Welcome, Tank! Our Team's Newest Certified, 4-Legged Member

Tank (Used with permission from D. Christian)

Isn't he a beauty? This is Tank, a two-year-old bloodhound–Labrador retriever mix, owned and loved by his handler, Diane, who's been involved with search and rescue for many years. Diane is retired from law enforcement, where she worked with SAR and police detection dogs for explosives and tracking. She got her first tracking dog in 1992. Tank is her third hound. 

Together, they recently passed the highest K-9 trailing certification in the country: NASAR SARTECH Canine Trailing I. 

For information on the various NASAR Canine certifications and what those tests entail, see NASAR Canine SAR or go directly to their PDF file on Canine Certification Programs.

Tank, a rescue dog out of a shelter in Los Angeles, is actually a tracking canine with a trailing certification. This means that our team is now fortunate to have both a tracking/trailing dog and three cross-trained air-scent/human remains detection dogs to assist with our missions. All the dogs and their handlers train (which is like play time to the dogs) at least a few times each week to keep up their skills and their fitness.

For those who aren't familiar with the different types of SAR K9s and the way they work, here's a basic overview:  

Tracking Dogs — This type of SAR dog works from a scent article that has the subject's odor on it, such as a piece of clothing or hat, a pillow case, a hair brush, and so forth. (It's best if the handler collect the scent article so it's done correctly and not contaminated with someone else's scent.) The dog picks up the specific human scent from that item and uses it to locate the path that person took. Tracking dogs generally work on a long lead, taking the handler to the subject by following the missing person's footsteps.  

Trailing Dogs — Trailing dogs work in a manner that's very similar to tracking dogs. A scent article is carefully obtained in order to isolate the missing person's scent. The search dog then smells the scent article and uses that smell to find and follow the path the person took. With trailing dogs, though, the dog might veer off the missing person's actual track, cutting corners and using the wind to its advantage. Trailing dogs generally work on a 20- to 30-foot lead.  

Air Scent Dogs — Unlike tracking and trailing dogs, air scent dogs work off-lead, ranging back and forth to pick up human scent. ANY human scent, that is, which is why it's important to test wind direction and, as much as possible, keep other people (i.e., searchers) downwind of the dog while its searching an area. Ranging often takes the air-scent dog out of the handler's sight for a time, so the handler must trust the dog and wait for an alert. Once the dog picks up human scent, they'll move in toward the source and then give an alert to the handler. That alert might be barking while staying with the source of the scent or might be done by returning to the handler and somehow conveying to that person, "Follow me!" The dog then leads the handler to the subject.

In general, air scent dogs are not scent-discriminating the way tracking/trailing dogs are, so scent articles are not used. Rather, the air scent dog will seek out any human scent and alert the handler. If the human who's located is not the subject, the handler will reward the dog for the find and then give the command to continue searching.

There are variations to the above, but those are the basics.

Here's another shot of Tank at work...

Photo used with permission by D. Christian

In other Coconino County SAR news, these are missions our team has recently been involved with:

Climber Injured in Oak Creek Fall: A 43-year-old Flagstaff man fell about 40 feet while climbing near the Oak Creek Canyon overlook on Monday. A tourist saw the man fall and called 911. A technical rescue followed, with cooperation by crews from Coconino County Search & Rescue, the Sedona Fire Department, and the Highlands Fire Department.

Crews Search Oak Creek for Missing Minnesota Man: 27-year-old Shaun Rentz of Minnesota was reported missing after he failed to meet with friends over the weekend and then didn't show up to move in with friends at their new home in the Twin Cities on Monday. His abandoned vehicle was then located near Flagstaff, Arizona, at the Oak Creek Canyon Overlook parking area, later that same day. Here's another article with additional information and a photo of Shaun: Car of Missing Twin Cities Man Found in Arizona.

Any questions about these or other SAR missions in Coconino County should be directed to the Coconino County Sheriff's Office.

A Vision Quest Gone Bad?

