Are you looking for training for your search dog in a real USAR environment? Look no further than the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department Search Dog Team‘s upcoming Urban Search and Rescue K9 training event and fundraiser, Dia de los Perros. The event is scheduled for on October 26th, 2019, at the historic George Air Force Base in Adelanto, California.
The Historic George Air Force Base is located on registries of abandoned places, and features multiple office buildings, base housing (both apartments and neighborhoods of houses), barracks, and supporting clinics and a hospital, all in a ruined environment closely approximating an actual disaster scenario. The two-story hospital plus basement is rumored to be haunted and is a treasure trove of hiding places for dog training. Housing structures are both (somewhat) intact or burned and completely ruined, allowing dogs to train in multiple types of scent conditions.
The SBSD Search Dog Team provides subjects to hide and human remains source. They’ll also coordinate the search problems and hope to provide additional educational stations. Only 30 teams are allowed to participate, although auditor spots are available. The event will run from 8 am to 5 pm with lunch included.
Search Dog teams wishing to participate in the first annual Dia de los Perros Search and Rescue K9 training event should contact Julie Purcell via email at jkirkpurcell at sbsar dot org. Include the following information when emailing:
Your Name
Agency Affiliation
Discipline (Live Find or HRD)
Contact Email
Contact Phone number
Contact Mailing Address
Learn more about voluntary, community-defined training and behavior standards for handlers and their Service Dogs at USSDR.org