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

Thank You, Coconino County Board of Supervisors

At our monthly general team meeting in April, Sheriff Bill Pribil announced that the Coconino County Board of Supervisors approved a $280K expenditure for completion of the administration area of our new Search & Rescue building. This will include offices, a kitchen, a conference room, municipal water, and bathrooms. (Yay! No more port-o-potty in the middle of winter! Changing into mission clothes in there was a real drag.)

The Sheriff said this funding is due to all the missions our team of volunteers responds to, including large incidents like the Schultz fire and resulting floods in the Timberline, Wapatki, and Doney Park areas.

Additional funds will be needed to complete parts of the bay area of the building where all of our equipment, SAR vehicles, and supplies are stored, including another bay door and the mezzanine. We're also hoping a technical rescue training area, including a climbing wall, will eventually be part of the facility.

The Sheriff's Department is also working on a plan to get the outside parking area paved before the monsoons so it won't be a mud pit again, with the hope that that project will be completed this summer.

Thanks again, Board of Supervisors!

My Third Arizona SAR Conference

Once again, it was a fun and informative long weekend. At this year's Arizona SAR Conference, held every 18 months in Heber, I helped teach the GPS courses. I also had time to attend a class.

AZ DPS Helicopter Class

In addition to the two all-day GPS classes, courses offered at this year's conference included:

• Alternative Navigation
• Map & Compass
• Tracking
• Basic and Advanced ATV and UTV Operation classes
• New Search & Rescue Technology
• Swiftwater Awareness
• PLB/ELT Direction Finding
• Amateur Ham Radio
• Wilderness First Aid
• Search Area Segmentation

There was also a class about the AZ DPS helicopter, a demonstration by the USAF 305th Rescue Squadron, and a schedule of classes for those in Mounted Search & Rescue.

Among the awards given out at the conference were the Arizona SAR Team of the Year award, which went to Verde SAR from Yavapai County. And congratulations to my teammate, Art Pundt, for receiving SAR Volunteer of the Year!  

Here are some more photos from the conference....

Art was the lead instructor for one of the GPS classes.

Marty helps a student during the GPS class field exercise.

Students plot waypoints on their maps, then enter them in their GPSes.

Art helps a student during a GPS class.

Our SAR coordinator for Coconino County presents Art with his award.

Verde SAR accepts their SAR Team of the Year Award.

 

 

Many different county SAR teams were represented at the conference.

The Mounted SAR area, with all their horse trailers.

USAF 305th Rescue Squadron