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: December 16, 2018
Recruited from: Dogs for Better Lives
Bosco is a littermate of SDF search dogs Bond and Bonus and comes to us from service dog organization Dogs for Better Lives (DBL) in Central Point, Oregon. Similar to his brothers, Bosco did not make the cut as a service dog with DBL due to his high energy level so DBL contacted SDF, and sure enough, Bosco was a great fit for a career in search and rescue! This lovable Labrador loves interacting with people and seems to truly love every new experience, which helped him quickly progress through his training. Bosco originally graduated last year and was paired with a handler but that placement ultimately was not the best fit for him. After a little refresher on his training, he was partnered with Josh Davis of San Francisco Fire, California Task Force 3 on May 12, 2022.
As a child, Josh wanted to be a firefighter but worked as a personal trainer and an emergency department technician before becoming a first responder. After meeting a search dog from Task Force 4 while working as a paramedic, Josh started thinking about becoming a canine handler. He heard about SDF through his task force and applied to become a canine search specialist.
Josh originally worked with Dempsey and was his way to partnering with him when Dempsey suffered some lameness and needed to have surgery. Dempsey came back to SDF for surgical intervention and rehab, and Josh began working with Bosco instead. Josh says that after some adjustment and boundary setting at home and at the firehouse, Bosco began learning to trust him and work with him as a team. They are currently working together to become FEMA certified and Josh looks forward to continuing to work with Bosco to strengthen their bond and their team so they can be ready to deploy when the time comes and help where they can. We’re proud of them both and look forward to celebrating their certification and all the other milestones in their career together!