall-refind similar to Kode) 2-10-2007 25 acre Eval....Twist and Handler (me) must search a 25 acre area in daylight and locate 1 lost subject, indicate the find to the handler and take handler in to subject. Subject located in 23 minutes. 4-12-07 40 acre Eval....Twist and Handler must search 40 acres at night and again locate 1 lost subject, indicate the find and take handler in to subject. Subject located in 1hr. 45 min. 6-24-07 NASAR Canine III Eval.....Twist must search a 60 acre area and locate 1 subject, indicate the find and take the handler in to the subject. Subject locate in approx. 45 min. (don't have the records at home) 1-12-2008 80 acre Eval (3rd attempt)...Twist must locate 2 lost subjects, indicate the find and take the handler in to the subject. Both subjects located in 52 minutes. I hope you are proud of all your kids 'cause I know we are! I'll be sending a couple photos along when I get some good ones. Thanks! Ed & Twist ~~~~~~~~~~~ Gypsy X Push "Twist" DOB: 3/13/06 Carol, Here we are on Jan. 12,2007 when we passed out 80 acre evaluation. Twist had 2 subjects to find in 80 acres, we did it in about record time of under 1 hour with a 3 1/2 hour time limit. Ed ~~~~~~~~~~~ Carol, As usual a quick note on our girl. Twist is doing well and has passed her Wilderness Cadaver test with our team. She is now qualified to be fielded on possible deceased subjects. She continues to run a mile each day she isn't scheduled for a training. She loves to pace me on the 4 wheeler (and you were thinking I ran with her) and keeps up a steady 25 mph. She continues to be an outstanding dog and as she gets older I know she will continue to mature and do wonderful work. I can't help but remember Katharine saying that you can't make a tug dog out of one of these dogs. Well, Twists live find reward is tug with a large kong on a rope, she can out tug a couple of German Sheppard's on the team and wears her subjects down. Her cadaver reward is a tennis ball and she absolutely loves it. Nothing like a multi purpose dog. We were on a search along the Baltimore Harbor this summer for a missing gentleman. As we came to the end of our area we were near the shoreline and an old pier, Twist showed allot of interest out in the water in the vicinity of the pier. I reported this to the State Police who were running the search, several weeks later our Director of Operations had spoken to the Officer in charge. He reported that the gentleman had finally been located, near a drainpipe, in the water and think that Twist may have picked up his scent that evening. The area where we had the interest was near his abandoned car. They speculate he took an overdose of meds and swam out into the bay to spare his family his beginning decline into Alzheimer's. I hope you are healthy and your dogs are progressing well. From the sounds of the weather, winter has arrived for you all. Ed :<{ WWW.Chesarda.org Lilly Lily a full sister to Foxy and Ruger (Juneau X Hoya) was one of 17 graduates of the National Search Dog Foundation in 2003. She has earned U.S. Government certification as a public service canine search dog. She is assigned to a firefighter/paramedic with Miami Fire Rescue in Florida. Lily was 3 in Nov 2004. Lilly also known as "Houdini" because she can get through the smallest of openings in a rubble pile in search of victims. An update on Lilly.....2012 Time flies. Lilly-Belle was a 9 month old pup when she joined the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation in California in Sept. 2002. Since becoming FEMA certified, Lilly has done a lot of flying. Having been taught so much, accomplished so much, traveled so far, searched so diligently, stood by in readiness so many times, she also watched the years fly by. Lilly turned 11 on 11/11/11. Her dedicated handler, a member of the City of Miami Fire and Rescue Dept. recently wrote the following: "Her face has turned pretty white and she has a little tendonitis in her shoulders but she still searches with enthusiasm, has fun and gets the job done. She took her FEMA re-certification test on 2/19/12 and kicked some serious butt. She will be certified for the next 3 years. She won't be going on any long deployments but she will still work local call out and such. SHE IS ONE OF THE OLDEST SDF DOGS TO RE-CERTIFY." Lilly, you have made us all proud to be "part of the search". SearchDogFoundation.org Hawk AKC - Search & Rescue - Wilderness Hawk (Adirondac Black Hawk) is my second Search & Rescue dog, following in the footsteps of the very talented Kode (Adirondac Ishkode). Hawk is all boy; he is bold, energetic, and powerful. He loves to work, play, and snuggle. Hawk has an intense and endearing personality that makes him an ideal K9 partner. He has an amazing nose for the hunt and is persistent and tireless. He is certified in Wilderness Airscent, Human Remains Detection and Water Recovery with NYSFEDSAR and with the International Police Work Dog Association. As Kode moves into retirement, Hawk is my go-to K9 partner on search missions. Working with this powerhouse has allowed me to advance my skills as a K9 handler. When we are not working or training, he loves to hike, ride in the boat, and in the winter we go skijoring. Adirondac Noreaster AKC - Search & Rescue - Wilderness To earn an AKC Search and Rescue - Wilderness title, a dog must be deployed on fifty documented missions. Many many hours of training, and then actual deployments make this a very substantial accomplishment. "Nora" is a Misty X Drake puppy born 9/30/09. GOOD-BYE... One of the truly great ones has passed on. Porjay's Alix MH ** OD , daughter of Porjay's Sydney MH OD left a legacy of outstanding field dogs behind. Porjay's Sydney was an Adirondac puppy, purchased before using the Adirondac name was required, so it's not common knowledge just where a lot of the greatness originated. I kept a littermate to Sydney, Adirondac Reddog Juneau CDX MH OD, and between Juneau and Sydney, two powerful breeding lines were established. Light Farms Cooper MH*** OS was a son of Alix, and he bred only Adirondac bitches, producing enough highly titled puppies that he earned his Outstanding Sire recognition. Cooper bred to Adirondac Gold Standard CD MH WCX CCA VC OD and that pairing gave us FTCH Adirondac Tea for Two, Adirondac Tea Party MH CCA, Adirondac Renegade CDX MH, Adirondac Moonlight Magic Eclipse MH, McCoy's Adirondac Accapello MH, as well as several Senior Hunters. Cooper bred to Adirondac Great Laker CD MH gave us JFTR Adirondac Hocus PocusMH**WCX who was the #6 Derby dog in all of Canada, and Adirondac Black Hawk who has set the bar for Search and Rescue work. I know all of the "breeder jargon" doesn't mean much to a lot of you, but it is the thread that weaves the cloth of some of the finest field dogs running out there today. A "field" golden is capable of accomplishing anything. Shaka, Avalanche Rescue dog Adirondac Shaka is the newest validated Avalanche Rescue dog at Squaw Valley. He is a pup out of Echoe, sired by Stormy. " We have passed our first validation test as an avalanche rescue dog team! Thank you so much. Shaka has been a joy to work with! He is truly a great dog! Ivan McGurk trainer/handler. Loki Coconino Majic Search and Rescue dog Adirondac Loki Coconino Majic (Magic X Buddy) has earned her NASAR Type III Human Remains Detection certification....the highest level of difficulty. SHAKA on the job at Squaw Valley (part 1) SHAKA on the job at Squaw Valley (part 2) SHAKA on the job at Squaw Valley (part 3) @copyright Adirondac Golden Retrievers 2012. All Rights Reserved