The 15th annual FEMA Canine Search Specialist Training Weekend was at Disaster City in College Station. Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) and Texas A&M Task Force 1 hosted the Workshop. 36 Canine teams from across the country took part in the exercises.
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All the canines must be certified by FEMA before deployment.
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Disaster City hosts emergency responders for training throughout the year. There are several collapsed buildings and rubble piles around the lots.
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A canine from TX TF2 begins his search through a rubble pile.
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A handler from TX TF2 prepares his dog for the next search.
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A US&R canine finds someone under a collapsed home in this exercise.
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Another trained canine locates a well hidden volunteer on one of the many disaster sites.
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Batman looks to her handler once she identified a person in the rubble.
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Leon barks as his handler communicates to the team what she expects from him on the next run.
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A canine stands by his handler on of the larger disaster sites.
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Scout from TX TF2 locates someone inside a small confined space among all the wreckage.
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Pilot, from South Florida’s Urban Search and Rescue team, also locates someone and notifies his handler in the large debris pile.
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Leon and handler Anthea Groves are from Washington TF1.
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Jake Gotta and his chocolate lab Spry are part of the Texas A&M Task Force 1.
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Barb Clark and Raffey are from Utah Task Force 1.
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Susan Fife and her Dutch Shepard Batman are visiting from Indiana TF1.
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36 canine teams gathered in College Station at the world-class facility to take advantage in training their dogs to be FEMA certified.
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Rhywnn Gaffney and Astro travel between courses, headed to the large rubble pile.
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A trainer celebrates with his dog after finding someone deep in a confined space. These two are from South Florida US&R TF2.
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A TX TF2 canine, Scout, is released from his handler and begins a search in an expanse field.
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Scout jumps while barking to signify he found something.
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Taser from Texas TF1 begins his search once released from handler Denise Corliss who was present at the World Trade Center on 9/11 with her former canine Bretagne for their first deployment together.
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A California TF1 handler guides his dog off the course using the canine’s favorite toy.
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Taser finishes the agility course by going down a slide.
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Pilot climbs a ladder on the agility course as the exercises conclude.
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The dogs had fun on an agility course at the end of their training sessions.
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Taser obediently waited on top of the agility course for his handler’s next command.
Photo by Photo by Megan Cusick