# Who else on this forum is involved in K9 SAR



## Nancy Jocoy

Just curious......


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## Linda Graffis

*Who Else is Involved in k9 SAR*

*Hi Nancy.

I have done SAR with one of my dobes until his health got too bad. I would like to get involved again, we really enjoyed it.

I trained him myself with the help of the Central Florida SAR Organization as a cadaver dog and got him certified through the Orange county Sheriffs Dept. k9 unit. He and I have been involved in searches all over Florida. Maybe someday soon I'll have another dobe to train in SAR.*


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## Bob Scott

Hey Nancy,
As We've talked before, you know I'm a former SAR person. Having trained a great little Austrailian Shepherd,and watched her go down hill when I turned her over to a new handler, then going through all the political BS with team leaders that didn't know a dogs nose from it's tail, I left SAR. Also, there are to many wannabe teams in this area and not enough understanding by the smaller Law Enforcement communities to see through all the BS when these teams just show up (scanner chasers) at search sites. 
My current GSD is Fantastic at anything I ask him to do. I still keep him on his toes with cadavere training, but Schutzhund is my primary training veniue now. 
I hate sounding so negative because I truely did love the SAR work, just not the people in charge that THOUGHT they understood dog training.


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## Konnie Hein

I know this thread is a couple of months old, but I just wanted to see if there were any other folks in SAR who may have joined this board in the time since Nancy originally posted this.

Also, are there any other USAR trainers visiting this board?


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## jay lyda

Hey Konnie, I'm interested in getting involved and learning more about it. I know that your post was a while ago but if you have any info for me I would apprediate it.


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## Konnie Hein

Jay - my advice is to get hooked up with a reputable SAR group in your area. They can teach you a lot of what you need to know. I'm not familiar with any of the groups in SC specifically, but maybe Nancy or somebody else on this forum is? If not, I can try to help you find one.

If you have any specific questions, just post them and we'll try to answer them.


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## Nancy Jocoy

Jay, the question would be are you interested in Wilderness or Disaster
There are several Wilderness teams I know of

Our is in Spartanburg, there is another in Charleston and a third in Swansea. I know there are a number of teams in GA

We have done cooperative search work wtih the Charleston team and think they are serious and professional. One of their members is a NAPWDA Master trainer in Narc & Cadaver (and also something else) 

The team in Swansea is the STARR team and would be closest to you. We have not done that much with them.

There is also someone in Hilton Head who is ex US&R but I am not sure of anything about him.


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## jay lyda

It would be easier for me to train in wilderness and I think that I would prefer that. Earlier I looked at a webite for SAR in Spartanburg, is that who you are with? Do you all have a site. I have family in Spartanburg and it is only about two hours away. My pup is young now but I would like to come and see what you do and how you train. Have you seen many coonhonds do this?


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## Nancy Jocoy

www.scsarda.org

We are based in Spartanburg and regularly train from Greenville to Kings Mountain and down near lake Monticello. 

I have not seen any coonhounds personally and hounds are not something we have much real experience with, but - I am assuming you will have a vocal trailing dog since SLED uses Redbone-Bloodhound crosses [they sing on the trail and bite at the end] 

There are resources to help though:

Denver Holder of NCSARDA is an old coonhound person (he currently works labs) and he may be a valuable resource - and they also have bloodhound handlers on their team. We have used them for help as we are a much younger team, and train with them some. NCSARDA has been around for 25 years [if anyone here ever took MLPI - the case study - was Denver's first search and he was the one who found him] 

We are training one on one with Chris Weeks who is on the REDs team in Raleigh and is also LE - he cut his teeth learning to train bomb dogs at Lackland AFB and helps us with trailing and cadaver.

You are more than welcome to come and visit - you need to set up when by emailing [email protected] - but wait a few days - we just moved to a new web host and are ironing out some problems with our email acct. and some PDF files that are not loading. (like the one for new applicant information) - PM me with an email address and I can email you THAT document


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## John Haudenshield

*Involved in SAR*

I am the Training Officer for Commonwealth SAR in Roanoke, VA.

I am not training a dog in SAR, bu my wife is a SAR K9 Handler.

John Haudenshield


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## Nancy Jocoy

Hey John, welcome.

Guzo still up there? I hear he is getting married (or already is) you can send him back our way when you are done with him.


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## Bob Scott

Welcome John!


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## Liz Monty

I used to be involved in SAR training and a volunteer group in our area. My experience was terrible with that group. There are so many people who would really do a great job at SAR and take it seriously, but I did not find that in my area. It's too bad. There where a lot of dogs showing up that were timid, low prey drive, or low prey drive and sharp or dog aggressive. None had the correct temperament and prey needed. As I trained my dogs, I sold them out to working people (government agencies) who used their talents. I left the group quickly and just do my own thing now.


