Team Info
Task Force: California Task Force 2 (CA-TF2)
Agency: Los Angeles County Fire
Level: FEMA Certified
Most Recent Certification: March 2, 2019
Search Dog Info
Breed: Yellow Lab
Sex: Male
Born: May 1, 2012
Donated by: Brent McClosky
Recruited by: Penny Woodruff
Sponsors: Patricia Snyder, The Joel and Dena Gambord Family
Guardians: Nancy Stone
Named by: Kathleen Kennedy & Cecila O’Flynn
Named in Honor of: Clancy O’Flynn
Clancy was discovered by SDF volunteer Penny Woodruff, who saw Clancy advertised on Craig’s List as a high-energy dog needing a good home. Clancy’s owner hoped that he would make a good duck hunting companion around their Gardnerville, NV home, but soon determined that waiting patiently for the birds to fly was not Clancy’s strong suit.
When Penny called to inquire about Clancy, she loved what she heard and immediately wanted to evaluate him for SDF’s program. But the day before the testing, Clancy’s owner called and said they were not ready to say goodbye to him.
A few months later, Penny received a phone call from Clancy’s family. They were exhausted and could no longer handle Clancy’s energy. He had made a habit of escaping from their two-acre property and they were concerned for his safety. Penny evaluated him right away and was amazed: “Boy, did he have drive!” He breezed through every hunt test but could not sit still; he was always moving! At this point, it was clear that Clancy needed a job, and his family agreed to donate him to SDF.
Penny immediately transported Clancy to SDF’s National Training Center in Santa Paula, CA, to begin training. After seeing him work, SDF’s trainers knew Clancy was a natural. Trainer Emily Fisk reported early in his training, “In the last few weeks Clancy has really blossomed. He did very well searching the buildings and searching over the rubble. He tries very hard to always please his handler. What a sweet dog!”
On November 14th, 2014, Clancy was partnered with SDF veteran handler Captain Jim Boggeri of Marin County Fire Department. Unfortunately, Jim was forced to end his career as a Canine Search Specialist several months later due to family obligations.
As Clancy was certainly not ready for retirement, he came back to the National Training Center and was partnered on September 24, 2015, with new handler, Jake Armendariz of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The pair made a great team and achieved certification with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on March 5, 2016. As members of the West Coast’s internationally deployable California Task Force 2 (CA-TF2), Jake and Clancy will have the opportunity to help citizens in need when disasters strike around the world.
The first opportunity to put their skills to use occurred September 19-29, 2017, when seven SDF-trained teams deployed to Mexico City following a deadly magnitude 7.1 earthquake. Tragically, hundreds of people were killed and thousands injured, and Jake, Clancy, and the teams spent ten days assisting local agencies as much as possible.
Months later, on January 9, 2018, deadly mudslides devastated the community of Montecito, CA, where the Thomas Fire had swept through the nearby mountains a month earlier. Jake and Clancy searched for two weeks, along with seventeen SDF-trained canine teams from across California, until nearly every citizen was accounted for.
All canine search teams must take a Certification Evaluation every three years to prove that they meet the nation’s minimum standards, so in March 2019 and again in October 2021, Jake and Clancy achieved FEMA re-certification. Since then, the team has continued to train regularly with their CA-TF2 teammates in preparation for deployment. They were called upon to respond to a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey, Syria and the surrounding region early on February 6, 2023.