Last week 7 members of the Dog Corps attended the 2011 Combined Federation training seminar hosted by Eagle Valley Search Dogs, Amigo Search Dogs, and New Jersey SAR. The seminar which took place at the Amahami outdoor center in Deposit, New York was a chance for the boys to put to use a lot of what they have learned. With over 70 people in attendance and almost 30 dogs it was a busy week full of classes, tests, dog walking, fishing, and meeting new trainers.
We were lucky to have Linda Murphy and John Valvardi who are HRD trainers with PA Recovery Dogs come and provide new search scenario’s and feedback for any handler in attendance. K9 Ripley was able to work a few problems with Dog Corps. member Dan handling her.
Dan and K9 Ripley with 2 of our guest trainers
We made sure that the dogs got plenty of play time when they weren’t working which included walks or swimming, and of course play time on the agility equipment.
Sarah, Dan and Adam hanging with Buddy, Cisco, and Scout
Despite the rainy, cloudy weather and the mud that was found on every dogs paws it turned out to be a great week. K9 Ripley and K9 Raven owned by Rita Argiros both passed their IPWDA Advanced Cadaver Certifications, and Jennifer Culver’s K9 Abby passed her water certification, K9 Raina passed her 30 acre heavy brush and her 40 acre night tests, and K9 Emeline passed her off trail test. The kids had fun, and learned new training techniques. Dan, Chris, and Ryan took the New York State DEC Basic Wildland course on thursday and saturday and passed both the written test and the field work. The boys were also able to attend crime scene preservation, rope awareness, and geocaching courses when they weren’t laying trails for tests or hiding in the woods for the airscent dogs to practice.
- Ryan reviewing a Topo map of our areas
All in all it turned out to be a wonderful trip despite the rainy weather. The dogs are happy, the humans are tired, and we will all return to our routines.
