Team Info
Task Force: California Task Force 8 (CA-TF8)
Agency: San Diego Fire-Rescue
Level: FEMA Certified
Search Dog Info
Breed: Cattle dog mix
Sex: Male
Born: August 1, 2017
Recruited from the Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department
Originally named Baxter, Cory was surrendered by his former family to the Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department when he was about a year old because he played too rough and had an abundance of energy. The shelter deemed him too intense for a quick adoption, so shelter staff continued to work with this rambunctious Cattle Dog mix to teach him tricks and work with him to become a better pet for his future family. The shelter’s behavior manager saw working dog potential in him and contacted SDF directly to see if this high-energy pup would be a good candidate for SDF.
After some time at our campus spent working on manners and socialization, Cory was accepted into our program. He spent nine months training, always enthusiastic, with a unique toothy smile that shows off all his teeth—he can be very expressive! Cory made great strides in his search, progressing very well throughout the duration of his training on finding “victims,” Agility, and Direction and Control. His passion for searching and the toy is incredible as he truly enjoys the job and can’t wait to get on the rubble to find the hidden person.
Since SDF already had a search dog named Baxter, this soon-to-be-graduate needed a new name befitting a future hero. Without hesitation, our staff agreed that Cory would be a fitting tribute to Cal Fire engineer, Cory Iverson, who died on duty while fighting the Thomas Fire in 2017. Our staff felt especially connected to him as the Thomas Fire devastated large parts of our campus the night of December 4, 2017, just days before Cory Iverson’s death.
Meanwhile, after working in many areas—including working on his family’s cattle farm, opening several businesses, and working as a pharmaceutical scientist—Firefighter Chad Arberg was hired with San Diego Fire-Rescue. With four years under his belt as a first responder, Chad was persistent in applying to be a canine handler, working as a “victim” with California Task Force 8 (CA-TF8) before being officially accepted onto their canine team.
Once Chad was on track to get a search dog, he started coming up to Santa Paula to train with SDF at our National Training Center. Cory challenged Chad, as any search dog would, but Chad says he knew they would be a great team the moment Cory leapt through the air to get the ball from Chad. After working together for two weeks during SDF’s handler training program, Cory and Chad were partnered, almost two years to the day of Cory Iverson’s passing.
The team continued to work closely, strengthening their bond and skills, and achieved FEMA certification on June 18, 2022. They are now eligible to deploy on federal missions with their teammates on CA-TF8 as the need arises.
When Hurricane Helene struck the Gulf Coast and made her way inland as a Category 4 storm on September 26, 2024, Chad and Cory deployed with CA-TF8 the following day to assist communities devastated by flooding.