Frisco was originally surrendered by his owners to Humane Society of Cowlitz County in Longview, Washington. Because he was so obsessed with his ball, he was way too much dog for their household. Unfortunately, Cowlitz County was full and was unable to keep this Labrador mix, so Lisa Beggio, a staff member from Columbia Humane Society in Saint Helens, Oregon, went to help relieve Cowlitz County by bringing some dogs from the overpopulated shelters to another area, in hopes of adoption. Thankfully, this type of networking is common within the shelter system, and by working together, they are able to save more animals’ lives by working cooperatively.
Luckily, Lisa had developed a working relationship with SDF Canine Recruiter Kirsten Fulk, who routinely visits the shelters in the region looking for potential Search Dog candidates. Lisa said she recognized immediately that Frisco would be a good prospect for search and rescue work, so she transported him to Columbia Humane and immediately contacted Kirsten to evaluate Frisco. Kirsten was happy to report, “he passed with flying colors.”
Kirsten brought Frisco to SDF’s National Training Center in Santa Paula, CA in April of 2017 and he truly impressed our trainers. Frisco was extremely driven throughout his training and was always incredibly enthusiastic for his toys!
He graduated from SDF’s training program on February 2, 2018 and was paired with Los Angeles County Firefighter/Paramedic Gary Durian. Frisco is Gary’s third SDF search dog and he has been a member of California Task Force 2’s (CA-TF2) canine team for over a decade. The new team achieved FEMA Certification on March 2, 2019 in Phoenix, AZ. With their certification, this well trained team proved they have the skillset necessary for deployment.
Gary and Frisco await their first deployment together. The first mission for Frisco will be a valuable experience to search beyond training but Gary is a seasoned handler with plenty of experience to ensure a successful search.