That's what the note said that 43-year-old Michael Snarski of Thornton, Colorado, had left on his dashboard—that he was not lost; he was on a vision quest. The note was dated 7/24.

Two weeks later, someone reported to the Sheriff's office that the car was still there, parked at a pull-out about 20 miles south of Williams, AZ. That's when detectives asked for our K9 team, trained in human remains (HR) detection, to come to the site and check the vehicle. They'd smelled what could have been an intermittent, faint "odor of death," they said. Our dog handler, Cindy, then contacted me and another team member, often her backers on other missions, to accompany her and her four NASAR-certified golden retrievers.

All four dogs independently alerted on the trunk, but my teammates and I didn't smell anything in the air or coming from the car. Still, each dog gave an enthusiastic, distinct alert, a couple of them becoming what I'd call frustrated at not being able to get to the source of the smell, digging at the ground by the trunk and jumping up on the vehicle with their front legs.

A deputy called his boss for permission to have the vehicle unlocked and the trunk opened. Permission was granted, and we all waited, wondering what we'd find inside.

Once the trunk was opened, however, there was no visible evidence of human decomposition and no odor—or at least none detectable by our human noses. The dogs were again brought back to the car, one by one, and each now alerted on a specific area of the trunk.

"Show me," Cindy would say when they each alerted. And each dog jumped back up and touched the same spot inside the trunk with their paws and noses. Something related to human decomposition was there, but whatever it was, we couldn't see it, and we were not allowed to touch the numerous items in the trunk to look beneath them.

Later, after the vehicle was towed and law enforcement searched it, it was discovered that the dogs had indeed found something: a spot of blood about the size of nickel on a pair of pants.

Following more investigation, an extensive area search was planned. SAR volunteers from both Coconino and Yavapai Counties were called, including K9, ground, and mounted units. I'm sure everyone was expecting this would likely be a long, tedious search through difficult terrain. Even the command trailer was being brought out to the site.

K9 units arrived at the search area at first light, to begin while the air was still cool and the light winds would still be coming up out of nearby Bear Canyon. That way, the cross-trained dogs would be able to detect human scent if the missing person were down in that canyon. The wind would (and did) soon change direction as the sun rose, so we wanted to search the rim as soon as possible.

But the search didn't last long. As Cindy and I slowly made our way along the rim with two of her dogs, picking through thick manzanita over rocks and other pinion–juniper forest debris and one lethargic snake, another K9 team discovered Michael Snarski's body not far from the road.

He was sitting on a blanket, up against a tree, with full water bottles and a couple of uneaten, by then blackened bananas at his side. Facing west toward what may have been the sinking sun on his final day, he still had his sunglasses on. This is the last view Michael would have seen but without all of the SAR vehicles. His car had been parked where ours now were:

AZ K9 SARCON: Search and Rescue Dogs Come to Flagstaff

This year for the first time, the Arizona K9 SAR Conference was held here in Flagstaff, hosted by our own Coconino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team. More than 50 dogs and their handlers came from around the state and other parts of the US to learn from expert instructors and from one another during this four-day event.

Classes included:

• Air Scent K-9 Fieldwork
• Trailing Dogs Fieldwork, Introduction to Scent Theory
• Scent Dynamics
• Forensics/Decomposition
• Human Remains Detection/Fieldwork
• Pheromonal Communications
• Helicopter Safety for Search and Rescue Canines
• ROC and Triangulation Techniques
• Field First Aid for K-9s
• Human Bone Identification
• Working K-9 Health Issues

I'm not a K9 handler, but I really enjoyed helping out with this conference for a couple of days, "getting lost" for the dogs to find, and at times just observing. I found the advice and tips the instructors gave the handlers fascinating, including suggestions for how to correct certain behaviors (both their own and the dogs'), overcome challenges, and build on the dogs' natural instincts.

Alerts, motivation, and rewards were often the focus during field work sessions, as well as training techniques and reading the dogs' signals. I loved watching the handlers communicate with their canine partners and especially enjoyed seeing the fun the dogs had. To them, searching is a game with a prize at the end.

