"Skid." the Search and Rescue puppy

Join in for a full moon dog walk to benefit Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado (SRDOC).

Canine Massage of the Rockies and the Northern Colorado Paw Pages are sponsoring “Bark in the Dark” on Jan. 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. The dog walk will take place under a full moon in Old Town Square, Fort Collins. After the walk, enjoy hot chocolate and ice skating and dance to the beat of the African Drum and Dance Collective.

The Registration fee is $25 and the proceeds benefit the SRDOC. You may register at www.active.com until 10 p.m., Jan. 29.

The following article was provided by SRDOC:

As a kid, Estelle Purvis of Lake Tahoe, Nevada, was sent out by her parents one day to hide for a canine search and rescue dog team from a group called “Wilderness Finders.” That day, Estelle found her life passion … a passion that would lead her to choose Larimer County as a permanent home…not because of a job, family, or any of the typical reasons people find themselves moving. Estelle moved to Larimer County because it was the home of a special organization. She came to Colorado to work with a groundbreaking group known as “Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado (SARDOC).”

Prior to 1980 there were no state recognized K9 search and rescue groups. If a call went out for a wilderness search, anyone could walk up and join the action. Thankfully, Colorado’s state Search and Rescue Board requested that several dog handlers from Larimer County’s Search and Rescue team put together guidelines and testing standards for SAR dogs that would apply to all dog teams throughout the state. The result was SARDOC….. one of the first K9 SAR groups in the nation offering certification for wilderness search dogs. This was the group Estelle sought out and this was where she started her 20-year career as a SAR dog handler.

Estelle and her first German shepherd Heidi arrived in a big way. Heidi was 9 years old when she started training with SARDOC. Most dogs begin training at 1 or 2 years old as it takes anywhere from 2-4 years to certify a dog. Estelle worked 10 hours a week for 2 years to get Heidi certified and Heidi, at 11, became the oldest dog in SARDOC history to become operational. Despite her age, Heidi worked with Estelle on many missions. Estelle’s dream was coming true.

With her second German shepherd Echo, Estelle’s education in SARDOC grew to deeper levels. Estelle traveled to other regions of the state where dog teams were working towards the exact same standards that she was. She not only trained her dog, but learned more intricate search strategies and for the first time became aware of how dog and handler could develop a very unique, special partnership.

“Dogs communicate extensively through their body language,” says Purvis. “Echo had a very systematic way of searching, and the more I learned to read her body language, the more information I got from her about where the missing person was. It takes communication and trust in each other to work well. Echo knew I listened to her and believed in her ability to find people. We knew each other so well. Echo was my dream dog.”

Echo was certified at age two but when she was just 6 years old, Estelle’s heart was broken. Echo was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had to be put down.

“At that point I didn’t think I could continue,” says Estelle “I wondered if search and rescue would still be a part of my life.”

A breeder in Wyoming who specializes in search dogs saved the day! She invited Estelle to drive up and watch her puppies’ temperament tests. Estelle was very uncertain about getting another dog but the innate abilities of the puppies became perfectly clear to her. A special little girl crawled up on Estelle’s lap and then promptly fell asleep. Thunder had arrived!

Like her other dogs, Thunder certified in two years. Thunder is six years old now and is regularly called out when people get into trouble in Larimer County’s many wilderness areas. SARDOC also allows their dogs to field in other counties when called upon, and Estelle and Thunder have even fielded for out of state missions. Twenty years later, Estelle still loves working with her canine partners.

“I know we haven’t reached our full potential,” she says, “I want to always learn how to become a better search team. I love seeing SARDOC get better and get really excited about the new handlers coming up. When you’re able to help someone in trouble, or help families find their loved ones, it makes all those hours of training in the wind, cold, rain, and snow worth it.”

Purvis now is one of the veteran handlers on the SARDOC team and has served as the organization’s President, and Training Director. Younger handlers frequently seek her out with questions or problems they are having in training. She is frequently on testing teams to make sure SARDOC dogs and handlers in the field are up to the required standards. Not surprisingly, she has a clear educational philosophy.

“The effectiveness of dogs as a SAR tool is directly related to the degree of training of the dog and the skill and knowledge of the SAR dog handler.” says Purvis. “If you’ve got a great dog and a handler without search strategy that is carefully crafted based on the weather conditions and land features of your search area, you’ll go nowhere.”

Many organizations across the country have adopted SARDOC’s standards for their teams and Estelle is proud to be a member of the state’s oldest and largest K9 search and rescue team.

Estelle says, “These people are all volunteers. They’ll get up at 2 a.m. when the pager goes off to help wherever needed. They pay for their own gear, transportation costs, lodging, and meals not to mention the 1000 hours or so it takes to get a dog certified. This group and this work have given me a wonderful life!”

For Estelle Purvis, Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado was worth the move!

For more information on SARDOC: www.sardoc.org.

Estelle and Thunder will be one of many dog teams leading the full moon dog in Fort Collins.