07/15/2005: "Search and Rescue - What A Thrill"
Ever wonder what happens if you're lost, outside in the woods, in the dark.
Well, now we know!
A revealing experience to say the least!
MeiMei here..... I'm searching.... searching for something.... not sure what... but searching. Maybe I'll find a hotdog... or a cookie.... or a BODY???????
Last night was my first "paws-on", experience with the Volonteer Canine Search and Rescue group here in our town. I want to be a Volonteer Search & Rescue Pei!!!! Maybe one day, I'll be able to save a life!
What is a Volonteer Search & Rescue Pei????
- A VS&RP, is a shar-pei, that goes outside into the vast wilderness to locate someone who may be lost in the woods, like a child, or a hiker, or to locate someone lost in a devastated building, or lost somewhere else that they don't want to be lost at. Not too many shar-pei do this type of work, so everyone is rooting for me! You see.... a lot of people don't know that shar-pei are true working dogs. Shar-Pei have a lot of gusto and mojo!!!!
Out On Manouevers!
Enter TIMBER - The Search and Rescue Sheppard......
(Hey.... where do I get one of those snazzy, orange dog jackets like Timber has??)
Timber, together with his handler/human is on trial tonight. While we hid in the mosquito infested woods, thank GOD, under a mosquito net, we waited... and waited. Timber was given two hours to find 4 different victims. Here we are hiding in the dark.... and being very quiet! I was not allowed to bark, grunt, or flap my lips...shhhhhhhhhh..... no noise at all.
Here we are as proxy victims! We are pretending to be lost in the woods. Timber has to find us and 3 other victims in the next two hours or he's toast!
HURRAY TIMBER!! YOU FOUND US!
Timber skillfully found us in good time. He saved us from all the moquitoes, then went on to find all the other hidden victims.
Thank you Timber. You're my hero!
And there's more..... not only does Timber have to find us and report back to his human....
The human had to take notes, ask my human if she was ok and not hurt, and he had to map our position. It's a rewarding feeling, but a big responsibility too.
hmmmmmmm Timber got a nice cookie for finding us... HEY - how come I didn't get a nice cookie?
Maybe Timber dropped it.... sniffle sniffle
We had a great experience. One thing we learned, is that it's no fun being lost in the woods.
We very quickly developed a small idea of what it must be like to suffer from the fear of being lost, attacked by millions of mosquitoes and now know how important Canine Rescue is to helping to find lost people. The volonteers who train for search and rescue and 100% committed, love their dogs and are devoted to this exercise with unparalled passion.
You can read more about this wonderful Canine Search group at:
Sauvetage Canada Rescue - Volonteer Group
http://www.scr.ca
oh.... before I forget... what about Fatso Merlin??? Well he got to stay home in the cool air instead of being outside with all the bugs!