Meet The Pearsons

Our first night together was actually...tolerable. My new black ball of fur whined for about 30 minutes in the crate next to my bed. Occasionally when it got too loud I would give the crate a slight thump and follow it with a "Quincy, quiet!" but for the most part I did my best to ignore the whimpering, falling asleep with my pillow over my head. I slept lightly as if my children were babies ~ listening for that sound of distress or of the apnea monitor going off or of the cries of a child with his fat thigh stuck in the grates of the crib. I felt better knowing that there was little that could go wrong with Quincy sleeping in the carrier. It was snug with plenty of air vents and I had wrapped him in the towel scented by his mother and litter mates. Two or three times during the night I would hear him stir and I would gently lift him and take him outside to "Hurry Up" which would become his command to evacuate on cue, an important first step to beginning a search so he wouldn't contaminate the trail for the other search dogs.

I was surprised how much his care mimicked that of raising my twins when they were infants. I learned that it was never a good idea to interact with them when changing their diapers in the middle of the night as it would result in hours of creative attempts to get them back to sleep again. I used this knowledge to my advantage and quietly returned him to the crate between potty-breaks and was able to easily get two to three more hours of sleep between rest stops.

By six o'clock in the morning I realized that Q was ready to get up for good. I went ahead and fixed his kibble and while I watched him eat I decided I couldn't take the stench of him any longer. I put an inch or so of warm water in the tub and laughed out loud at his splashing around in it awkwardly with his paws. He quickly doubled in size after a good toweling off and within 10 minutes he was out like a light for a few more hours.

Meeting Marley The Great Dane

Our first morning together we spent going to see Dr. Hood,  a friendly veterinarian who had a natural ease about him when it came to handling Quincy. It only took one puppy-kiss before he had won over the hearts of the entire staff. The rest of the day we spent riding around together, visiting friends and learning to handle the feeling of a moving vehicle without throwing up. So far that skill has gone well.

The call I had been waiting months for finally came in as I drove home from work. LaSAR had just been placed on stand-by for a human remains search over the weekend. I was excited knowing that finally I was going to be able to go on a live-search as a flanker. And then it hit me. I had a brand new puppy that had been with me for less than 24 hours. He was too young to come on the search, even as a passenger. I felt torn as I needed to be the main person in his world, especially this first week, to establish our bond. As his partner I am the sole one to feed him, take him to "hurry-up", and put him to bed. I need to socialize him in his new environment and keep him safe from overly-eager children, family pets, and visitors. This week we weren't even to attend team training as our directive was to BOND. My heart sunk as I watched a golden opportunity to learn the dynamics of a live search with the team vanish. There was no telling when the next opportunity might come.

He wiggles when he runs, his butt like a metronome that is out of synch with the rest of his body. He makes me laugh when he attempts things for the first time as there is no grey area with him, it is all or nothing. He has no hesitation to hurl himself face first into a puddle of mud, or balance walk across a makeshift bridge built by the kids with wooden planks and bricks to create a narrow path over a ditch of rain water that pools in the backyard. When he wrestles with Roonie, our family mutt, he topples heavy-head first with feet and body following in awkward progression like a drunk trying to catch himself from the inevitable face-plant. His face is that of an old man, wrinkled and wise and as if there is a mystery of deep knowledge hidden behind his eyes. He is a thinker, a problem solver, and a fearless explorer.

That is surely going to challenge me as his boldness grows.

Dr. Quincy, ME - My New Partner

I wonder what he is thinking, what conclusions he has already made about me based on the first impression I made in his world. I see fluff, big black eyes, a wagging tail, a fu-manchu beard, and potential. Lots of potential. He's a chunk and very very curious. He was the one of two candidate selections for our SAR team (out of a litter of six potentials) that without hesitation approached me and stayed with me when I called to him. He didn't seem afraid of anything and wandered independently from the huddle of his siblings whom wouldn't even make eye contact with me. He was energetic and focused on me, both of which are promising traits for a search and rescue dog. The energetic part may however become a challenge for the family.

I wondered what his nose was telling him about me. I smelled a dirty puppy in need of a bath. Did he smell the remnants of steak sliders and Michelob Ultra smeared by my greasy fingertips on the same sweatshirt I wore the night before at Twin Peaks? Or the butter toffee and chocolate combination on my breath from the Skor bar I ate on the way here? That smell he had better get used to. I wonder if he could differentiate between the Diva Wash that I used to wash the blanket that he curled up on in his travel carrier from the cheap detergent I washed my own perspiration tinged clothes in. I had read that dogs can smell some odors at as much as one part per trillion and that a dog has 125 million olfactory cells compared to the five million we have. Surely he had already established an opinion on the matter of his new partner.

