As a puppy, Chester was abandoned and left to wander neighborhood streets alone.

As a certified search dog, he’ll find survivors in disasters to make sure no one in your neighborhood is left behind.

Chester was found running in the street and taken to the shelter where staff recognized his unusually high toy drive and contacted SDF. At our National Training Center, this sharp, fun-loving Malinois established himself as a staff favorite with his eagerness to learn and outgoing personality. Chester’s intelligence, diligence, and methodical search style earned him a place among our elite search dog graduates and he was paired with his handler, a San Diego-based firefighter, in May 2022.

Ridge was adopted from the shelter twice and returned each time for having “way too much energy.”

As part of a task force, his exuberance will fuel his stamina to keep searching until everyone is found.

Constantly in motion, playing nonstop with his toys, and an accomplished escape artist, Ridge was too much dog for the casual adopter. But what disqualified him from life in a typical family home turned out to be assets for a career in search and rescue. From day one, Ridge astonished his trainers with his quick mastery of skills and is flying through our training program in record time. If ever a dog was born to search, it’s Ridge!

Dempsey was taken to the shelter as a stray and never claimed by his family.

With his exceptional skills shaped by careful training, he can reunite families with their missing loved ones.

Found wandering as a stray in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Dempsey’s high energy, tennis ball obsession, and bold physicality made him an obvious search dog candidate. This massive yet nimble Lab quickly adapted to the rubble pile and progressed through the rest of his training with ease. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury that sidelined him just as he was about to graduate from our program, but under the expert care of doctors and staff, Dempsey has healed spectacularly. With his rehabilitation almost complete, we expect him to be paired with a handler very soon and go on to the next phase of his career.

Chester, Ridge, and Dempsey are just some of many underdogs whose stories changed, thanks to our shared mission.

Your donation to SDF ensures that more dogs like them can reach their full potential as search dogs trained to save human lives.

From shelter dogs to search dogs, help us write the next underdog story.

UNDERDOGS OVERCOME.