Disaster Dogs to the Rescue

In our previous issue, we told you about the effects of Hurricane Katrina and the relief efforts associated with this great tragedy. But did you know that some of the most heroic volunteers were not people, but pets? During crises such as the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes and the September 11 terrorist attacks, canine search-andrescue dogs—and their human partners—work around the clock to save lives. These canine heroes work without the benefit of gas masks and protective clothing, climbing into and searching all the places considered too dangerous for humans to enter. We are in awe of these brave dogs and their heroic efforts, and while we can’t spotlight each of them individually, we feel honored to bring you the story of two search-and-rescue dogs who have what it takes to be heroes.

TOP TWO DOGS
Tara and Cooper were born to rescue. Their owner, Lee Prentiss, a firefighter for the town of Ipswich in Massachusetts, has worked with both black Labrador retrievers on the Massachusetts Task Force One (MATF-1) FEMA Urban Search-and-Rescue team.

Lee joined the MATF-1 team 10 years ago in an effort to bond with 9-month-old Tara, the first dog he owned. “I wanted to involve Tara in my job,” Lee says, “so I looked into what it would take to train a dog to do search-and-rescue work.”

TRAINING
Lee is now the K9 handler and training coordinator for all the MATF-1 dogs. These dogs are live-find disaster dogs, which means their job is to find survivors in the rubble of disaster sites.

“We start teaching a disaster dog by getting him to bark at a toy. Then, he is taught to sound a bark alert when he finds a victim,” says Lee. The training progresses to games in which the dog chases a person running away from him. The next step is using verbal stimulation to get a dog to look for a “trapped” person. Finally, it is time to perform a blind rescue, in which the dog has to start using his nose.

Motivation in the form of food or toys is used, because the food or play drive in a dog turns him on to doing rescue work. “It has got to be fun for the dogs,” Lee notes. “They always have to win.”

SELECTION
Dogs that are easily sidetracked by distractions will not be successful search dogs. Not all dogs are cut out for this work—that is why selecting a dog with the right personality is so important. Selecting a rescue dog is far different than looking for a compatible pet, according to Lee. A dog must be picked to meet the handler’s needs.

Labs are great for rescue work, he says, because it is in their nature to retrieve. Lee says, “Basically, what they are doing in the rubble piles is hunting, and when they are born naturally to do that, it is a little bit easier to teach them.”

COUNTING ON COOPER
Lee started training Cooper when the Lab was about 1 year old. Cooper, who turned 3 years old on Christmas, went to Colorado in April to get advanced certification—just in time for Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was Cooper’s first deployment, and the hurricane’s devastation brought him to Waveland, Mississippi. The dogs went through houses, using their powerful noses to find survivors.

The teams also did several pet rescues. Cooper, in particular, attracted a black Lab–mix stray that would not leave his side. Many dogs were roaming the devastated streets, and some needed to be rescued from roofs. It was difficult to tear some dogs away from their homes, says Lee. The teams had to force entry into many houses, and some dogs were “protecting their territory.” Lee notes that these dogs showed some true bravery: “These dogs saw the worst of things. They went through hell."

LOOKING AFTER TARA
Cooper has a great role model to imitate, which helped him catch on quickly to search-and-rescue work. “Watching Tara gave Cooper a step up,” Lee says. “Cooper followed in her footsteps.” They were big footsteps to fill!

Tara and the entire MATF-1 team were recognized for participating in 9/11 search-and-rescue efforts. “On September 11, we ended up at Ground Zero for 8 days looking for anyone who might still be alive in the rubble,” says Lee. “We searched in the subways and in high-rise buildings.” Tara has participated in several other rescue missions as well, receiving further recognition for her efforts at the Braintree Fore River Shipyard crane collapse. This mission was Tara’s last before she retired last January. “There was one person not accounted for,” Lee explains. “Within several minutes of searching the collapsed building, Tara located the last victim.” For this rescue, Tara was featured on several local news stations.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
Lee credits his close bond with his dogs as being responsible for their success as a team. “Both of my search-andrescue dogs have always been members of my family,” Lee says. He considers the bond he has with both dogs to be no different than the bond between most pet owners and their pets. The stronger the bond at home, the more effective the bond on the field. That is because rescue work is a matter of trust. “You have to work together with the dogs, and they feed off you. The dogs are always there to pick you up,” Lee says, quickly noting that it “works both ways.” While both of Lee’s Labs are great at what they do, Lee points out that they could not be more different in personality. “When I got Tara at 9 months old, she had been living in a kennel in Florida. We missed the critical bonding time. She did not like to cuddle; she just wanted to work for her toys,” Lee remembers. Cooper, whom Lee has had since the dog was 8 weeks old, however, is more the typical Lab that loves to be with people. He can play rough, but he has a cuddly side that he slips into, especially around Lee’s daughter. This “great on/off switch” is important in a rescue dog, says Lee. When he takes Cooper on a mission, Cooper lies still in the truck, but when he “sees the rubble, he just wants to go to work,” Lee says.

COURAGEOUS CANINES
Although the dogs may think their job is a game, it is actually serious business. “We train the dog to do something life or death without asking any questions,” says Lee. They enter unstable buildings filled with hazards without any notice. “Day in and day out, we are asking these dogs to perform,” Lee says, stressing that people need to appreciate what working dogs do. He adds, “I do not think my dog is the only hero; I think all dogs in the system are heroes.”