Team Info
Task Force: California Task Force 3 (CA-TF3)
Agency: San Francisco Fire Department
Level: FEMA Certified
Search Dog Info
Breed: Black Labrador
Sex: Male
Born: September 12, 2019
Recruited from: Retrieving Freedom
A breeder donated Barney to Retrieving Freedom, Inc. at eight weeks old. He had been training for a career in canine assistance work, but as he matured, the training team noticed Barney was intensely focused on toys. Barney’s toy obsession and lack of a natural “off-switch” led trainers to believe he would excel as a search dog. They reached out to SDF, and Barney was evaluated and accepted into our training program.
Once at the NTC, it was a surprise to no one that a career as a service dog was not the right path for Barney! Loud, boisterous, wild, and driven, Barney is a very intense dog in all the best ways for search! With confidence and brains matching his physicality, Barney quickly progressed through his foundational skills and dove into advanced skills, which he also mastered in impressive time. Trainers always had a blast working with Barney, even if his style of toy play was a full-contact sport! Barney is a great all-around dog who will make a fantastic partner to his handler and a great companion at home. Barney was paired with Lauren Canning of San Francisco Fire, California Task Force 2, on May 12, 2022.
Lauren wanted to be a paramedic since her teens, but as a young female, she didn’t know it was possible to become a firefighter. Inspired by her father, she enrolled in an EMT class at 18 years old and worked in that field while also lifeguarding and teaching swimming lessons. She was still struggling while working three jobs, though, so she quit and went into sales, a more lucrative financial path. But although the money was good, the job made her miserable, so with the encouragement of her family, she took a leap of faith and pursued her dream of becoming a firefighter/paramedic.
Lauren says she was drawn to the profession because she’s always been into sports and competition and is a bit of an adrenaline junkie. She’s always enjoyed medicine, too, so combining these parts of her personality seemed an excellent fit for a first responder. She also had a great mentor in retired firefighter/paramedic Kelly Chulick who worked with her for several years to help her achieve her goals. She officially became a paramedic in 2016 and a firefighter in 2017.
Ever since entering the EMS field, she’s always loved watching the first responders with their canines. Though most of her early experience was with police K9s, she was always amazed at what the dogs could do. Then as a young firefighter, she got her first assignment with SDF USAR canine team, Eli Thomas and Vader. While training for fires and medical calls, they would also do canine training in the firehouse, and she fell in love with Vader and his fantastic work.
Lauren started attending task force training a few years before applying to be a Canine Search Specialist, so she knew it took a lot of commitment. At that time, she and her wife were trying to start a family and wanted to wait for Lauren to become a CSS until their child was a little bit older. As the old expression goes, “We plan, God laughs.” There is no perfect timing. Now Lauren and her wife have both a new baby and a young search dog in the house at the same time!
Although it’s been challenging, Lauren doesn’t regret her decision to pursue canine handling. Even though her first day of training with Barney was extremely frustrating because she couldn’t get him to listen, she secretly wanted him to be her partner. Fortunately, Barney seemed to agree. He and Lauren continued working together from that day and eventually sealed the deal on their partnership. We are so happy for them both and can’t wait to see all they accomplish as a team!