10:59 in the rain

I mean, ten minutes and 59 seconds of searching in moderate rain.  That is what search and rescue people do in inclimate weather.  I used to train all the time in freezing cold, snow, rain, wind events, you name it.  Now I am just training on my own.  The rain doesn't stop us.  It doesn't stop death.  

II had to leave my search and rescue team when we moved to New Jersey.  I located other K9 teams but during the summer they repeatedly cancelled training.  I'm not used to that.  In VA we trained as planned.  Training was only cancelled if there was a search or the location we were training shut down, as it did at Prince William Forest during a blizzard.  

My exodus was a little more complicated than my husband took another job, but that is a story for a different time.  Right now I have a source waiting in the woods for Juno to find it.  I had not expected it to rain today, as I placed the source 24 hours before, but it really doesn't matter.  She can search in the rain.  Its pretty nice living in the middle of the woods and having easy access to training areas.  I used to have to leave sources wired to trees in larger parks, and come back another day to train on it.  Now I just walk out the door, which is great because its been a while since Juno was searching, and I know she likes to be busy.  

I used this search training to take a look at the woods beyond the fence.  Its pretty well hidden by underbrush in the warmer months, but the rock formations are very interesting if you can get past the briars.  There was definitely critter smells to distract her.  Fox, bear, and deer are common.  I've had to rescue the cat from a fox once already. So the woods beyond the house are a perfect training area.  She can't get to them unless I take her, but I don't have to get a babysitter either.  Yes, I have a child.   

Waiting to get her ball back

Working up to the find was uneventful.  Its not really the sort of thing that people want to read about.  The dog sniffs, the dog runs around, the dog comes back.  She is working, but only I would notice the slight changes in her behavior that indicate if she is smelling critters or smelling human decomposition.  I had actually forgotten the precise location of the source when Juno look a hard left and stopped.  Her head disappeared behind a rock and then she lifted it to look at me.  She gave a little chuff and then a louder bark.  So I said good girl and fished her ball out of my pocket.  Her favorite reward is a blue Chuck-It Whistler ball.  Just the sight of it gets her excited.

I checked my stop watch.  10:59.  I wanted to get 10 min out of her.  I would have to put it further away for a longer search, but this was to make sure she remembered the game.  I threw the ball a dozen times, bouncing it from rock to tree so she had to change direction a lot.  Then I put on a latex glove, because I didn't want to come back out to retrieve the source, and headed back to the house.  Juno dropped the ball at my feet and when I leaned over I noticed that the sleeve of my jacket slide down over my glove and made contact with the top of the source jar.  Gross.  Guess I'll be washing the jacket.  I tightened up the cuff and went on walking and throwing the ball.  

I can be strict with washing.  I think its gross to have my clothes touch the sources.  Of course the dogs end up touching sources, even licking them, but that doesn't give me a moment of pause.  But my jacket touching it? Yikes.  I've seen people put latex gloves on to handle a source then forget to take the gloves off and start touching other things, like their water bottle or brush hair out of their face.  I choke just thinking about it.  Often SAR people take these things for granted.  We have just worked around them so long we handle them like anything else, but they aren't.

Back in the yard I change my latex gloves because I need to touch the freezer and the outside of the source box and I want to keep those places clean.  Its a policy of mine.  I use a lot of latex gloves.  One glove for the clean box, one glove for the dirty source.  Oops, I touched the lid.  New glove, start over.  

This is my Garmin fitbit type device.  And yes, that is the side of my jacket that touched the source.  So now I need to clean the watch also.  I never used to wear a watch, so it wasn't a problem.  But the Garmin has a stop watch so I get better accounting for the time I train and be more accurate on my training logs.  Its actually the first time I used it for this.  I've been moving, then raising a Malinois litter, and now the holidays.  But the working dogs need to work.  I even switched my live find dog to Nosework, which is also a different story.  

So...pouring down rain, a dirty jacket, and a happy dog.  That really was the point of all this.  Juno is 6 years old.  She already certified in cadaver.  She still has a couple more years of searching but I would have to locate a team that I can work with.  I'm not willing to let her skill set just go.  She's a very committed search dog.  Unfortunately SAR involves people too.  People with egos and histories.  The longer you are in SAR the more mired you are in your ways.  Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of expertise in the old timers.  But there is also a reluctance to progress and upgrade.  Technologies get better, you have to change with the times or become obsolete.  

Until I find out place again, we have to find the time to train on our own.  Like most people, you prioritize your time for the things that are important to you.  I may not wear a team patch but I'm still dedicated to SAR.  I like it.  I'm good at it.  I'm just waiting.  In the rain.  Its a good thing I like the rain.