A Life Chapter Closes

Four great dogs… my friends, my confidants, my fuzzy children.. unforgettable. My search dogs, now all gone from this earth, but not from our hearts. My last, dear Romeo, was the best of my best. His love and devotion reached deep into our hearts and souls, making the journey from here over the Rainbow Bridge a difficult but precious one during his last few weeks.

But not only having to say goodbye to our dear boy, but also a final goodbye to a way of life for close to 30 years. I may have not been active in search and rescue for the past 4- 1/2 years living here in Italy, but with Romeo by my side, we never truly left that life. Now that chapter is finished and we have turned the page, as sad as it may seem to be at this very moment.

So why, apart from missing my 4 great dogs, would this be important enough to write about? What was the Search and Rescue that gave substance to my life for so many years?

It began with the woods and dogs, both which I were very comfortable with. When I was young, I would camp out in the backyard. I’m sure some of you have done that. Dad must have seen something of himself in me so when I was a preteen, he took me on my first hike up a mountain. I didn’t do a lot of mountain hiking until I was an adult, but the hook had been set. Mom wasn’t big on us having pets, so once I got married, all bets were off. I’ve had dogs all my adult life.

Let me take you back to the early 90’s. I had been actively looking for a volunteer group to join, to give back to the community where I was living in central Virginia. Being more of an outdoors person, nothing offered at my church seemed to call to me. At some point during that period, a friend of mine asked me if I had ever heard of searching for lost people with dogs. I was clueless. I went to a local training held by Dogs East SAR group in northern Virginia. It was a night training. Many of the callouts for searches are at night, as usually the family looks for their missing person during the day, then when unable to locate their family member, they call the local sheriff’s office by the evening. This makes night training essential for the teams.

After watching a handler and her dog locate a volunteer ( the subject) hiding in the woods, seeing the dog return to the handler, indicate the ‘find’ with a jump, and returning to the subject with the hander, I was totally onboard. No going back for me. My first search dog was an adoption from a work partner; a washed-out gun dog, a sweet, somewhat confused Labrador named Buck. We became candidates for Dogs East SAR group, but after a few months we moved to K9 Alert SAR Dogs located closer to my home near Richmond. This group then became my family for the next 26 years, with a brief absence with my third dog, Orso. I will explain that decision in a bit. Buck and I, after two years (this is about normal) became an operational team for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, as eventually my second and fourth dogs, Luce & Romeo.

So it began all about woods and dogs but it morphs into so much more! Little did I envision how much more it would mean to me and what it would require of me! Take land navigation.. when I first was introduce to all its complexities, I was certain I was hearing a foreign language. I felt out of my league immediately. I knew how to have a dog as a pet, but to train it to search and locate lost people, a new world opened up to me. There was search strategy & scent theory, First Aid, dog obedience, multiple search tests for both my dog and I, radio comms, evac strategies and techniques, the list goes on and on. Throughout my 27 years of active service, I never stopped learning.

K9 Alert SAR Dogs – early 1990s & 2000s

Level of commitment was high. We were required to train with the group 50% per month and training was every Saturday night or Sunday day. Location for training could be 20 minutes up to 3 hours from my home. Searches could be anywhere in the state of Virginia. Volunteer work is not for the faint of heart or for those with a family of small children. Just many hours on call and lots of driving ahead. For me, with my daughter already grown and my husband a busy chef, I was able to balance training commitments, searches with my career & family life. Not always easy, though.

About 18 years into my membership with K9 Alert SAR Dogs, my husband and I were building our home in Nelson County, Virginia. Literally we were building it with a few helpers, and it was a large home on a mountainside. Training with the group, traveling long distance, the time commitment and doing statewide searches had to be put on hold for about 5 years. I was in the midst of training my third dog, Orso, a monster-sized Labrador. I shifted gears, got certified with a police dog association and became a Special K9 Officer (strictly volunteer) for the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office. During this time with NCSO, with Mike Hull, a world renowned Man Tracker and Massie Saunders, local search manager, we formed the local search group, F.I.R.S.T., Fast Initial Response Search Team. We assisted the local sheriff’s office as well as responded to a few regional searches.

Nelson County Sheriff Office

With fourth and final search dog, Romeo, and our house completed, I returned to K9 Alert for my final active years in SAR.

Training

Then there were the solid bonds built between me and the people of SAR, whether in my group or throughout the state. When you spend so many hours together, whether training or at searches, it’s inevitable that you come to view your group members as your extended family. There are also the friendships made from people you’ve seen throughout your travels in the SAR community. All these individuals become part of your support network and many lifetime friends. Searching for lost individuals can be very taxing on the mind and body, and it is important to have strong trusting relationships in the field.

Friends Made…for Life

But truly the strongest and incomparable bond I had was with each of my amazing dogs. Each one so different from the other, with their own talents, strengths and personalities. They so love to work when their rewards are food, toys and praise… Training with them was always the best part of SAR for me, and their devotion to me and their work unfathomable. I am sure all handlers feel the same about their dogs and rightly so. We are a team, my dog and I.

My Guys & Gal

The chapter may have closed but it doesn’t end my friendships and I will certainly not forget my dogs. Nor will my husband, John. With his support and sacrifice for so many years, I was able to commit long hours to my dogs and SAR, many of those hours away from home. Our dogs will always be a part of us. I am thankful that I was able to serve the community of Virginia and very thankful for the gift of my four great dogs.