As the "subject" of dozens of searches, I saw and felt lots of pink tongues and wet noses up close and personal and handled quite a few gooey toys and hotdogs.

This excited four-legged SAR volunteer has located me, run back to get Mom and lead her to his find...

The K9s came in all shapes and sizes. Isn't she a beauty?

She may be little, but she's got a great nose and work ethic.

Instructors, including Coco SAR's Cindy McArthur, worked one-on-one with dogs and handlers.

See more of my photos and videos from the 2011 AZ K9 SARCON

Just Your Average Christmas Eve (in SAR)

At least telling people I went out to help look for an arm makes for a good ice-breaker at social gatherings. Don't you think?

I really shouldn't give the details about this particular arm—whose it was, why it was out there—but, basically, this was the result of a homicide earlier this year. And by the time authorities knew where exactly to look for the body, it had been scattered by coyotes. So that's why the arm was still missing.

And that's why I got a call from our K-9 team leader, asking if I'd come along as a backer for one of the handlers. Each dog/handler/backer team would have an 11-acre segment to search, making tight grids back and forth since the dogs would be looking for something potentially as small as a finger bone.

When the three handlers, three backers, and six dogs rendezvoused at the SAR building on the morning of Christmas Eve, I just had to ask. "So, if they (law enforcement) got the rest of the body, then... well... why do they need the arm?"

They didn't, really, I was told. This was more of a training for the dogs, handlers, and backers. Of course, if we found what we were searching for—the arm or some bones thereof—we'd mark it, call it in to the detective, and he'd come collect the remains. But as far as the case against the person who (I guess I'm supposed to insert the word "allegedly") committed the crime, these bones would not be necessary evidence. I'd think a find would, however, mean something to family of the deceased.

So, we did our best, making our grids as tight as possible given the obstacles—the pinion–juniper, rocks, cactus, and the mud. And, wow, was it muddy. I felt (and looked) like I had 10 pounds of clay mud caked on the bottom of my boots. I had mud up the front and back of my pants. I was slipping and stumbling like I was drunk, which was really draining. I think it even wore on the dogs after a while. But they and we kept working through all that mud and other obstacles until we'd completed our search areas.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a find, but the dogs alerted on the spot where the body had previously been found, even though it had been quite some time since it had been removed. So, we knew they were working and doing what they'd been trained to do.

A New Generation of Nepali SAR Dogs

I wanted to share some videos with you from the Himalaya Rescue Dog Squad Nepal's training and breeding center in Shyauli Bazaar. I'll be trekking from Pokhara to Shyauli Bazaar in June, along with HRDSN leader Ingo Schnabel and two SAR K-9 trainers from Germany.

(If you can't view the embedded videos here, I've added direct YouTube links below each.)

Shyauli Bazaar in Lamjung at the Middim Khola River is one of the most beautiful places in Nepal. Here, you'll see HRDSN's newest litter of SAR dogs-to-be.

Direct link

Meet Hunter, a SAR dog donated to HRDSN by Lynn Martin from Oregon. Lynn teaches at the Dog Obedience Academy. Here's Hunter demonstrating his man-trailing skills after just a few lessons.

Direct link

See a bit of the daily "shaping" training at Shyauli Bazaar. "The shaping or fine-tuning of the dogs' performance has to be done step by step. With the help of the clicker training method and voice commands in Nepalese language, the dogs learn to negotiate obstacles of different kinds and shapes. This is preparation for entering and searching collapsed buildings for disaster victims."

Direct link

And here's Dunston, reporting his find to his handler and leading him back to the subject. "Rückverweisen" is German for "search, find, report back and then lead your handler to the subject."

The way Dunston communicates a find is jumping up and placing his paws on his handler's chest. This method is taught step by step with clicker training and small treats and is used with dogs who don't like to bark at a discovered person. Dunston was never a barker, and since he is an excellent air-scenting dog, he was trained to do his reporting (or alerting) in this manner.

