Team Info
Task Force: California Task Force 1 (CA-TF1)
Agency: Los Angeles Fire Department
Level: Certified
Search Dog Info
Breed: Black Labrador
Sex: Male
Born: December 6, 2015
Recruited from a private donor
Recruited by Kirsten Fulk
Sponsor: Patricia Snyder
Ruffy was 2 years old when he arrived at the NTC. This smart Black Lab started out as a field trial dog, training in the outskirts of San Diego, CA. His owner contacted SDF when she realized that Ruffy was too loud and too rambunctious for the world of field trial.
While these traits did not make for a well-behaved dog in that discipline, he excelled in the presence of SDF Recruiter Kirsten Fulk, who was happy to bring him to the NTC for official evaluation. Once he arrived at SDF, he passed our tests with ease and started his training, working on turning his loud bark into the all-important bark alert that means our dogs have found live human scent in the rubble. He has a sweet temperament, always looking to connect with the person on the other side of his leash.
Lucky for Ruffy, he didn’t have to wait long to find his connection. Ruffy was an absolutely remarkable candidate here at SDF—progressing incredibly fast through our program and paired with Jason Jasgur, a firefighter with the Los Angeles Fire Department and team member of California Task Force 1 (CA-TF1).
Jason became interested in being a handler at a young age, as he grew up helping his father with his wilderness search and rescue dog. Jason’s father took every opportunity to include his kids in training, which made a huge impression on Jason’s dreams for the future: becoming a canine handler has been Jason’s career goal over the past 10 years, as a firefighter with both Los Angeles Fire Department and in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Originally bonding during the two-week class where they were paired, the two have built an incredibly strong relationship that has fulfilled Jason’s childhood dream of being a canine handler. The two have a great partnership and mutual admiration on and off the rubble, and Ruffy is entirely dedicated to Jason.
Jason passed the excitement and enthusiasm for this role down to the next generation of the Jasgur family. As the team prepared for their first FEMA certification, Jason’s young son helped in any way he could, hiding in rubble as a “victim.”
On March 3, 2019, Ruffy found five “victims” hidden at the Certification Evaluation hosted by Arizona Task Force 1 in Phoenix to become FEMA certified. Ruffy and Jason have been deployable assets on their task force roster ever since and achieved re-certification in June 2022.
They train weekly with their CA-TF1 teammates to keep their skills sharp and remain ready for disasters to strike and due to their proximity to SDF’s National Training Center, visit our staff regularly.
The team’s first deployment occurred in October 2024 when they were pre-deployed ahead of Hurricane Milton to assist citizens in Florida affected by the storm. We wish Jason and Ruffy, and all of the first responders there, the best of luck for a successful mission.