Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Ember

Fare thee well friend. May you be chasing your pink ball and finding lost friends forever. Greater Philly SAR has lost one of our finest. Beautiful girl.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Water Training

Water training with dogs. The dogs of SAR need to know how to ride in a boat. Nicely. Without yelping. They need to learn to focus and sniff. And alert on the scents. Canines can smell a victim under water. 12 feet down. Currents carry scent and vapors and gasses rise to the top in minute bubbles. Our dogs can locate the bubbles.
Water rescue however often involves ropes and buoys. And not dogs. Today they had to wait riverside while we practiced throwing rope bags and self rescue in rapids. The Shepherds of the group sang and protested their imprisonment on the banks. "Hey! Let me off this rope! How will I save you? Clearly, you are stuck in the rapids and need my help." Some of the dogs sat nicely and just watched. Guess which kind I have?