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## Nancy Jocoy

Sad to say I have seen a lot of that

I washed my first dog because he was just not confident around strange people, particularly men and was fear aggressive with dogs. Also timid about the dark-stange things etc. So he is a pet with a lot of prey drive and health problems to boot (allergies, PF - sigh - well, he is a committment and we love him )

Have seen a lot worse out there than him being trained by people. At a seminar - two dogs who actively hid behind their owners and would not take food or toy from a stanger - not exactly what you want in a SAR dog.

So far the only flaw I have found in Grim is that he does hunker down a bit when her first gets on a slick WHITE floor. He recovers pretty quickly but nothing else bothers him (bleachers, steps, ramps, tunnels, rock piles, pallet piles, dark old warehouses (he can handle a slick white floor just find in the dark   )

The only problem with Cyra is her bitchy attitude around other dogs but she is not a killer. Not very dog social though but can work around them, she can even run free with a group but is a bit snarky about her space. 

Grim could give a rats rear end about other dogs other than he likes to sniff them and savor female dogs urine.


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## Tammy Riley

Hello all, I am new to the group. My husband and I are K-9 handlers for our group Pathfinder SAR in Oklahoma. We live 2 hrs from our base and we drive it every weekend to train.


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## Connie Sutherland

Tammy Riley said:


> Hello all, I am new to the group. My husband and I are K-9 handlers for our group Pathfinder SAR in Oklahoma. We live 2 hrs from our base and we drive it every weekend to train.


Welcome!


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## Nancy Jocoy

Welcome to the board
Always glad for folks on another SAR team to come in


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## Tammy Riley

hey nancy,
I just looked at where you are from. We lived in sumter for 10 years while my husband was in the air force. We moved from there in 1996.
I miss it terribly. He had to drag me here kicking and screaming. It took me 2 years to get used to Oklahoma again.


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## Jennifer Michelson

Hi, I'm new here and new to SAR. I have been with a team in NJ for about a year. I was a 'volunteer' until about 3 months ago when I became a trainee member. At this point its time to get my SARTEC stuff in order.

The team I am on is Wilderness/cadaver/water. Most of the members also do urban/disaster with NJTF-1, and I am pretty sure I will go that way too. Not much live find wilderness searches in NJ :lol: 

Griffin is 20months old and is east german working lines shepherd. He is a lot of fun to work and a good boy at home (now that he has stopped chewing on my door frames.....). 

So we are newbies who are having a lot of fun figuring this training out!!


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## Carmela Balcazar

I'm also a newbie for SAR. Fact is, the concept of the use of dogs for SAR work is so new in my country that we have no certified k9 teams as of yet. I joined one organization but wasn't happy and comfortable with the way the training went and some of their policies. 

The Philippines is situated in the Ring of Fire in the Pacific and natural disasters are a common occurence here. Hurricanes, mudslides, earthquakes, floods, landslides, & volcanic eruptions are part of the natural scene. In catastrophic events, we have to rely on international aid and that takes time. So a few of us have decided to try to train for it and hopefully achieve our goal of being certified.

My present dog (czech gsd) is being trained for wilderness, specifically trailing. I will soon have another gsd who I will train to airscent. As our country has rather unique, if not challenging conditions, I hope I can tap into everyone's experience to help us attain our goal on being a well-trained k9 team.


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## Konnie Hein

We are here to help you! If you have any specific questions on airscenting, just let me know.

Also, there are quite a few really great trainers here in the U.S. I know it would be a long trip, but you might want to consider coming here for seminars/training, if you haven't already. Of course, I'm sure there are good SAR trainers in other countries too - and they might be closer to you!


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## Carmela Balcazar

Konnie Hein said:


> We are here to help you! If you have any specific questions on airscenting, just let me know.
> 
> Also, there are quite a few really great trainers here in the U.S. I know it would be a long trip, but you might want to consider coming here for seminars/training, if you haven't already. Of course, I'm sure there are good SAR trainers in other countries too - and they might be closer to you!


Thanks Konnie. I WILL be asking a LOT of questions.  I do plan to go abroad to attend seminars & workshops but I'm still unclear regarding the quarantine requirements for the dog 'specially in the US. I'd appreciate some recommendations on trainers though.


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## Konnie Hein

> I do plan to go abroad to attend seminars & workshops but I'm still unclear regarding the quarantine requirements for the dog 'specially in the US.


Sometimes I find that I can learn more during a seminar/training when my dog isn't with me. If my dog isn't with me, I have one less thing to focus on and can direct all of my attention to learning. Don't let quarantine requirements stop you from traveling to gain knowledge. You can learn what you need and then take it back home with you.


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## Lani Vandenberg

I see this is an old thread, but, I'll add my 2 cents anyway!