 

Direct link 

One Day, Two Missions

Okay, now I don't feel quite so bad about missing Wednesday's and Thursday's evidence search.

On Friday morning, just as my mom and I get to the hair salon for her 9:00 appointment (and my trim while her dye is doing its thing), my pager goes off. Shoot! I was going to miss another mission, I thought.

I called in and Sergeant D's message said it was a search for a missing hunter (kind of a recurring theme at this time of year) in the Marshall Lake area. Hmm, I contemplated, that's not far from where I live. So I left a message, saying I'd be tied up for a while but that I'd like to join in if the search was still ongoing after I dropped my mom off back at her house. Then I hung up and called Al, who I knew would be going on the mission. Al said he'd grab an extra radio for me.

I fidgeted while the hairdresser got my mom started, then fidgeted some more while she was combing away at my matted, curly mass. Twice I fished my ringing cellphone out of my pocket as she was trimming, trying not to move too much lest she snip off part of an earlobe. It was Al, calling to tell me he was going directly to Marshall Lake with Cassie, his and the team's tracking dog, to begin a hasty search. So, he'd relayed my request for a radio to another team member at the SAR building. Then it was Al calling again from his truck, asking if I knew a quicker way to get to Marshall Lake.

With my earlobes still intact after those two calls, I called my husband, a Flagstaff native, and asked if he knew of any alternate routes to the lake, on some unofficial dirt roads maybe. Nope. So I slipped my phone back into my pocket and behaved myself for the rest of my agonizingly long haircut, then changed into SAR clothes in the salon bathroom while the hairdresser continued on my mom's head. Tap, tap, tap went my foot as I tried to distract myself with tabloid magazines. (Did you know that Brittany Spears... uh, never mind.)

Okay, so fast forward to about 11 a.m. I got to Marshall Lake just as our team was preparing to depart the staging area and head into the field. Al was already out with Cassie along with the subject's brother and a scent article, a shirt the missing man had worn on a couple of days ago. The hunter, Robert, had been gone since 5 p.m. on Thursday, when he vanished while he and his brother and friend were out looking for elk. One minute he was there, the next he was gone, the friend told me.

The point last seen (PLS) was marked on the maps Sergeant D handed out to each searcher along with the briefing sheet. Robert, who was in his early fifties, was about 6-foot-2, 280 pounds, and had no known medical conditions. He was wearing leaf-patterned camo pants and jacket and a black shirt.

We were also told that Robert had been wearing sneakers, though his friend was unsure of the brand. Sergeant D and other SAR members had looked for prints around their campsite, but there were many different treads in the area.

The DPS helicopter was in the air as our team set off in pairs, some on ATVs, some in vehicles, and Scott and I on the Ranger UTV, which can be used to transport a patient. Scott and I followed a trio of hunters to some sneaker tracks they'd located. We spoke to a young couple camped nearby, then parked the Ranger and set off on foot.

Scott and I yelled and I blew my whistle as we climbed to the top of the mesa near the PLS. We saw quite a few tracks, but they were all boot prints. Meanwhile, another pair of SAR volunteers were following some sneaker prints along a dirt road, with the helicopter leap-frogging them and flying above some of the spur roads ahead. At one point, Scott and I, standing on an outcropping above Cherry Canyon, thought we heard a reply to our calls, but it turned out to be ATV Team 1 down below. Darn.

From there, we started downhill, following a wash. I believe Sergeant D had said that something like 40% of the time, lost hunters are found in washes. Hmm, interesting.

As was the next bit of info to come over the radio. Robert's sneakers were just found in the back of his truck. He was wearing boots when he disappeared. Boots with Vibram soles. Oh.

I don't know about Scott, but by then I was starting to get that sinking feeling. Were we going to find poor Robert, unresponsive or worse, somewhat hidden in the grass in his camo garb? I'd seen a vulture circling not long before. Maybe we should have checked over there. Maybe a stray bullet had missed an elk and... well, you get the idea.

