Showing posts with label search and rescue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label search and rescue. Show all posts

Monday, September 3, 2012

Laboring Dogs: Celebrating Dogs Who Work Like Dogs

My best friend, Fran, sent me the article today. I found it really interesting and I would like to share with everyone.


In honor of Labor Day 2012, we would like to honor the all the amazing, hard-workin,' working dogs who have been keeping pooch productivity at maximum levels!




1) Bed Bug Super Sniffers - These super sniffers inspect hotels, college dorms and office buildings, suburban and luxury homes and apartments for bedbugs. These uber-sniffers and their canine cohorts are graduates of a bonafide Bed Bug Scent Training Academy and can inspect a room for pests in minutes, whereas lesser mammals like human beings need hours to conduct a visual inspection.

2) Special Ops War Dogs: These specially trained furry soldiers are trained to attack anyone carrying a weapon and have become apivotal part of special operations as they crawl unnoticed into tunnels or 6a00d8341bf67c53ef014e883ff212970d-400wi rooms to hunt for enemy combatants. The cameras on their heads beam live TV pictures back to the troops, providing them with critical information and warning of ambushes. The military has trained these amazing dogs, just like the Seals, to be dropped via helicopter into hostile territory from 25,000 feet in the air.

3) Border Patrol Beagle Brigade- Did you know that none other than the diminutive Beagle is responsible for keeping our borders secure? While known to be slightly stubborn and prone to howling, Beagles are actually some of the most valued members of the Department of Homeland Security Detector Dogs division, where these adorable hounds patrol the nation's airports to keep our food sources safe by sniffing out meat, fruit and vegetables banned in the U.S.





4) Search & Rescue Dogs and The National Search Dog Foundation - National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that aids in disaster response in America by recruiting rescued dogs and partnering them with firefighters and other first responders to find people buried alive in the wreckage of disasters. This wonderful program is provided at no cost to fire departments and ensures lifetime care for every dog in the program: once rescued, these dogs never need to be rescued again.



5) Therapy Dogs - Pet therapy dogs bring the unconditional love and tactile benefits of animals to people in facilities such as abused children's shelters, hospitals, psychiatric facilities, and senior centers. Animals often bring out the best in people and can calm hyperactive children or stimulate movement and interaction in those with physical disabilities. Check out Mackenzie, a registered pet therapy dog who spends his time in a hospital in New York City cheering up kids!

Source : animal planet

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Family Pets Get Trained to Become Service Dogs

We all like to think of our family pets just as that, part of the family. But for local veteran Kimberly Cunningham, her "man's best friend" goes even further than that.

Cunningham and her 5-year-old daughter rescued the Pitbull mix Beans two years ago. Their bond might initially seem just like any other four legged and two legged friendship. On a typically Sunday afternoon Beans is hanging out on Kim's lap, just enjoying being petted by her owner.
"She's a lap dog. She's a snuggler. And she has to just be with you all the time," Kim says.

The bond between Beans and Cunningham reaches far beyond the realm of just a lap dog, though. Kimberly has severe post traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD.



"It's inside and it's a very terrifying thing for me it's traumatizing on a daily basis. I want to be so normal and it's just not there," Kim explains.

That's where the 2-year-old rescued pit bull comes in. About a month ago, Kim read about Canine Angels, a local group that adopts dogs and then trains them for PTSD veterans. Rather than give Kim another dog, she thought maybe Beans could undergo training.

For about the past month, the family dog has been training to become Kimberly's service dog. She says the strong bond between human and pet is what makes the training so easy.

"She picked up on it right away, and it was pretty incredible to watch him work with her and then deal with me," she says.

Rick Kaplan, the owner of Canine Angels says this is the first time he has ever trained a pet that was already in the family, but Beans took to training very quickly. Already the dog's presence is already a calming force to Kim's symptoms like anxiety and panic attacks.

Kim says even though she rescued Beans as a nine week old puppy, Beans is the one giving her a one of the greatest gifts of all.

"Beans will be able to give me my life back. I realize that there's a light at the end of the tunnel and with her I know I will eventually have a life again."

Source : WPDE news