Tag: certification

Congratulations Team Riley!

We are excited to report that K9 Riley and his handler Mary passed their wilderness airscent certification test by finding two ‘lost’ subjects in 40 acres of woods with plenty of time to spare. It was a challenging wet and cold day with gusty winds that were constantly changing. At one point the soap bubbles Mary was using to check the wind started moving to the north but before hitting the ground they reversed and moved ten feet south. K9 Riley was not fooled for a minute. Such a good dog!

Commander Riker is ready for duty!

Join us in congratulating K9 Riker and his handler Brian for becoming the newest certified King County Search Dog airscent team after passing their field test today! Riker, a black German Shepherd known for boldly going where no dog has gone before, bounded through 40 acres of forest and found both his “lost” subjects well within the two hour limit. It takes years of training, practice and patience to certify a search dog and we are very proud of Brian and Riker’s accomplishment. Look for them at the next KCSD mission where they will be seeking out new subjects and […]

K9 Myka is on the trail!

King County Search Dogs is proud to announce that we have a newly certified trailing team in our ranks. Congratulations to Courtney and K9 Myka for flying through their trailing test this week! Myka is Courtney’s second search dog. They are now certified in both trailing and human remains detection (HRD). K9 Jack, Myka’s older “brother,” is also certified in two disciplines, airscent and HRD. Courtney is one of only a few handlers in the history of KCSD to have certified with a dog in every core discipline – trailing, airscent, and human remains detection. Quite an achievement! The KCSD […]

jet, Ruby, Lincoln, Myka

Kudos for K9s!

It’s been a busy couple of months for new certifications for some of the KCSD dogs! K9 Ruby and handler Jonathan (top right) successfully completed their airscent certification test last weekend finding both “lost” subjects in a 40 acre area in less than two hours. K9 Jet (top left), K9 Myka (bottom left) and K9 Lincoln (bottom right) and their handlers Mathew, Courtney and Jon have all recently passed their human remains detection certification test. Please join us in congratulating all these dogs teams for the years of hard work it takes to reach this level of performance. We look […]

The nose knows!

Congratulations to K9s Coulee, Gilly, Zula, and Tesla (clockwise from the upper left) along with their handlers Greg, Kris, Jen and Chris for recent trailing re-certifications. Biannual certification and frequent training are essential for reliable search dogs and demand considerable commitment and dedication.

Go Jet Go !

Faster than a speeding bullet, It’s Jet the Search Dog! Join us in congratulating K9 Jet and Handler Mathew on successfully completing their airscent pretest. True to her name Jet raced through 40 acres of forest and found her ‘lost’ search subjects in half the allotted time. Look for them zooming around at the next King County Search and Rescue mission.

Congrats Josh and Natick!

Join us in congratulating K9 Natick and his handler Josh on passing the National Search Dog Alliance (NSDA) Land Human Remains Detection certification test recently. Natick, a chocolate lab, is one of our most effective search dogs and is known as the “Long Ranger” in his airscent work.

Who’s a good dog?

Congratulations to K9 Cleo and her handler Chad for passing their airscent certification evaluation yesterday! They found both their test subjects in 40 acres of dense forest within two hours despite the classic northwest mix of cold April snow and rain.

Congratulations Jen and K9 Zula!

Big news! 🎉 Congratulations to K9 Zula and our President-elect Jen for passing their trailing certification test today! They are now fully eligible for deployment on search missions: A big achievement for a great team!

♫ Come Fly with Me ♫

K9 Oso and Heather take to the sky! Thanks to the King County Sheriff Office Air Support Unit, KCSD recently had it’s 2018 helicopter training at Banderra airfield east of North Bend WA. All the dogs had a chance to practice loading into the helicopter with and without the engines running. The handlers and dogs then put on their harnesses and were hoisted up into Guardian 2 as it hovered 120 feet in the air. While it is a fun ride, it is serious business and on those occasions when helicopter transport is required KCSD dogs and handlers are ready […]

Congratulations Oso!

K9 Oso and his handler Heather passed the KCSD airscent pre-test on Saturday finding both his ‘subjects’ in less than 90 minutes. The team is now available for missions within King County. Oso is an expert locksmith/escape artist as well as an up-and-coming search dog and is named after Oso, Washington where Heather participated in the search activities after the tragic 2014 landslide.