Usually when I start to get "that feeling," the person turns up. Which held true this time, too. At about 2:30 p.m., we heard a deputy call Sergeant D on the radio. He said, "We just got word the subject may be at the Circle K on Lake Mary Rd." The Circle K? Wow, that's a long walk.

Scott and I turned around and slowly made our way back to the Ranger (which luckily I'd remembered to mark on my GPS), while a deputy went to the convenience store and confirmed that, yes indeed, it was Robert. He'd been there since 10:00 that morning. I could have picked him up when I drove by on my way to Marshall Lake. Ah well, all's well that ends well once again. That's much better than the scenario my imagination had been cooking up.

So then, at about 4 p.m., I got home coated with dust-covered sweat and waited for Steve to get home from work. I put off showering, and we walked our dog, made some dinner, ate, chatted, watched the presidential debate, and... you guessed it: My pager went off again. Good thing I hadn't showered yet. Would have been a waste of water, right?

And since I've already been long-winded enough, I'll just summarize:

Man goes for a hike with just a water bottle in his pocket. Man gets a bit misplaced. It gets dark, but hiker-man has no flashlight. He does have a cellphone, though, so he calls for help. Deputy responds and drives around, running his siren and talking to the lost man by phone while SAR team is on the way.

SAR arrives. Doo doo-doo! (That was a trumpet.) By now, deputy has some idea of the man's location based on when lost man said the siren was the loudest. So, SAR divides into two teams and heads out from different trailheads. We call, we blow whistles.

We make voice contact. We find man, escort man back to trailhead, then to Sergeant D, then to man's vehicle a few miles away. Happy, tired man goes home. SAR goes home. I go to bed without a shower. Poor husband, Steve.
 

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A few days later...

Just a little added information on the missing elk hunter who turned up at Circle K. He, uh, got a ride there. Yes, he did get lost and did spend the night in the great outdoors, but then, in the morning, he apparently found his way to one of the many forest roads in the Marshall Lake area and caught himself a ride.

Thing is—so we're told—that ride took him right past the campsite he'd been sharing with his brother and friend. So why didn't he stop there? I don't get it. Even if he didn't go right past the site, it was on THE main forest service road out there, just north of the lake, so it wasn't like it would have been hard to find. Why didn't he ask the driver to take him there?

Ah well, no sense in asking logical questions.

The Boy Who Ran

I returned from the SAR conference on Sunday, April 20, tired but excited about all that I'd learned, both the new skills and others that were reinforced. And now, less than 12 hours later, I have a chance to put some of those skills to use.

At 0300, my pager sang its little song. As usual, I went from sleeping to vertical in a split second, pulling on my fleece-lined tights, hiking shoes, thermal top, fleece jacket, and winter coat. Minutes later, I was driving across town to the SAR building. It may be spring, and the days are often in the sixties now, but nights are still sub-freezing. In this arid climate, the difference between night and daytime temperatures is often as much as 60 degrees. So, what you might wear in mid-afternoon would be very inadequate at night and in the early morning hours.

The 17-year-old boy we're now looking for was under-dressed for the conditions when he and a friend took off running at 10:00 last night, as a Sheriff's deputy approached to check out their vehicle. The boys had parked along a Forest Service road in an unusual spot, the deputy said, and he drove up without flashing light to investigate. Before he'd stopped his patrol car, the two teenagers emerged from the vehicle and ran into the forest. The deputy did not pursue them.

Soon, the young driver returned to the car. He was the registered owner. But his friend, for whom he gave a false name to the deputy, did not come back. Instead, he disappeared into the cold night wearing just shorts, a sweatshirt, and tennis shoes.

Jay (name changed), the person we're searching for, is not from or familiar with this area, where he's visiting his aunt and uncle who live south of Flagstaff in Mountainaire. The deputy told us he found a bong and marijuana grinder on the ground not far from the car, and the one boy-driver who returned admitted they'd been smoking pot and some other drug, too. Jay is currently on probation, which has a lot to do with why he ran when he saw the deputy's car.

