Amazing Dogs

by Mandy Evans

All he could hear was his breathing. In and Out. In and Out. His heartbeat seemed to make his entire body pulse with the quick beat. Thoughts of defeat started to enter his mind. Will I ever get out of here, he wondered as the heavy remains of his home pressed him more and more into the earth.

Only an hour ago he was sitting on the couch enjoying a late afternoon snack and football on the tube, his only care being whether or not the Seahawks would be able to come back and win. After several beers he had to pull himself away from the TV to run to the bathroom.

On his way back to the couch he heard an unsettling noise, a bang, a rumble and then it hit! The walls started to cave in leaving him no time to run out of the house. He instinctively jumped back into the bathroom and into the tub.

Now more than ever he wished he had been on the couch when the mudslide hit. At least then he would be pinned against a cozy couch rather than this hard broken porcelain.

The haunting smell of wet earth, wood, and chemicals invaded his nose. He could not reach up to cover his nostrils to help block the awful scent.

Jim thought of his wife and kids, away running errands. Would he see them again? Was this how it would end? A tear fell from his eye. He was starting to lose his composure.

Then in the distance he heard a sound, a familiar sound he had heard at the beach or park but it never meant much to him. It was a dog. The bark became louder and louder as Jim started to yell …the pressure on his chest only allowing his screams to be muted mutters ... his heart racing as the bark became so close it seemed to be right over him and then he heard a man saying "We got one!"

Hugging his wife and kids, happy to have gotten through this eight hour ordeal, Jim had never been so grateful. The 80 lb German Shephard was standing proudly to the side with his long tongue wagging in the breeze, almost smiling at Jim. Never a huge 'dog person', he now had a new, profound respect and admiration for the furry beast that had found him. Had it not been for this Rescue Dog, it is very unlikely he would have lived to see his wife and kids again.

Search and Rescue Dogs save lives every day. They truly epitomize the saying 'a man's best friend' because at their weakest moment they have to rely completely on this canine hero.

Unlike humans, dogs are efficient workers in the dark or in poor weather conditions. Their outstanding sense of smell (1,000 times keener than a human) and hearing allows them to track when visibility is limited.

Search and Rescue dogs as puppies will enter a Canine Prep home to prepare them with their necessary obedience training. If the puppy is ready and a good fit for the program, he will be sent to endure training everyday for six months.

Search and Rescue training programs are not for the recreational working dog but a hard cure 'I love to work', working dog. Once these dogs are out of training they still train twice a week for life. Their handlers have to have the same drive and enthusiasm for their work to keep their canine companion in top shape for an emergency deployment.

The Search and Rescue dog foundation in Ojai, California is focused on not only saving human lives but enriching the lives of dogs. They rescue dogs from shelters and breed rescues to enroll them in the program. Once the dog is enrolled they guarantee care for life for the dog. This is extremely important since rescuing can be dangerous work.

Being a Search and Rescue dog is not for the faint of heart. Along with ignoring all other scents and noises they must navigate slippery, unstable terrain and enter areas a human could not enter. All of this puts the dogs' life in danger. They are at risk of being crushed by debris, cut, inhaling chemicals and/or catching diseases. Tough work.

These dogs are certainly amazing and a valuable part of our society. Currently there is no technology created that can beat a dog's speed and accuracy in rescuing people.

Resources:
http://www.searchdogfoundation.org
http://www.carda.org/
http://www.k9alert.org/
http://www.ardainc.org/