his month marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and since that fateful day K9 teams have become more important than ever in protecting ourselves, our families, and our country.

To honor our nation’s top police, military, and search-and-rescue dog teams, DOG FANCY maga-zine is proud to salute three outstanding represen-tatives of the wonderful work done every day by our nation’s working dogs:

• One Air Force dog named Lucky is now on his fourth deployment to a battle zone, detecting bombs.

• Hunter, the search dog has risked injury and worse on the dangerous front lines of some of the world’s most terrible disasters, including the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan.

• Police K9 Renzo not only has kept the streets of Shreeveport, LA safe by taking down more than 30 dangerous felons with his partner, Cpl. Dan Sawyer, but he also does narcotic detection.

As Seen In ...

dog magazine September 2011FANCY

We salute these three outstanding dogs and their handlers as well as all of our police, military, and search-and-rescue K9 teams. The men and women who handle these dogs must make extraordinary commitments and sacrifices, as do their families. These emergency responders miss their own impor-tant life events, such as their wedding anniversaries and children’s birthday parties, responding to sud-den disasters in an attempt to save others’ lives.

In the past year I have attended police and mili-tary demonstrations and even been rescued from under rubble. These K9 teams make it all look easy, but honing their joint skills takes endless hours of constant training and the highest levels of police, military, and search-and-rescue skills.

We are indebted to each of you for your tireless dedication and service.

Ernie Slone Editor

Fire Capt. Marc Valentine, left, and his search-and-rescue dog, Val, “rescued” DOG FANCY Editor Ernie

Slone during a training exercise. These everyday heroes from Montebello, Calif., have been responding

to train derailments, building collapses, hurricanes, and mudslides for 10 years.

Saluting hero dogs whoprotect us all

WORKING CANINE

OF THE YEARHEROES

In remembrance of Sept. 11 we salute

three remarkable K9 teams from the military, police, and search-and-rescue

service.

T

Hunter and handler Bill Monahan dug for 19 hours to rescue three girls in Haiti.

SEARCH-AND-RESCUE DOG

When he was 6 months old, Hunter was given to the National Disaster Search Dog Foun-dation in Ojai, Calif., which partners rescued dogs with firefighters and other first respond-ers. His paraplegic owner just could not handle this herding dog’s super-sized energy level. But that kind of drive and can-do attitude was just what Bill Monahan was looking for.

The canine coordinator for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Monahan says disaster searches are Hunter’s specialty, “and they don’t happen every day.” So the two are constantly looking for rubble piles, dumps, demolition sites, quarries, and landfills where they can “bury” understanding coworkers and practice.

But when the urgent call comes, Monahan and Hunter go anywhere in the world.

In 2010, Hunter and the department’s five other search-and-rescue dogs were called to Haiti in the aftermath of its catastrophic earth-quake. On the second day, Hunter searched a collapsed four-story building near the Presi-dential Palace, and alerted to human scent. Monahan and his team dug for 19 hours, finally finding three Haitian girls buried in the rubble. By the time the team left, they had rescued 11 people, four of whom were found by Hunter, who was named the “2010 Firefighter of the Year” by his fire department.

Not every working dog starts life with a career plan. Some, like Hunter, an 8-year-old Border Collie, sort of fall into their calling.

W More recently, Monahan and his red-and-white Border Collie were called to Japan to work some of the areas hardest hit by the earth-quake and resulting tsunami. Searching for six days, they were unable to locate any survivors in the hazardous conditions.

“He’ll tightrope walk across a two-by-four on its edge, climb a mountain, step on nails or glass,” says Monahan in amazement. “He’s been injured a handful of times, but it never once fazed him, never stopped him.”

For Hunter, every find, real or simulated, is a game of human hide-and-seek, with the payoff being the chance to play with his favorite toy, a rubber ball nicknamed “Football Man.”

Does Hunter know the difference between a game and a real rescue? Monahan isn’t sure, but at times like the Haiti rescue, he would love for Hunter to know how much of a difference he has made in the lives of others. “I wish I could tell this guy what we did.”

Denise Flaim is the author of Rescue Ink: How Ten Guys Saved Countless Dogs and Cats, Twelve Horses, Five Pigs, One Duck, and a Few Turtles (Viking, 2009). She lives on Long Island in New York.

DOG HEROES OF SEPTEMBER 11If you enjoy inspiring stories, this 10th anni-

versary edition will bring both tears and smiles, lift your spirits about your fellow man, and most of all deepen your love for dogs.

This re-release of the award-winning first edition commemorates the moving experiences of the 80 rescue and recovery K9 teams in 2001, with a heartfelt foreword from Rudolph Giuliani, who gained international acclaim for his leadership during and after that tragic day.

With 100 new pages and 150 fresh pho-tos, the story is told with new dimension and insights, and for the first time recounts how therapy dogs aided the survivors.

Most important, the new release tells the story of what has happened since. Dogs have become even more vital in protecting our nation and ourselves, safeguarding our soldiers at war, and rescuing disaster victims at home and abroad.

A portion of the proceeds will help further the work of the National Disaster Search Dog Foun-dation (www.ndsdf.org), which endorses the book and is building the nation’s first national training center for search-and-rescue dogs. Available at leading bookstores and online at Amazon.com and www.shopanimalnetwork.com.

(Kennel Club Books)