My 15 mo. old DDR boy, Oz, and I are SAR. I'm certified and working toward certification with Oz. Our k9 trainer thinks I should be able to test by the end of the year, but I think I will take a little more time. I am having the time of my life! I wish I had gotten involved with this years ago. I'm with Search One K-9 Detection in Tualatin, Oregon.


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## Konnie Hein

Welcome! Glad to hear things are going well for you and your dog in SAR training.

SAR in Oregon...I have a huge amount of respect for folks who do SAR in the mountains. Talk about needing good physical endurance and navigation skills!!!!!


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## Rebecca Santana

Wow I just found this thread and I know it is over a year old. I train with Jay and all the great CSRA folks here in Augusta GA. I really miss SAR. I worked my boy for nearly two years in CA and MT and since we trained full time in Wilderness Area Searches it became a lifestyle and I miss dearly. The politics and criteria/certifications were varied. I'm wondering if anyone knows any clubs in GA and or upcoming seminars in the southeast? I'm now working my guy in APPDA and love it, but I would love to venture into Disaster/FEMA or just continue to train and learn more about my first passion. I appreciate any feedback.


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## Nancy Jocoy

Hi, Rebecca - my team is based in Spartanbug and there is another in Greenville. I think there are some in SE GA but I don't know much about them. Alligators and Wild Pigs are a reality down there too. 

We are not doing any FEMA though. Was just on a search last weekend not far from you....we were accompnanied by LE with guns to shoot any of such animals that threatened us. [We were in a swamp]


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## Jane King

I've been a 'body' with SARDA Lakes in the UK just over 10 years. We use mainly working strain border collies for their stamina and trainability, although there is also a lurcher (bedlington x greyhound) and a GSD at the moment too.

If anyone is interested, you can go to www.sardalakes.org.uk and have a nosey around


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## Nancy Jocoy

That is a neat site! So glad you hide - being the "body" or subject is a most important job for training the dogs


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## ann schnerre

so is "Moudy" the bedlingtonXgreyhound? if not, i'd like to see a pic of THAT cross!!

it's neat seeing the pics-- i sometimes assume (w/typical American arrogance) that we're the only country that has REALLY rugged terrain; tho i know better intellectually, pics and vids really make me appreciate the rest of this big ol world. and BC doing rescue work is better yet! who'd have thought it?

hope my alligator mouth didn't just overload my canary a$$....


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## Nancy Jocoy

Here you go -

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/html/sections/lurchers/lurchers.html

There is a bedlingtonxgreyhound there in the pictures


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## Jane King

Yep - Moudy is the lurcher!

Most of the dogs are collies because they are the dogs that are bred and worked on the local farms and so they have the stamina and ability to deal with the terrain. They are all from working strains - not Kennel Club registered dogs from show-lines. A lot of the working collies in Cumbria are leggy and quite a few are smooth-coated: some people call them cur-dogs, as opposed to border collies. Nowadays a lot of hill farmers also have huntaways (originally from New Zealand) and huntaway crosses.

I'm glad you enjoyed the site!


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## Rebecca Santana

Nancy I haven't been on here for awhile...Spartanburg isn't that far from here?! We've had some people come down to Augusta that might train with you guys! How often do you train? I wouldn't mind making the drive and at least getting lost for awhile because I truly miss the training experience. There is nothing like being out on a search with your dog! I also wanted to comment that I've been on one team that trained a scenario where we had a trailing dog (lab) and two area scent dogs deployed left and right. I didn't give my dog enough credit on being scent discriminate because there was two victims and mine was further up the canyon and had the trail crossed by the closer victim (closer in). I wasn't happy with the scenario but stunned by the results and I'm glad I trusted my dog to lead me to the victim although he could have easily found one of other 5 people out there (got to love the politcs and PR of SAR)! I look forward to hearing back on training information...don't too much care for swamps but hey at least it's not grizzlies right before hibernation! :-D


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## Nancy Jocoy

I'll send you a pm in a few days. Gotta lot going on right now with work.


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## Sarah Atlas

Sarah Atlas here
Nj-TF1 K-9's Tango and Kaylee

So glad I found all of you!!!!

happy holidays to all


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## Erica Boling

Joined this forum awhile ago and seemed to have missed this thread. I joined a local SAR team here in central New Jersey a few months ago and am training my 17 month old Doberman to be a trailing dog. I'm also a second tier responder for a SAR team in Pennsylvania. We just trained in the Pocono Mnts. this past weekend and also did some urban trailing. Had an awesome time!


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## Carol Boche

hmmm, I dabble in SAR a bit....


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## Sarah Atlas

*Re: Involved in SAR*

Sarah Atlas and K-9's tango and Kaylee here
NJ-Task Force 1.

HI GUYS!!!


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