Team Info
Task Force: California Task Force 4 (CA-TF4)
Agency: Oakland Fire
Level: Certified
Search Dog Info
Breed: Black Labrador
Sex: Male
Born: August 31, 2020
Veteran SDF handler Julie Padelford brought Rebel home as a puppy from a breeder and raised him with her other search dogs, Ricochet and Rampage. When Rebel reached ten months of age, Julie approached SDF, hoping that we would accept him into our training program. Rebel showed a lot of potential, so we said yes! Julie transported Rebel down to our National Training Center (NTC) in Santa Paula, CA, in July of 2021, and our staff worked with the fast learner for several months.
The happy-go-lucky, lanky black Lab made quick progress in SDF’s training program. He was obsessed with the search game and performed well at searching complex diffuse problems on the rubble. Rebel could chase a ball all day, but he also loved a good game of tug and would push his toy into the trainer’s hand to get them to play. Over the course of several months, Rebel learned his foundational search skills and Julie would make trips down to visit him and observe his progress.
Trainers had a blast working with Rebel and determined that he was ready to graduate from our program and be reunited with Julie permanently on April 1, 2022. They participated in SDF’s formal Pairing Ceremony and then returned up north to join their task force teammates in preparation for certification to deploy with the other members of California Task Force 4, based in Oakland.
Rebel and Julie achieved certification with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on November 12, 2022, in Riverside, CA. This enables them to deploy on missions nationwide as needed and they will need to re-certify to maintain their active status every three years.
We see the team regularly at the NTC and other training events around the country. Julie is passionate about this line of work and takes every opportunity to train that she can!