The deputy released the driver, who then went to Jay's aunt and uncle's house. At about 2 a.m., he decided to wake them and tell them what had happened. As I understand it, they then called the Sheriff, and that's how the deputy found out who it is that's missing, since the friend had given him the false name earlier. The original deputy and others who were called to assist have been searching for Jay since soon after he disappeared, patrolling roads and walking the immediate area near where the teenagers had parked. It is now 4:30 a.m., and three of us volunteers and Cassie, our K-9 assistant, have arrived to help.

Cassie smells the scent article, a pair of Jay's jeans provided by his uncle, and is off like a shot with her handler, Al, in tow at the end of her 30-foot lead and myself and Scott close behind. At first, Cassie is definitely on scent as we depart from where the boys ran off. She heads toward a concrete tunnel under the highway, filled with a foot of standing water, then north along the barbed wire fence just below I-17. Al and I hear the occasional semi truck pass by on the highway above as we follow Cassie, searching for clues and prints as we go while keeping up with the dog.

Soon, Cassie begins casting side-to-side; she's unsure of the track now and easily distracted, not to mention clearly frustrated. The strong winds have dispersed the scent and made it difficult for her pick up. Eventually, she's lost the track altogether, and we return to the beginning to give it another try.

And Cassie goes right back to the tunnel. However, instead of passing it by this time, she gets very excited and wants to go into the standing water and under the highway. But Al holds her back, and we look through the tunnel as we did before. Still don't see anything. It's daylight now, but we shine our lights in the murkiness, just to be sure.

From above the tunnel, I look down at the water at the entrance and see no disturbance in the mud or rocks. We decide to climb the steep bank, carefully cross the divided highway, and check the other side.

We know the deputy had called for backups when the boys ran off, and some had arrived up on I-17, above the tunnel, just minutes later. As Al, Cassie, and I reach the pavement, we see the deputies' footprints along the side of the highway. None were made by sneakers, of that we're sure, but there's not much chance that Jay went up and over with the flashing blue lights visible from below. Cassie appears to confirm that as we climb the embankment. She doesn't pick up on anything.

On the other side of the highway, there's no disturbance in the algae on the standing water as it emerges from the tunnel, and Cassie isn't detecting anything with her nose. Al takes her in a big circle, checking. Nothing. As the DPS helicopter also circles, we decide that Jay did not cross the highway, at least not here, and we return to the other side. There's much more traffic now, so crossing is trickier.

Jay's mother and stepfather have arrived, as well as the aunt and uncle, so quite a few people are standing around. Another SAR call-out eventually produces four more volunteers, and we give them a rundown of what we know and what we've done so far. Cassie is now in the truck--—a ground-scent dog is not going to be effective on this search, since the wind has made it impossible for her to follow the track—and we'll continue the search without her. She did the best she could.

Now we split up. Scott drives one of the SAR vehicles, while Dave and Howard go up to the highway and soon are following some prints along the edge of the road, heading south. We don't know what type of sneakers Jay is wearing, so we can't be sure if we're seeing his tracks. Val, Oly, and I walk north, paralleling the Forest Service road as we search the woods and open areas between the trees and I-17. I show them where Cassie had stopped earlier on her first attempt, having lost any scent at that point, and we continue in that direction.

And, as it turns out, the three of us are going the right way. We hear on our radios that a deputy has located Jay near Flagstaff's airport, not all that far from our current location. He doesn't say "Code 4," but I'm assuming the boy is okay for lack of any other information. All SAR volunteers start heading back to base.

