About 27 years ago, while living in Virginia, I started to actively look for a way to volunteer. I wanted to give back to the community, but I wasn’t finding anything that I felt capable of or comfortable doing. Then I was introduced to Canine Search and Rescue (SAR). The fit was perfect for me – many hours in the woods, hiking mountains, using cool outdoor gear, day or night, all with a dog. And of course, finding & rescuing lost persons or providing closure for family members was the most important outcome of hours of training.  What could possibly be a better way to volunteer? You can read up on K9 SAR through the link to my Virginia group, K9 Alert Search and Rescue Dogs, Inc. Many missions, 4 dogs and 25 active years sped by. As the years started to accumulate and I got older, I could feel the numerous miles taking their toll on my body. I was definitely slowing down as the same mountains seemed to be getting higher. Leaving behind friendships, etched in years of training and searching day or night in all kinds of weather and terrain, was truly a tough decision. Before I had to make that decision, which was even more difficult as Romeo, my current dog, was still in his prime, John and I moved to Italy.

With the move and wanting to have more free time to enjoy and see Italy, I promised John and myself that I would not get involved in another search and rescue group here in Italy. And I am keeping THAT promise. What John didn’t bargain for was that I was interested in helping the Sea Rescue Dog Association in nearby Pescara. My original intent was to see if they needed an extra body to hang out in the water for the dogs-in-training to rescue, or haul water on the hot summer days to dogs and humans. Who was I kidding!

So, in November 2017, I went to observe one of their trainings, which just happened to be taking place on a piazza in downtown Pescara. During the off-season months, when it’s too cold for humans and dogs in the sea, most of the trainings entail obedience among distractions of people and sounds, as well as some agility and rescue techniques for the dogs. I found out that Romeo and I could participate and actually get a sports certificate, without me taking a lifeguard test. At my age and with my promise to John, I figured this would be just right for Romeo and I, and I could still provide help when needed. We couldn’t do real-life rescue, but we could be involved.

My once-a-month commitment (which I told myself), turned into every Sunday. Romeo is excited to go and is loving every moment of his new ‘job’. And he has made some nice ‘girlfriends’ along the way. After many months of obedience work, we are now entering the sea. I grew up in New Jersey with a father who imparted to me a healthy respect of the Atlantic Ocean. And if you’ve ever been to the Jersey shore, you know you need to respect those waves and undertow. So I cut my sea teeth on the Jersey shore, and it feels so very good to be back in the water. Romeo was a bit hesitant as he’d only been in lakes and ponds, but he’s getting use to the sea now.  We did have some little waves last Sunday, which gave him a few minutes of apprehension but he sailed on through smiling.

The water work is both similar and different for him. Similar in the fact that he is ‘finding a person and rescuing them. The difference is they are not lost and they are in the water. Romeo was a land search and rescue dog in the US, where he would search an area in the woods to find the lost person, come back and tell me and bring me back to that person.  Now I’m directing him into the water to a specific person. He swims out  and pulls them to shore. There are additional components where we enter the water together, swimming out to the person, and bringing he/she to safety.

Romeo is catching on quickly after only 3 lessons in the sea. Labradors, as well as the gentle giants – Terranovas (in US they are called Newfoundlands) are just bred that way.  What I forgot to teach him were the Italian commands for focusing on the drowning subject and then  heading out to the rescue. Our trainer, Marco, would be holding the dogs back, as their handlers sprinted into the sea to face the shore to pretend they were drowning. The dogs would be going crazy to swim out. Romeo’s turn came up. I sprinted out, turned and Romeo just meandered into the sea. Why wasn’t he getting ‘pumped up’ to head out to me? The light bulb came on… Marco was speaking to him in Italian. I have now added the Italian command to the English, and Romeo is becoming bilingual. Soon I can drop the English..smart dog!

You may be asking, what has John been doing while I’m having all this fun? Well, he has graciously stepped up and volunteered his services as one of the group’s photographers. And literally stepped up..at our recent sea trainings, he’ll be calf-deep into the water, ballcap turned brim back (as any self-respecting photographer knows), clicking away at those ‘blasting through the waves’ canine shots.Many or most of the pics on this page today are his. Additionally, he gets to walk the beaches and shoot all kinds of interesting compositions, with some soon to grace the walls of our home.

The members of this group are hardworking and talented (as well as their amazing dogs), but definitely fun-loving Italians who have graciously accepted Romeo, John and I.  A few of them do speak some English and are very helpful in translating what Marco is explaining to the group. My primary translator and friend  Fabio, along with his lovely wife, Silvia, are Skyping with me once a week. They are working to improve their English that they use in their work environments. I’m trying to improve my conversational Italian. (They are doing a lot better than I am!) Needless to say, all the training sessions with Sea Rescue Dogs are in Italian. 😉

Beaches officially open beginning of June here, so the teams that have gotten their lifeguard certification and completed the water training, will be working the local beaches. Our sports certification test is coming up July 1. My daughter Brooke and our son-in-law Ryan will be visiting during that time, so they get to watch. I’ll try not to be too nervous.

It should be obvious that Romeo and I are thriving. It’s difficult to turn away from a long-standing love of working dogs, and volunteer work gets into your blood. We are very happy campers and I am truly thankful to Sea Rescue Dog Association, but mostly to my husband for his patience and understanding, and to my God for giving me Romeo. Wow, life in Italy just fills my heart.

Enjoy the pics… Ciao until next time….