Team Info
Task Force: California Task Force 1 (CA-TF1)
Agency: Los Angeles Fire Department
Level: DHS/FEMA Certified
Most Recent Certification: June 18, 2022
Search Dog Info
Breed: Black Labrador
Sex: Male
Born: December 6, 2015
Recruited from: Private Donor in Niland, CA
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 has now been paired with Jason Jasgur, a firefighter with Los Angeles Fire Department and team member of California Task Force 1.
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.
Since Jason lives locally in Simi Valley, we look forward to many more shared training experiences at the NTC as they work towards certification. Bonding during the two-week Handler Course in July, the two are building an incredibly strong relationship that has fulfilled Jason’s childhood dream of being a canine handler. The two have a strong partnership and mutual admiration on and off the rubble, so the search is even stronger because Ruffy is entirely dedicated to Jason.
As they trained to certify, Jason’s young son helped in any way he could, passing on the excitement and enthusiasm down to the next generation of the Jasgur family.
On March 3, 2019, Ruffy found five “victims” hidden at the CE hosted by Arizona Task Force 1 in Phoenix to become FEMA certified.
We expect great things from these two as they go on to strengthen disaster response in America!