Rosie was donated to our program by long-time SDF volunteer Katherine Timmerman of Sacramento, CA, who evaluated Rosie after being contacted in July of 2011 by a divorcing couple who were unable to keep her. A 2-year-old Yellow Lab, Rosie was described by Katherine as having “a very strong play drive and persistence and focus. I called her ‘my little maniac!’” And that was just the beginning.
She spent only a couple of weeks at SDF’s then-Prep Kennel in Castaic, CA, learning basic obedience skills and was then transported to Gilroy for her formal search training. Rosie arrived at Sundowners Kennels a spirited and playful candidate. SDF trainer Hope Blueberry said, “when I think of Rosie, I think of how when we first got her, she’d be out in the training yard running around off-leash, and she would find the nearest rock, stick, ANYTHING, drop it at your feet, then back up for you to throw it. That girl LOVED to play!” As they do with all our candidates, the trainers tried every day to make training time as entertaining and valuable as possible in order to encourage Rosie to love to work as well. Seven months later, Rosie was ready to graduate training and be partnered with her new handler.
In February of 2012, Rosie was partnered with veteran firefighter-handler Fidel Gomez of Baja California Task Force 3, located in Tijuana, Mexico. Rosie was Fidel’s second SDF Search Dog, and he was thrilled to be make the trip up the coast to meet his new teammate.
Rosie and Fidel immediately began spending their time bonding with daily training. In the past, Fidel had deployed several times with his previous SDF Search Dog, Krissy, following a mudslide, earthquake and missing person searches. Fidel and Rosie trained and tested at the State Urban Search and Rescue (SUSAR) level here in the United States to ensure that they were deployment-ready and functioning at the same level as our U.S. teams.
On January 11, 2013, the team deployed to a landslide in Tijuana that had affected a storage facility and at least one employee was suspected of being missing. Fortunately, everyone was eventually accounted for, and the teams were able to call off their search. Rosie did a terrific job and Fidel reported that she had a great time as well!
A year later, Fidel and Rosie responded when a teenager went missing in Mexicali, Mexico on March 16, 2014. Fidel told us that they were en route to the search area at 3am and he reported back, “…at about 0840 hours we got a call on the radio stating that the minor was found and therefore the search was called off. It was a good call. We got to do a little trailing, put our search strategies to work, and coordinate work with other authorities from another city – so it was great!” The boy was reunited with his father and everyone was able to head home knowing they had done a great job.
Then on November 21st the same year they were called out late at night to search an office that had collapsed. Fidel told us, “At the time of collapse the office was not occupied but the fire captain wanted to run the canines to be sure. No alert was given from the canines and after using thermal cameras it was confirmed that there were no victims to be found.”
When SDF opened our National Training Center in Southern California, Fidel and Rosie would make the drive up in order to work with SDF trainers and hone their skills. By continuing to learn new things here that they can take home to their other teammates, the entire Tijuana Task Force benefited.
This was critical when a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Mexico City area on September 19, 2017. Rescuers went to work immediately, flying in from countries around the world to assist local efforts. Fidel and Rosie spent 10 days looking for people that may still be alive in the rubble and help bring them to safety.
The team’s final deployment occurred on March 25, 2019, when teams responded to a building collapse in Tijuana. One person was believed to be inside and Rosie was able to search and help determine that no one was trapped under the debris.
Rosie’s stellar career came to an end when she retired from the Tijuana Rescue Squad on February 5, 2021. She remained in the Gomez home as a beloved family pet and had the full run of their ranch outside Tijuana.
On July 28, 2021, Fidel contact SDF to let us know that Rosie had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. They believed that she suffered a heart attack and though Fidel gave her CPR as his wife drove to the veterinarian, they were unable to revive her.
Rosie will be honored on SDF’s Canine Memorial Wall so that we will never forget her dedication to service and the community. She was a sweet, beautiful soul and a terrific search dog, and we will all miss her dearly.