Team Info
Task Force: California Task Force 7 (CA-TF7)
Agency: Sacramento County Airport Fire
Level: FEMA Certified
Search Dog Info
Breed: Black Lab
Sex: Male
Born: August 27, 2013
Recruited from the Nebraska Humane Society
Recruited by the South Dakota Canine Center
Sponsor: Marith Levers
Named by Jeff Cohen
Jessie was brought into the Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha after he was found wandering the streets as a stray. When no one came to claim him, he was put up for adoption. Upon observing Jessie for several days, the shelter staff made many notes about his fun energy and love of a game of fetch, and because of that, felt that Jessie had potential skills for search and rescue. SDF Founder Wilma Melville and Tim Matthews of the South Dakota Canine Center happened to be in the region looking for possible canine candidates, and as soon as they walked in the door, staff presented Jessie and they adopted him on the spot!
Tim took the search dog hopeful back to South Dakota to be further evaluated. A few days later Tim’s wife, Kellee, told SDF, “Jessie is a young dog with some filling out to do physically and some coordination to gain – (but) he never wavered in his drive. That is in place and everything else will have to catch up!! Sweet, innocent and honest boy!”
Following his arrival at the National Training Center in August 2014, trainer Emily Fisk called Jessie a “wild man” and noted that, “He is goofy and loveable but has insane drive for the toy. He searches very fast and very desperately for the toy. He is quick and willing and will be very easy to train.”
Jessie was renamed “Jake,” in honor of longtime SDF supporter Jeff Cohen’s yellow Lab. Over the years, Jeff has sponsored several search dogs: Splash in Florida, Jagger in Oklahoma, and Sarge in California.
Jake graduated in February 2015 and was partnered with Eric Lieuwen of California Task Force 7 (CA-TF7) in Sacramento County. The team trained daily and in September 2015, achieved FEMA Certification, which allows them to deploy the next time a disaster occurs in the nation.
On January 9, 2018, Jake and Eric deployed to Montecito, CA, where a deadly mudslide had devastated the beachside town. For just over a week, Jake, Eric and 17 other SDF-trained Search Teams slogged through the mud and debris searching for survivors. Though it was a challenging deployment, handlers and search dogs alike learned much from the experience and felt well-prepared, thanks to their training.