National Disaster Search Dog Foundation Hosts Iron Dog Competition

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Each year the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation hosts the Iron Dog Competition in Camarillo, California. Canine search and rescue teams from around the country come to this intense training session to hone the skills of the dogs and their handlers. In 2008, several teams from California, Nevada, Oklahoma and New York attended the event.

The Iron Dog Competition is a realistic simulation of a deployment after a natural disaster or terrorist attack. Awakened at 5 a.m., the teams undergo 12 hours of rigorous training in several scenarios where volunteers act as live victims that need to be rescued. Throughout the day the teams alternate through these simulations, which include a confined space rescue, a flood resulting from a hurricane, a Hazmat spill and helicopter transports.

This event is coordinated each year by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (NDSDF), the nation's leading search dog training organization. A non-profit 501 (c) (3) group located in Ojai, California, the foundation rescues high energy dogs from shelters and breed rescues, and trains them to become certified search and rescue canines, partnering them with firefighters who also undergo extensive training. In their search for canine candidates, Community Relations Director Celeste Matesevac says, "That high drive, high energy dog that will do anything for a toy makes the best search dog." Dogs that are rescued by the NDSDF are guaranteed a Lifetime Care Home, whether they make it through the training program or are not. Retired search dogs either continue to live with their handler or are adopted by one of the Lifetime Care Families. It costs approximately $10,000 to recruit, train and partner each dog and firefighter, and because the NDSDF gives their services to fire departments and emergency agencies free of charge, they rely on charitable monetary donations.

The NDSDF also receives some of its dogs in the form of donations from their handlers. For example, California Task Force 1 Handler Deresa Teller donated four puppies that were sons and daughters of her original partner, Bella, one of which is her current partner, Ranger. Because Deresa and Ranger are a veteran team, they train together once a week to maintain their skills; however, rookie teams practice together more frequently.

The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation began in 1995 when Wilma Melville, a retired school teacher, was deployed to the site of the Oklahoma City bombing with her certified search dog. Only 1 team found a living victim in that incident, and it was then that Wilma realized that there was a significant lack of training available to search dog teams. Wilma found the NDSDF with the goal of training the most highly skilled Department of Homeland Security /Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Advanced Certified canine search teams. Thus far, they have been successful with this mission, producing 66 of the 150 FEMA Advanced Certified teams in the United States. 85% of their dogs receive this FEMA certification, which is a great improvement over the 15% rate that existed in the United States in 1995. During the tragedy of September 11, 2001, 13 of the teams were deployed to Ground Zero, and during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 26 of the search dog teams were deployed to the Gulf Coast.

Even with their organization operating at full capacity, the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation recognizes the need to expand, as there should be 336 FEMA Advanced Certified Canine teams in the nation, 12 for each of the 28 FEMA Task Forces. They hope to do this through the construction of a new state-of-the-art training facility in California. Celeste Matesevac explains, "We have 125 acres in Santa Paula that is going to be the only national training center. There is not one that exists at this time and it will be available for all handlers from all over the nation to come and hone their skills like we do at the Iron Dog Competition." This facility would be multi-tiered, with each level presenting a different scenario for the teams, including simulations of collapsed houses, train wrecks, and wood recycling centers. The mock disasters would be changeable to meet handlers' needs and would be accessible year round. The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation plans to fund this training center through charitable donations from private citizens and corporations.

For more information about the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation or to make a donation to their daily operations or to the development of their national training center, please visit www.searchdogfoundation.org.

Click here to watch a video about New York Task Force 2 at the Iron Dog Competition.

Click here to watch a video about Nevada Task Force 1 at the iron Dog Competition.

Click here to watch a video about Mocha, a graduate of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation's program.