Chris Tedder writes; Two days before Echo’s 2nd birthday she took her First operational assessment, Level 2 Hasty. She passed with flying colours and was put on the operational list. This qualification or 'grading' lasts for 12 months during which time the dog and handler continue training for the next assessment, Level 3 Area. We decided that we would re-grade at Level 2 early and so took another assessment at the end of January 2007 and then felt she was good enough and well prepared for the next level so she took her level 3 in May 2007. Again she passed this with flying colours and so does not require re-grading for 3 years from that date.
Of course we continue to extend her training and she is able to select drowned scent, human remains, in all states of decomposition as well as of course live missing people. She will also indicate on any items that have human scent on them. She can search buildings, woodland, open areas and water.
We have some intense training coming up this autumn and we hope to increase her qualifications, although the majority of Search dogs in the UK are only able to detect live scent with the remaining handful of specialist service dogs detecting drugs, explosives, weapons etc, the dogs in our unit are trained to locate anything with human scent on it and all states of the human body Alive through to long term dead and even buried.
Echo has done us and the breed proud and I am in the process of writing her story so far - from the decision to have a Russian through to her qualifying and going operational.
We had a call out from Humberside police early in the year that you may be interested to hear about.
We did a 2 day search for a missing 60 year old male suffering from dementia and missing from home for 6 hours. We worked all day and after a search managers meeting we were asked if we would be able to continue into the night. It was due to be the coldest weekend of the year so far and there was grave concern for the Missing Persons safety and wellbeing. He had gone missing in just pyjamas and slippers. The area we were searching included countryside, a large golf course and cliff tops. The town was Hornsea. This was the first time Echo had done a night search since qualifying. Blizzards were expected everywhere as we began our searches. We had been able to provide 5 handlers and dogs and 1 search coordinator. ( incidentally Charlie, our Newfoundland who had qualified at 15 months of age just 2 weeks earlier was also on this callout and this was his first search. He acquitted himself very well and we were very pleased with how he too dealt with the extremes in weather conditions, (this is when the big dogs really come into their own) At one point we had a time when blizzards were occurring every 20 minutes or so. It would snow so hard that it was coming into us horizontally. We could hardly see at some points but Echo worked superbly. She was working a large open area with some patches of wood land. Her whiskers etc were dragged back as though she were riding in an open topped car, but this did not stop her working. She seemed to love the strong winds and cold air, distant inherited memories of Russia perhaps? As we cleared the area and confirmed there was no one present I asked my support, a large police officer, if he would hide for her so she got a find reward for all the work so far. Echo and I turned away and he went off to hide. Neither Echo not I had any idea where he had gone so I simply started her in search mode again with the 'Find find' command. Just as she started the blizzard began again and we were moving along her with her nose well up and into the snow and me with my goggles being the only thing visible under may hood.
I followed her on trust knowing she would do her job, locate our man and keep me safe. This she did in great style. As the snow cut into us I saw her fuzzy outline and noted her head suddenly shoot up. She had picked up scent. She then proceeded to push into the blizzard and I could see her zig zagging following in and out of the scent cone, turning every time she went out of it. Finally she broke into a gallop and disappeared into a small copse. I stopped and waited for her to come back to me as I could have easily gone in the wrong direction in the conditions.
She was soon heading back towards me at a very rapid pace. She jumped in front of me ( her alert) and then shot off with the 'show me' command still on my lips. I followed her but lost her for a moment and she came back to me to get me back on track. This time we only had a short distance to go and I saw her disappear behind a pile of felled trees. She popped her head round them to look at me to ensure I was with her and then went back behind the logs. As I got round to her there was my policeman, lying alongside the logs, with a good covering of snow making him almost invisible in his surroundings. Echo was very pleased with herself and she got her reward. A game with a ball. That's all she does this for, a ball. She does not get it any other time except in training so she is manic about it. She did a lovely job and I knew if the Missing Person was in any area we were given to search she would find him.
Sadly this was not to be. Although our dog teams and several police searched for many hours and covered a much greater area than was expected of us our Missing Person was not located. We were all stood down on the Monday with a very big thank you. With no further sightings or other information to go on there was nothing more to be done. The police gave a press release Monday evening and Tuesday morning received a call from a couple who had a caravan along the cliff top. They had read the press release and called to say at about 11.45 the Saturday night a man had knocked on their caravan door. Due to the weather and what he was wearing they thought he was a drunk and sent him away. The search manager called out the police helicopter and they flew over the area where the caravan was. The Missing Person was spotted lying near the cliff edge. It transpired that he had died Saturday night about 5-6 hours after he had gone missing. The caravan was situated another 6 miles from the furthest search area boundary so had we continued searching we would have needed another 3-4 days to reach this spot. As it was, while we were all out looking for him he had walked along the cliff top in a straight line until he could go no further and had succumbed to the cold.
All the dogs and handlers were praised for their work. We can only find if the person missing is in our area we are given to search. But the dogs can confirm to the police that the areas they have searched are clear and thus enable the search area to be expanded as need be. So again the dog were correct in giving no indications and clearing their areas.
It was a very good experience for everyone concerned due to conditions and terrain. We had a lovely letter from the police search manager and POLSA ( Police Search Adviser) and I attached it here for your interest. "Echo is the only Russian Black Terrier in the UK to be an operational search and rescue dog with a SARDA unit (SARDA CanTech) and we are very proud of her. With a hip score of just 10 and being a very fit dog we hope she will be able to serve the community and its police forces for many years to come with the hope that we will be able to locate and bring a missing person back home to their family’".......
Our thanks to Chris & Paul Tedder and congratulations to you and Echo