16
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
TRAINING
New members
bring experience
Continued from page 1
joined the team about a
month ago. West, a German
wirehaired griffon, is an
area search dog who was
previously certified by the
California Rescue Dog
Association.
Sullivan’s expertise will
help the team's newest mem-
ber — 8-week-old Jovi (short
for jovial), a Nova Scotia toll-
er which handler Julia Sauder
purchased to train as an area
searcher for the team.
At work, West cuts a swath
around Sullivan until finding
a subject who he then greets
before running back to the
handler and jumping on
her as an “alert.” Sullivan
said field hunting dogs like
West and Jovi do well with
non-specific area searching.
“Instead of flushing a bird
you find a human, and in-
stead of retrieving you come
jump on me,” Sullivan said.
Chelsey Betterley joined
the team to support handlers.
Jones said handlers rely on
“flankers” to handle naviga-
tion and communication as
handlers are focused on their
Columbia Gorge News
dogs.
Betterley started bringing
her dog Khuno when she
realized trainings amounted
to dogs finding people in
exchange “for hot dogs and
scratches.”
“He is extremely food mo-
tivated and will pretty much
do anything for a hot dog,”
Betterley said.
At a training above Lyle
May 5, Betterley and Sauder
took turns hiding for K-9
West. Dana Reid, whose
Swedish Vallhund Aster’s
mother was the breed’s first
certified human remains
dog, hid for K-9 Griffin and
DiSalvo.
The subject of Jones and
K-9 Ellie’s mock search was
Kathy Harris, who doesn’t
have a dog of her own and
was one of the first volunteers
to join Jones and DiSalvo last
year.
Harris said she volun-
teered to get her “dog fix.”
“How can you not love it,”
Harris said as she rewarded
Ellie with a can of Vienna
sausage. She said she feels
watching the dogs train
has given her a better idea
of what to do if she and
husband Steven get lost on a
backpacking trip.
“Carry Vienna sausages?”
Jones joked.
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Above, from left, Molly Sullivan, Chelsey Betterley, Julia Sauder,
Jeff Adams, Maija DiSalvo and Jim Jones talk after K-9 West com-
pleted a mock search at a training May 5 above Lyle, Wash. Below,
Dana Reid, Sauder and DiSalvo meet K-9 Jovie, the team's newest
and youngest member. At right, Jones handles K-9 Ellie.
Walker Sacon Photos
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