As the efforts rescue efforts in Haiti wind down and the recovery phase begins,  think about what happens to all of the personnel who responded to the call for assistance, including the search dogs.  All will return to their ‘normal life’ back at home, whether it be a full time job as a firefighter or for many of the search dog handlers, going back to that ‘office job’.  As for the dogs, they go back to training and normal every day dogdom of eat, sleep, play, train (play and train since they should be the same thing).

I didn’t go to Haiti, Dunder and I have yet to be certified by FEMA. However, for the past two weeks I have had someone either stop by my office or send me an email  every day asking if I was going to get deployed.  I even had several people call to confirm meetings.  We will hopefully be attempting our FEMA certifications this summer, putting us on the roster to be deployed.  Dunder and I are now wilderness certified so we do respond that way. 

I know several handlers who were/are in Haiti and think about them every day.  In my experience as a search dog handler, there have been multiple day deployments which result in an almost euphoria filled feeling that when you get home, you go through something of a ‘aderinline crash’….meaning that you were so busy, you knew the job you were doing was incredibly important and getting home, back to the routine of your life, is some how a needed relief but incredibly anti climactic.  For me it often results in long bouts of sleep followed with the emotional release of a good cry.  (everyone handles it differently)

Guess what, dogs go through that too. 

In the case of Haiti or any other type of long term deployment, the dog was the center of their handlers attention, getting to go out and search (or for them, play) for hours with their handler, getting the attention of everyone else in the area and even checked regularly by a vet.  They also serve as an emotional balm to victims, other volunteers, the members of their own team and their handler.  Not to mention having the press follow them, random people asking to pet them and in general, being the center of the universe.  When the dog gets home, guess what, it’s back to just them and their handler and the every day routine of ‘just being a dog’.

One of the things as a handler we actually are trained to do, is watch out for ‘depression’ in our dogs.  This has more too do with the dog being so used to the attention, that when they get back home, they think that type of attention should continue.  We have to make sure they have an adjustment period.  In addition to trying to recover ourselves, we also have to help our dogs recover.  One of the best ways for us to make sure our dogs are mentally sharp is to continue to have them work, but to do as many fun things as possible in training.  Keeping up the motivation to train is sometimes very hard when you think no one cares several weeks after that big deployment is over.  We as a nation have a very short memory.  Don’t let these hero’s, whether they have two or four legs, be forgotten.

If you know someone who is a search dog handler or who went on this deployment to Haiti, the best thing you can do is thank them…then ask if you can hide for their dog to do a fun motivational search problem.  Also, thank them, agian in a month, and ask to hide for thier dog, agian.  Many, if not almost all of the handlers that went on the deployment to Haiti from the USA are volunteers, yes even those with the FEMA teams.  Some of the handlers are full time firefighters.  Most are volunteers who put their own personal life on hold to answer the call.  They are adjusting to being home, getting their life back in order, and having someone who will ask to be a victim can be a motivating tool for the handler.

If you are interested in becoming or learning more about becoming a search dog handler, you can go to www.k9handleracademy.com.  You should also spend some time and learn how to be prepared yourself for the type of natural disasters that are common in your area, have supplies stored.

As always, if you have questions, please ask.

Wags,

Robin and K9 Dunder  (NASAR Type I Area Search Team)