Team Info
Task Force: California Task Force 7 (CA-TF7)
Agency: Sacramento County Airport Fire
Level: In training to certify
Search Dog Info
Breed: Labrador Retriever
Sex: Male
Born: September 11, 2020
Recruited from the Tooele City Animal Shelter
Sponsor: Barbara Barnhart
Ridge was found as a stray in Tooele County, Utah, and brought to the Tooele City Animal Shelter. There, he was adopted twice and returned to the shelter for the same reason: Ridge had “way too much energy.” He was constantly in motion, played nonstop with his toys, and was an escape artist. At his last adopter’s home, Ridge managed to escape and run away, and the adopters didn’t even bother to look for him. Ridge was eventually picked up and brought to the shelter again. At this point, Ridge was well acquainted with shelter staff and greeted them like old buddies at a homecoming.
Luckily, an SDF recruiter spotted Ridge in the shelter and saw his potential. Ridge was transferred to our National Training Center in California, and the long cycle of humans failing Ridge was finally broken.
During his performance screening, Ridge blew everyone away with his drive and intensity. Spry and smart, Ridge progressed quickly through the program. Trainers say Ridge is the perfect package of a working dog: intense, focused, and thoughtful in his job and relaxed and snuggly in his downtime. Ridge graduated search training with flying colors and was paired with Eric Lieuwen of Sacramento County Airport Fire, California Task Force 7, on September 7, 2024.
Eric’s military training led him to firefighting, and a lifelong animal lover—especially of dogs—made Eric sure he would love being a canine handler. As a veteran SDF handler with another search dog named Jake, Eric first heard about SDF through his task force.
Upon meeting Ridge, Eric was struck by how cute he was and how much he loves engaging with his human. Having been through the process of being matched with a search dog before, he felt confident trusting the process and knew it would work out exactly how it should.
Eric’s first goal for his partnership with Ridge is to build trust. “I want to make sure Ridge believes that he will never be abandoned again.” Once that foundation is set, Eric says he hopes that he and Ridge can build their non-verbal communication to be a synergistic duo that will bring maximum effectiveness to communities in need.