Monday, June 13, 2011

Eve and I got called out...and nailed it!

Can't post much details but
Call out #1 8:05 Boda (one of my team mates K9's) ran 1.25+ mile trail to where a truck was stolen..happy dance!
Get back work call out #2 Eve ran a .96 to where suspect called from! Yes!
 Was a great day!  Eve worked hard and it was all Urban mostly about 12hrs old or so.  Picked up the trail and never looked back.  When right to the block (4 buildings) that the suspect ran to that night and stayed.  Then worked the area and worked along a stream crossed and down the other side till ran out of scent.  Then straight to the building that the suspect called from to get a ride!  Eve worked it great and gave no indications of leaving the building!

Proud Dad!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

SAR certifications passed! (May 7th, 2011)

Had an exhausting last 2 weekends doing SAR Certifications. Last week I was the one under the gun when I good the NASAR SAR Tech II test. Thankfully I passed. Then this weekend the dogs and I were tested through NASDN.

Thank God they both passed!!! Eve recertified in tracking/trailing and Emmett received his first ever SAR cert passing Air Scent Area Search certification! Emmett's test was a breeze even though he hasn't worked much in the last 9 months due to the ACL repair. He is a good boy and knows the game and loves it! He cleared the 6 acre area and led me to the victim in 7min!!!! That was even after dad was a doh head and didn't follow his dog when he noticed the 1st head pop.

Eve's trail was a real bugger and she didn't give dad any help in the beginning. She was so lackadaisical and didn't even act like she wanted to trail. Dad kept his cool and didn't freak out. He cast her and worked her to get her going. Once she was about 50ft into it she was dead on and looked like a normal working Eve that I know. Got to the bottom of a hill in a valley where about 4 different hills and valleys met. The air down there was crazy. It had gotten warm and the wind switched 4+ times while we were down there. Took us about 5-10min to work that area and clear the scent pool. Dad about melted down and freaked out!!!!! I kept my cool and was glad that she gave me plenty of negatives so I knew where to eliminate and keep working towards the victim. We were about 30-50yrds away the whole time. I thought she gave me a negative the way the trail was but I must have miss read her because she went that way 3 times before the dope on the end of the rope followed her and about 30yrs up a trail on a hill I saw our victim laying on a pallet in the woods. My heart sank as I knew we had recertified!!! That was about 5-10min of the most stress I have had in a lot time. The evaluators and about 4-5 of my peers were staring as I about melted down and almost missed certifying. After the trail we talked about what had happened and the evaluators talked about how the wind shifted 4+times while there were standing there and why it would have been harder then it should have been. I have never worked a valley like that before. Granted I wasn't perfect and missed some signs she gave me we kept it together and thank God she didn't shut down on me and we figured it out!!!! I never want to go through that again but am glad I did so that I can just keep thinking and reading her through it!!