Mocha the Search Dog Retiring From the Murrieta Fire Department After Seven Years of Service

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The Murrieta Fire Department will retire its search and rescue dog, Mocha, later this year. Mocha, a Chocolate Labrador Retriever who will be ten years old in March, was the first disaster search dog in Riverside County, California, and has been in service with her fire department handler, Engineer John Thomas, for seven years. Due to arthritis in her back, Mocha will retire and her duties will be picked up by Jack, a 16-month old Black Labrador Retriever.

Murrieta Fire Engineer John Thomas first came up with the idea to start a disaster search dog team in the Inland Empire area of Southern California after being deployed with a search team to Ground Zero after the tragedies of September 11th. Of the experience, Thomas says, "I had a moment of clarity where I found that this is what I was destined to do is bring a disaster search dog to our valley. To find a dog that could find people in a building that collapsed, people that are trapped, that can't get out." Thomas proceeded to obtain approval from his Fire Chief to begin searching for a suitable dog and find funding for its training.

Meanwhile, Mocha and her siblings were trained in the Guide Dogs of America (GDA) program, and the staff there found that the dogs' aggressive personalities were not well suited to that mission. Representatives of the GDA met with members of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, who tested the dogs and found them to be excellent candidates for search dog training. When Mocha completed the National Disaster Search Dog courses, she was paired with John Thomas, who had approached the Foundation in his search for a partner. The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation donated Mocha to the Murrieta Fire Department.

The Chocolate Lab has received Advanced Training Certification from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and her first rescue deployment was in 2003 during the Mount Waterman Mudslides, where she found several victims. She and Thomas were also sent to the Gulf Region during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, although they unfortunately did not find any living victims.

Due to an arthritic condition, Mocha will be retiring in 2009. According to Thomas, she is still a focused dog and works well; however, her pain prevents her from performing 100% on some days. After her retirement Mocha will continue to live with Thomas and his family. At work, she will be replaced by Jack, a vivacious dog who is undergoing 6 months of training with John Thomas and the Mountain View Dog Training facility in San Bernardino. Throughout this process, Mocha has been an example to Jack of what to expect as a future search dog.

According to Thomas, the training for disaster search dogs is very rigorous and not every dog will pass the program and be certified by FEMA. Thomas says that dogs who are ideal candidates for this training are high in energy and would not make good traditional family pets. These dogs are very focused on finding a toy and a person who will play with them. He says, "These dogs don't realize that they're looking for someone that's buried near death. They're looking for someone to play "Tug-O-War" with. It has to be a game. This dog has to have fun everyday or he's not going to work." Thomas compares training Jack to a child saying, "He's a growing kid full of vigor, and we just have to try to focus that. Like kids they need focus and discipline and consistency."

Being a disaster search dog handler is a very difficult job and requires a great amount of commitment and personal sacrifice. According to Thomas, there is a lot of driving and personal expense involved, as he must consistently train with his partner during the week and on weekends, often missing time with his family. His advice to other firefighters who are considering the idea of starting a search dog team in their fire department is, "Find someone else who's already done it. Call them and get a true understanding about what the commitments are, and then see if your department is going to back you. Without your fire department's support, you're not going to go anywhere."

For further information about Mocha and Jack, visit www.murrieta.org.

To learn more about the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, watch this FDNNTV.com video or visit www.searchdogfoundation.org.