Search Schip
In 1992 my life began a journey into public service. At my side, as in days
gone by, walked a small black courageous dog.......
The days between Christmas and New Years are filled with parties,friends, happy
memories, gifts and good food. This year had started much the same, but one
phone call was about to change things forever.
I had hosted a party with most of my doggie friends, and the Search and Rescue
crew in fine form. The phone rang and the soft voice asked for the search dogs.
The room went quiet....waiting for the request all knew would come. "Two small
boys are missing in a car that has plunged off of a bridge into 25 feet of cold
water, can you COME?" " Yes, we'll be on the road in 20 minutes. My team is here
and the drive is about an hour."
The night was totally black and the temperatures were falling fast.
Midnight and 15*F. The police had recovered the car from the black water with
one small body of the 5 year old inside. The brother, age 2 was still missing
and believed to have been thrown from the car on impact. We needed to search the
banks and black water below us.
The mist swirled and danced in the cold night air , making the scent hard to
locate. Three boats worked a grid along the narrow river channel, moving
carefully across the current and into the wind. Dogs lifted noses into the wind
and lowered again to the water. The small black dog leans far forward to look
deep into the moving water, using that small schip nose to hunt for traces of
scent. He tests each rising mist column and moves on to the next. ALERT! He
moves to the left side and hangs to touch the water. He turns to touch my face
and whine softly. Back to the side of the boat to touch the water again and
moves slowly along the boat side as we leave the scent area.
Find...Find I whisper...show me, Wooly. We turn the boat and swing again closer
to the bank..a dollar bill can be seen hung on a branch just below the
water..still he moves up the current and turns again to look behind as we pass
the scent location.
Each pass of the boat, I watch the big red Doberman, Bubba and his human partner
Sharon do the same section. A loud bark rumbles deep and echos in the night. He,
to, turns to look back as they pass and then the Shepherd Jasmine, gives her
alert as well. It has been over an hour and the tempatures have continued to
fall. An ice storm is on its way. I beg Wooly for one more pass as he huddles
for warmth against my chest. I need to find this child. My emotions drive the
black dog as once again we alert in the same area. The same alert zone. We
return to shore to warm ourselves and dogs, as the divers go to work. Soon we
will have to search again.
As we rest we hear the noise and see the flood lights. "We've found him...50
feet from your alert area."
We feel empty..he is dead from injuries from the crash and we can not bring him
back. But we feel full and blessed too, for all the training over the last 3
years has paid off. Once again we can at least give peace and closure to a
grieving family. Slowly we put our equipment away and hug the warm bodies close
to us. They have done their jobs well and they are more than pets, they are
extensions of our selves, our partners.
On the way home the storm that has held off all night begins to come with the
light. We sent prayers to the creator for holding off the weather and giving us
these special dogs.
As I drive,I think back to the long training hours. It takes two years to train
a dog to search and at least one more to train water search. The handlers must
know First aid, map and compass, read water and air movement, and how to train a
dog. The dogs must have courage, drive, problem solving and love other people
and dogs. A willingness to please, but to be able to work independently. All of
which describes a schipperke.
I have found that they train faster, learning things quicker that the other
breeds. Small yes, but very fast and agile. I think of the older dog,
Wooly(Toni's Wooly Bear CD,TT,CGC,SAR/A )and his son Fox( Wooly's Foxy Image
CD,OA,TT,CGC,SAR/A), and the young dog started at only 8 weeks of age, Magic(DHS
Dunwitch Magic O'Kanbric NA,CGC, SAR/B) Will either be as good as Wooly? Only
time and training will tell. Each will have their own speciality. As Wooly's is
water, Fox has shown the talent for Disaster searches and the puppy , a clean
slate to write upon. I need a cadaver dog, able to find the bodies of missing or
murdered people. Maybe this schipperke will serve man in that way.
The house is a welcome sight. I have been up for 28 hours. I shower and curl up
on the bed with a few black warm bodies to comfort me. I count my blessings and
thank the lord once more for a safe return for myself and the dogs. A cold nose
touches my face and then he snuggles deep beside me. We have shared our deepest
emotions and drift off to sleep..per chance to dream..of a happier tomorrow.
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I am including this as well as it explains the inner emotions...I wrote it by
way of explanation.:
I hope this is what you wanted. If not its ok not to use it. I must tell you,
off the record, that this was the hardest search I ever did. Not the conditions,
but the emotions of the community. This 5 year old boy had been treated for
cancer and lived a year in the childrens hospital.He was cured. The mother had
gone in to have her tubes tied after the birth of the second child so they had
the money to care for the first.
That night the family had lost all, and the community that had suporrted the
family, wanted that little boy back NOW.I knew they might save him if we
recovered him fast enough and his" Mammalian dive reflex" had worked.
I still feel helpless to this day and it has been three years this Dec.
This is just part of the handlers emotions and we call it Critical Debriefing.
Patricia Boggs
Training Director for
Central Arkansas Search and Rescue K-9'S
[Stories Home] [Burning Need] [The Flood] [Molly] [Aaron] [Just Another Day] [Water Search] [Mock Search] [Murder Most Foul] [Gone Fishing] [Once Again] [Cossatot River Search] [Return to Life] [Too Old for This] [Lord Vincent] [Up From The Depths] [Citizenship] [Search Schip] [Marmaduke Search] [Lilly and Jamie] [White Water Killer] [Blood, Sweat 'N Cheers]
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