What a great week!

This past week was SAR-EX, the PA search and rescue conference.  I had never been to one before and it was cool to meet search and rescue people from all over the state (and NJ).  I took a bunch of classes, but the real big day was Saturday. 

Saturday morning I took my FTM (Field Team Member) exam and passed it without much difficulty.  Immediately after taking that exam I signed Storm up for his Canine Good Citizen test.  In all honesty I was more worried about how Storm was going to do that how I was going to do.  Needless to say Storm passed his exam (I still don't know how), and got yet another step closer to being able to be certified later this year.  There were definitely some nail biting moments for me and I really had no idea what I was doing for the test as I had never taken it before.  Storm LOVES to meet other dogs, but when doing so he usually lunges at them, well for some reason, during the test, no lunging.  Storm also has a tendency to do the same thing when meeting people..during the test...again, no lunging.  Storm and I have NEVER worked on stay, and when the test proctor told me to tell him to stay, and then drop the leash, I assumed that was going to be the automatic failure.  I was STUNNED!  Storm listened, and stayed long enough for him to pass his test.

Later that afternoon I took my FTL (Field Team Leader) test and passed that as well.  It was a really good conference for me and I look forward to leading Storm and other team members on the search for missing people in the near future.

Nearly a month since my last post...

It has been some time since my last post.  There was a week where my training partner Mike was out of town and I was busy with work and didn't really have time to train, but since Mike has come back I admit we have trained quite a few times.  Most recently we trained on Saturday.  Storm did a rather long problem and the wind was definitely not in his favor.  We were training in our usual area near Kidspeace but we decided that we would work the area a little different then we usually do, the opposite direction.  Starting from the West end of the property Storm and I moved up the valley, following the creek looking for Mike.  We went from one end to the other with no sign of him.  It was then we started back in the opposite direction.  Mike called me at one point to tell me that we had passed him a while ago, to which I informed him that we were working our way back through the assigned area.  I caught a glimpse of mike first, he was hiding in a blue tarp, but not long after Storm caught his scent and headed in that direction.  Storm had a small issue with the tarp for about 5 seconds but then figured it out.  Mike had timed me from the start and told me that Storm was working for a good 45 minutes.  Not too shabby!  I managed to snap this picture of Storm while we were taking a small break.

What a beautiful day...

Very hard to believe that today is only March 18th.  The weather today started out kind of iffy with pretty heavy fog and a slight chill but around 10:30 it burned off and the sun came out.  It reached about 70 at Hickory Run State Park where we had K9 training today. 

Storm handled one of his biggest search problems yet today and he hung in there like a trooper and never gave up.  The wind was constantly changing on me while we were in the woods and he never really had an advantage at all until we were literally on top of our subject.  He did appear to catch some scent in a specific area, and we focused our search in that general direction which led to the find.  He did finally find his subject, but I was disappointed in his bark to let me know he had found someone.  It is obvious that it is an area that we will still need to work on. 

Storm did get to put his new search vest to good use.  It fit him well but it has some room for improvement on my side with the materials I used as the edge piping didn't hold up very well.  I'll have to find something a little more durable.

An old picture....

This picture was taken by a friend..(I didn't know she had it)  This has to be about 2 months after I got Storm and I just had to share it because it is PRICELESS!

Looking forward...

Well, we are supposed to train on Sunday and I'm looking forward to it.  Storm has been doing excellent and I just can't wait to see him excel even more.

On wednesday this week, I accompanied another team member, Audie Poole on an excursion to find a search puppy.  After many miles we think we found a puppy that will do great and she is now the proud owner of a border collie.

Sadly Storm is no longer the puppy of the search team, but I think this new border collie will be a great new addition and I look forward to seeing great things from him.

Storm in his new hand sewn search vest

What am I going to do today..

While most people had to work yesterday, I put in some long hours at work so I had off.  In addition the school is on Spring Break, so I am off for 10 days!  This has its pluses and minuses, but this is not the place for that. 

I called up Mike, and he agreed to meet me after he got off of work to do a little training.  Storm and I haven't been able to train much due to his being Neutered, and that we had just been busy, so it was a real treat to be able to get out there and train. 

The weather was kind of chilly, but the sun was out and it was a nice afternoon/evening.  Storm went first.  We are still working on his bark and hold and so we only did something really short.  Mike hid behind a nearby tree.  When I released Storm he seemed to lack focus, ran all willy nilly all over the place before coming back to Mike.  He did take a little coaxing, but he started barking his head off.  I was VERY pleased.

Molly went next, but when Storms turn came again the weather had turned, just like that.  The clouds rolled in and the wind picked up and it started snowing, SIDEWAYS!  Mike was already hidden, so I released Storm and he took off immediately.  I trudged through the blinding snow up the hill to the area where Mike was hidden, when he calls me on the radio that Storm has found him.  I wasn't anywhere close and I couldn't hear him barking as the wind was just deafening.  I finally made it up to both Mike and Storm, but Storm wasn't barking much anymore.  We got him to bark a few more times, and then we rewarded him with his ball.

We ran Molly again and then did another quick one for Storm.  Mike hid and Storm just found him right away, even against the wind and started barking at him for his ball.  All in all I would say a pretty successful day.

A little late since this was Thursdays news...

Today was a big day in Storms fairly new life.  Somewhere along the line Storm got broken, so I took him to the vet today to get fixed.  Yes this is a bit of a joke, courtesy of my father but I took Storm to the vet today to get neutered.  I dropped Storm off, not at my usual vet. as they were too expensive for me for this.  I dropped Storm at Pleasant Valley Animal Hospital after picking up a coupon at the Humane Society for a low cost Spay/Neuter form.  They are located in Quakertown, although about 5 miles out of town to the east.  It was a nice long country drive through the woods, but man it was out there.  I dropped Storm off and went to work. 

I picked up a co-worker on the way who told me a horror story about a friend of his who took a dog to that same animal hospital and it died!  I was really upset for him telling me this, but I had already left Storm there, and had no time to really do anything about it, and he needed to be neutered.  I was filled with dread all day worrying about my puppy.  About 4:30 I got a call that his surgery was done and that he did fine, I can't tell you what a relief it was to get that phone call. 

I left work at 7:15 and drove like crazy to go pick up Storm.  I arrived there about 8 and picked him up.  Storm cost me an extra $24 because he was one pound over the 40 pound limit, unbelievable!  Storm seemed fine and is back to his normal rambunctious self. 

Six days later Storm is definitely back to his old self with no apparent ill effects or consequences.  He is bounding around the house fine, and as controlled as I can keep him.  Storm drove with me to a Search on Sunday, he got out of the car to socialize a bit, but he wasn't able to do much else.