While the other dogs in this litter were destined to be companion dogs, only this pup and his sister were destined for search and rescue work. I really want to do right by this guy and train him to his potential. I know that I am already at a disadvantage to his natural scenting ability and instincts and I pray that he is forgiving of all the mistakes I am certain to make. I remind myself of the mantra of search and rescue work: Trust Your Dog.

He whimpers for less than a minute as we pull away from all he has known for the last seven weeks ~ his mom, his dad, his siblings, and his caregivers. The carrier grows quiet as he sleeps the hour and a half ride home. I've decided to name him Quincy after a favorite childhood show about a forensic specialist who solved mysteries and brought closure to families who had lost loved ones. With hopes to go from Live Find training to Human Remains Detection (HRD), I can only hope Quincy can live up to his name.

It was only appropriate that the first people to meet Quincy were members of the team - my lead trainer who helped me choose the pick of the litter, her daughter who helped found LaSAR, and Rob one of my training partners who provided me with my first few nights of puppy kibble. As we concluded our pilgrimage and pulled into my driveway, Quincy woke and patiently waited to be removed from his carrier. Given an opportunity he explored the front yard and sniffed the children that were doing their best to contain their enthusiasm in an effort to not scare the puppy.

As I sit typing away, I have a stinky puppy on my lap sleeping heavily and another dog curled up under my chair. The house is calm and there is an underlying feeling of contentment in the air, and a big question looms as to what the future will bring...

One Week Till Puppy!

"Puppy testing" took place today on a litter of 6 black lab puppies age 6 weeks. The traits that we look for in search and rescue dogs are varied. We look for a dog that is neither overly dominant or submissive, is curious about its environment, is social, is not fearful of loud noises, shows interest in possessing a toy, and has high "drive" (not the same thing as high energy). Of course even with testing there are no guarantees of getting the perfect SAR dog, but the more areas they tend to shine in the better. I came equipped with my ace in the pocket ~ my lead trainer with years of experience and a no fail record in choosing dogs. Two stood out after our initial testing ~ the lone female and a chunky little male. Both seem to show promise so it will likely be a matter of who steals my heart over the next week, although we will do a final round of testing before the decision is made. I also got to meet the dam and sire and was pleased with their temperament, athleticism, and appearance. The sire is a hunting dog and showed an extreme love of water. Mama dog was loaded down with milk so I didn't get to see much of her in action, although she did seem to ferret out a critter in a leaf pile with her nose. A good sign!

My nesting has begun and I am getting prepared and excited!! Pup comes home at 7 weeks and training begins at 8 weeks!

A Closer Look At SAR Dogs

While I anxiously await my pick of an upcoming litter of black lab puppies (due for temperament testing in just a few weeks), I continue to read and attend LaSAR training to absorb as much information as I can. There is so much to learn just about scent theory, that I haven't even been able to dabble in lost person behavior or books about HRD (human remains detection). I still have to get my HAM radio license and renew my Basic First Aid certification from years ago. Luckily I am already CPR certified so that is one area I can check off. In February I will be able to attend the Water HRD course that our lead trainer Lisa Higgins is instructing, but I will have to wait at least another year before I will be ready to take my partner-to-be through the same course.

So for now I live vicariously through my teammates and their partners, and through stories of SAR teams across the nation. I thought this article was a nice tribute to the dogs of 9/11.

The Expendables: Inside America's Elite Search And Rescue Dog Training Center
Rejected by society, these talented misfits are carefully recruited by tactical experts and trained at the nation’s top facility to perform the most dangerous, lifesaving missions. Meet Wilma Melville, who turns rescued dogs into rescue dogs. 

Uncovering a Buried Dream

One of the many dog heroes of 9/11 that inspired me

Search and Rescue (SAR) work has always been on my radar screen, but the impending storm was pushed off course ten years ago when I realized it was not conducive to the time requirements that a young family entailed. I put my canine dreams aside and filled what spare time I did have with a half-hearted return to martial arts training and a variety of sports-related activities just to keep me feeling alive. The desire for search and rescue work was always there, bubbling just below the surface, but I knew that realistically it wasn't something I could pursue for a long time. Fast forward ten years.