As we slowly drive away to return to the SAR building, we see Jay get out of a patrol car and approach his waiting family, which now includes his father. We know his father works for the Department of Corrections in a different city, because he'd offered to have more dogs from his department—the kind that air-scent, which is what we would have needed to have any chance in this wind. We also know Jay lives with his mother and stepfather. As we drive past them, we see a tall, red-faced boy who looks like he's angry and on the verge of tears jump back as his father lunges at him. A deputy grabs the father before he can strike Jay, and we drive off, leaving the family drama behind. The boy may have gotten himself into trouble again, but at this moment, I can't help but feel bad for him. Dad could have started off with a hug.

Search and Rescue K-9: Our New Team Member, Cassie

A few months ago, just after our search and rescue team acquired a special member with an extra-special skill, I became part of our newly-formed K-9 committee. On January 17th, an article in the Arizona Daily Sun stated, "Like all volunteers with the Coconino County Sheriff's Office's Search and Rescue unit, Cassie wears a snappy vest with a departmental patch on it and a badge bearing her name and a photo. She's a dedicated professional, working daily to keep sharp her mind and body--especially her nose."

Though most trained working dogs usually cost thousands of dollars—I've heard figures up to $20,000—Cassie was donated to our unit by a Tuscon breeder who has also provided dogs to the Border Patrol Search, Trauma & Rescue Team.

Cassie now lives with Al and Joan, husband and wife members of our team, whom I first met during SAR Academy. Al is very agile and quick, and, being Cassie's primary handler, that athleticism certainly comes in handy. I recently had an opportunity to go out in the field with Al, another member of our committee, and Cassie, who works on a 30-foot lead, and that four-legged girl is fast, especially when she's sure she's on a scent. The three of us took her out for a training session, not only for Cassie but also for those of us who'll be working with her. And I was impressed.

During the training, we took turns getting lost. Then, whoever was handling Cassie would give her a sample of the scent, and off she'd go with handler in tow.

When it was my turn to lay the track, I tried to trip her up. I zigzagged along the route, circled a tree, jumped across some areas still covered with snow and, just before selecting a hiding place, went around a large water tank the more difficult way—clockwise—where the tank is up against a rock-covered slope. I went three-quarters of the way around the tank and then hid behind a tree.

Sure enough, Cassie found me. I was later told she did double-back at one point when she lost my trail, but she figured out where she'd gone wrong and picked it  again. When she got to the water tank, Cassie followed my scent the way I'd walked instead of taking the easier and shorter route—counterclockwise—to where I was hiding, proving what I'd been told: that Cassie is a ground-scent tracker rather than a dog who follows an air scent. If she'd been following my air scent, she likely would have gone counterclockwise around the tank.

I'd assumed Cassie would be excited when she found the person she was tracking, but that wasn't the case. When she found me, she just kept sniffing around my feet, almost as if I weren't there. What she does get excited about is her toy. As the Daily Sun article pointed out, "Cassie doesn't work for treats, but she does earn plenty of praise and a fun tug-of-war session with a chunk of rubber hose attached to a long piece of rope." After Cassie completed each task, Al would pull out the toy as her reward, and she would go berzerk.

Another statement from that article definitely holds true, as I've found each time I've been around Cassie: "Not a hyperactive dog, but not one to sit still, Cassie smells chairs, asphalt, garbage bins, the floor, pant legs—her snout is in perpetual motion, twitching while it turns this way and that. This dog was born to sniff."

But the reporter did leave something off her list of where Cassie sticks her nose; when I first met her, it was like, "Wooh! Watch that big shnoz!" I've never met a dog who views and catalogs the world quite so much through its snout.

My primary role regarding Cassie will be as the "nav/comm" person, meaning the one who takes charge of the maps, GPS and compass, and radio while following—perhaps at times running—behind the handler, who will be too busy working with the search dog to navigate and communicate with incident command or other field teams at the same time. I'll also assist the other members of the committee with K-9 fundraising and community events to introduce Cassie to the public.

I've yet to work with Cassie on an actual mission, but I'm looking forward to being part of it when it happens. It's up to our coordinator, Sergeant D, to decide if a mission calls for Cassie's expertise, and I'm hoping we'll soon have an opportunity to show the public what she can do.