Team Info
Task Force: California Task Force 2 (CA-TF2)
Agency: Los Angeles County Fire
Level: DHS/FEMA Certified (HRD)
Most Recent Certification: July 8, 2022
Search Dog Info
Breed: Black Lab
Sex: Female
Born: August 2, 2016
Recruited from: Humane Society of the Black Hills in Rapid City, SD
Recruited by: South Dakota Canine Center
Sponsor: Nanci Denney Bergin and Nicole Lallande, and an anonymous donor
Harper was one of 22 dogs that were confiscated from a bad situation and placed with the Humane Society of the Black Hills in South Dakota. Once the dogs arrived, the shelter staff quickly contacted Search Dog Foundation Recruiters Kellee and Tim Matthews, who spent four days evaluating the new dogs. Out of the whole group, they determined that Harper, an adorable black lab mix, and Tobias, a German Shorthaired Pointer mix, showed great potential for becoming a disaster search dog. Harper and Tobias made the trek to SDF’s training center with Recruiter Marco Osorio and two additional canine recruits on a cross-country road trip to California.