Raven was purchased by a family in Salt Lake City who hoped she would a make a good support dog for their child, but Raven’s rambunctious personality soon made it clear this was not her ideal role. Unable to handle her energy, the family placed an ad for Raven’s adoption. An SDF recruiter spotted the ad—and Raven’s potential.
Raven’s off-the-charts drive signaled she would need a job to be happy, so perhaps disaster search was the role she was looking for. She hitched a ride to our campus with our friends at Angel Flight West. Once evaluated, Raven was enthusiastically accepted into our program, and it didn’t take long for everyone on campus to fall head over heels in love with this adorable black ball of wiggly energy!
Just as quickly, Raven fell in love with her training, practically leaping for joy at every opportunity to work. Raven thrived on learning and doing, and the more she learned, the more it seemed she was made for disaster search. But when Raven progressed to searching on rubble, her future in disaster search became less certain.
Raven loved searching for hidden “victims” in barrels and buildings, but she was hesitant to walk on unstable ground. To overcome this issue, Raven’s trainers worked to help build her confidence through fun, low-pressure play on unstable surfaces. Although she made some progress, Raven let trainers know she would never be completely comfortable walking on rubble. Raven adored and excelled at all other aspects of her training, so our team knew she would be a fantastic candidate for search and rescue in a different discipline, such as wilderness or avalanche.
Around the same time, avalanche search and rescue handler Andrew Bowersox had begun his search for a new canine partner to join him in his work at Powder Mountain Resort in Utah. SDF alums Lady and Leo were career-changed to Powder Mountain, so when the word got out that Andrew was looking for a dog, Lady’s handler, Craig, urged Andrew to contact SDF.
“All I kept hearing was SDF! They have great dogs! You have to get a dog from SDF!” says Andrew. When he found out Raven was available, Andrew headed to our National Training Center, where he met Raven and spent ten days participating in our Handler Training Program, working with Raven and our trainers to build a relationship with his new canine partner.
Andrew said his time at SDF opened his eyes to new ways to communicate with dogs and has helped him become a better handler. “Going to SDF, I really learned the way dogs think. All the info they gave me was incredibly useful, and I feel like I came away with twice what I knew.”
Back in Utah, Andrew wasted no time getting Raven out to train in her new environment. Raven immediately took to the snow and her new career, and the team is currently working to certify for on-snow work through Wasatch Backcountry Rescue. Raven already passed her obedience element, including the long stay—a five-minute wait with the handler in sight for two minutes and out of sight for three.
In the next few months, Andrew hopes to work up to their “A” Dog Certification. To pass, Raven will have to find one to three victims buried in snow that is one to two meters deep. Passing that test qualifies the team to respond to avalanche events statewide.
Raven is more than happy to participate in all the training it will take to reach that achievement. “Super cute, hyper, high-drive Raven is all about work!” Andrew says. “You ask her to do something, she’s not just like, ‘Yes.’ She’s like, ‘H*** yes!!,” he laughs.
Reflecting on his time at SDF, Andrew tears up a bit. “Staff at SDF—they were so awesome. It was hard leaving there because everyone I interacted with was incredible. I am so grateful to have had that experience and to meet Raven.”
Career change partners like Powder Mountain Resort provide alternative pathways to success for high-drive dogs in our program who don’t pursue disaster search. We are deeply grateful for this relationship, and to Andrew for giving Raven the loving home and exciting life she so richly deserves.
Read more in the fall edition of SDF’s Bark Alert Magazine—check out our digital version here!