Rescue canines get their feet wet
MUDDY CREEK TWP — Riley, a 2-year-old German shepherd, loves the water, but until Friday he did not know how to behave on a boat.
As a future rescue dog, this would be a useful skill to know. So, Riley is participating in training run by the Allegheny Mountain Rescue Group this weekend at Moraine State Park, learning how to handle himself on boats and in water rescue situations.
“This is a very good instruction to do for him,” said Riley's handler, Jan Kestner of Perry Township, Lawrence County.
More than 20 dog handlers and their canines are spending the weekend at the park training for search and rescue missions.
The training sessions began Friday and will run through Sunday. One seminar involves training for a water search and the other involves training for a wilderness search.
Chris Ruch, commander of the rescue group, said part of the reason the training was organized was due to a rescue effort last year at Lake Arthur at the park. He said it was difficult to find dogs that had training in water rescue.
Early on Friday, handlers were practicing getting dogs on and off boats, working to get them more comfortable on boats and how the dogs should handle themselves if they fall into the water.
Ruch said there would be classroom training, night searches and land searches training as well.
The event has attracted 21 handlers from surrounding counties and some from as far away as Erie, Fayette County, N.J., and Delaware.
“We really got a pretty broad-based interest,” Ruch said.
Riley is not fully certified to do rescues yet, but Kestner said he should be certified by January or February.Heather Houlahan of Lancaster Township, also a member of the rescue group, was training her two English shepherds, Charlie and Rosie. Neither of them has done water rescue before.She and her husband have been doing search and rescue with dogs for 23 years. They got started when they bought a young German shepherd that required a lot of activity.“I love spending time outdoors with a partner who is an animal,” Houlahan, who does about 12 rescues per year, said.She said that getting dogs comfortable with boats is important for rescues.“Things like not being afraid of motors,” Houlahan said.She said both dogs were doing well.Heather Lum of Erie County, a member of the Northwest Pennsylvania K-9 Search and Rescue, was training with her 3-year-old Labrador/collie mix named Google. She said Google performed excellently in training and in the water.“It went really well,” Lum said. “We're always looking to do training, to improve our skills.”Jake Weiland, assistant park manager, praised the training sessions and the work of the rescue group.“We've called on them a half dozen times (since 2012),” Weiland said.