As my children grew older I found myself picking up new interests and new skills. I became passionate about the sport of triathlon, and with the help of an awesome coach I was able to transform myself from a couch potato into an Ironman in five years. This transformation was not only physical, but mental as well. I learned to commit to intensive daily training and juggle all other aspects of my life - work, family, and friends -  in order to get things done. I learned to persevere through the pain, fatigue, and frustration that long hours and physical exertion created. I learned to work both individually and as a part of a team. I learned to train in the heat, the rain, and during the freezing hours of the night and to adapt to my circumstances when things didn't go as originally planned. Looking back now, I wonder if in some way all of that training wasn't part of a larger grand plan to get me back to the point of entering into the world of search and rescue.

As one chapter of my life closes, another opens, ready to be written. I am realizing that there are other areas that interest me that I can incorporate into my life, now that I have the skills to juggle. SAR is one of them. Although there is still a time commitment involved, it pales in comparison to what I, and my family, have already done. I better understand now how to make those time commitments fair to everyone involved. I am so grateful for the benefits of my training over the past five years, as it has prepared me to take on, and succeed, at any new adventures I have for my future.

This resurgence of my interest in SAR began about four months ago when a friend got a new puppy. This was not just any puppy, but a really really bright puppy with tons of potential and innate ability to be trained in any area that his owner desired. This pup got me thinking again and rekindled my old desire for this kind of work that was starting to fade into the recesses of my mind. I had toyed with the idea of training a service dog occasionally over the past year but it never really grabbed hold. Suddenly I was excited about my old dream and my research began again. I connected with LaSAR, a search and rescue organization based in Slidell, LA and started probing them for information. The more I learned, the more I realized I was onto a new passion. Eager to begin the training, even without a dog, I soon realized there was more to the process than just expressing the desire to the search team. There were membership requirements, expectations, and procedures. Weekly required team trainings were held out of town and it was recommended that they be attended even without a canine to make sure I matched the team's needs, and the team matched my needs...and so I would know exactly what I was getting into.  After having attended some trainings I could submit my membership application for consideration by the team. My application would be "read" and voted on by team members over the course of four months. At that point, if I was accepted as a member, I would become official.

Although I was eager to begin the process, I once again had to put the brakes on my enthusiasm as I had one more goal to complete before I could take on a new "passion".  I had just a few months left before my attempted completion of my first (and only) full Ironman distance triathlon that I had been training towards for the past year.  As much as I craved distraction from the rigors of my training regimine, I pulled myself back and held off from any SAR training sessions in order to keep my focus on the prize at the time. The weekend after I completed my Ironman I picked up the phone and scheduled to attend my first training session with LaSAR. It has been a whirlwind of excitement since.

I am hooked. I don't know if it is my strong love of the outdoors and adventure, but even the long cold training sessions are fun for me...and I don't even have a canine partner yet. Watching the team work their dogs in the woods, and fields, and buildings as they search out live finds...or human remains...is fascinating to me. These dogs are ridiculously smart. They can pick up my scent off of my watchband and track me for a long distance to find me hidden in an abandoned trailer. They can pick up the scent of human remains that are hundreds of years old and the size of a vertebrae buried under a pile of leaves. They can find a severed foot in a cooler after quickly clearing a field and heading straight to the scent. The more I see, the more eager I am to participate.

SAR appeals to my own thrill of adventure. Hiking through the woods in bad weather is not fun for most people, but I love it. I love that I will have to learn to use a HAM radio, tie knots, learn survival skills, orienteering, and the art of tracking. I'll learn to navigate rubble pits and rappel with my canine partner. I'll fly with my dog on a helicopter and work with the Coast Guard when needed. I thrive on the idea that I may be able to help reunite a family with a lost child, or return a wandering parent with Alzheimers back to their family's home, or give a family closure by returning the remains of a loved one whom they lost in a tragedy. The LaSAR team has been on hundreds of missions that have included recovering Hurricane Katrina victims and Columbia Space Shuttle astronauts, searching for drowning victims and victims of homicide, as well as returning the missing through live searches.

As of now my membership application has been read once and I am getting to know all the team members and trainers. I am absorbed in reading and learning all I can about the field. I observe whenever I am able and attend the team trainings, trying to learn what I can from the other members and their dogs, and to volunteer to be hidden whenever needed. With the assistance of the lead trainer, Lisa,  I have selected my preferred breed, a labrador retriever, to become my first canine partner. I am looking forward to an upcoming litter from which we will get the pick of when they are ready to go to their forever homes in January.

In the meantime I will continue reading, observing, training with the team, and preparing my home for a new addition!