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On the coldest day of the year, one where the mercury barely reached double digits, Fisher couldn't wait to go out in the cold.
Then again, Fisher, a 120-pound German shepherd,
has a thick winter coat.
His handler, Barrington native Andrew Handfield, wasn't quite as
excited to leave the warm confines of his black Chevy Suburban,
but he didn't seem too bothered by the cold temperatures
and chilling winds.
Mr. Handfield said Fisher recently earned his state certification as
a search and rescue dog, becoming a rare breed of sorts.
According to Mr. Handfield, there are only four or five
search and rescue dog teams certified in the state. The 2-year-old
and his handler are part of Rhode Island Canine Search and Rescue,
a nonprofit team that's controlled by the state's
emergency management agency and the Rhode Island State Police.
"I started working him when he was eight weeks old,"
Mr. Handfield said.
"This [certification] made all the training hours pay off."
Last Thursday afternoon Fisher put on an exhibition of his skills
at Veterans' Park in Barrington. At around 3 p.m., when the
temperature had reached its peak — around 11 degrees Fahrenheit — Fisher and Andrew went to work.
A fellow (human) member of Rhode Island Canine Search
and Rescue disappeared into the woods at the park while
Andrew and Fisher prepared for the drill. Andrew pulled on a
"24-hour pack" that held first aid items and other survival essentials.
Fisher bombed around the parking area, wagging his tail and slobbering over a pair of bystanders. Eventually Andrew's walkie talkie crackled:
his assistant was in place deep in the woods and ready to be rescued.
Andrew pulled an orange vest onto his bouncy dog and held
him still for a few moments. He checked the wind direction and then released Fisher. "OK boy, go find!"
Minutes later and hundreds of yards away, masked by layers of trees,
brush and prickly scrub, the search ended.
"Our state police certification test was on 40 acres out in Glocester,"
Mr. Handfield said. "Thirty-two minutes into it Fisher was at the
side of the person, bouncing around."
More than a hobby
Mr. Handfield grew up in Barrington not far from Veterans' Park,
in the Devonshire neighborhood bordering Brickyard Pond.
His family had a dog, a German shepherd named Sam, who Mr. Handfield remembered as being a bit mischievous.
"He was always running away to be with the other dogs in the neighborhood," he said.
Mr. Handfield, who also owns a second dog named Bella
he's training for search and rescue work, said his decision to get involved with the all-volunteer organization was really a lifestyle choice.
"It's more than just a hobby," he said.
"I have this huge Suburban that can hold only one other passenger because the back of it is filled with the dog crate and everything
we need for this.
"It's a big time dedication, too."
Mr. Handfield, who recently moved to Rumford, said he and
Fisher have not yet been called up for an official search and rescue mission. He said volunteer rescue teams in Rhode Island
respond to calls from either the state's EMA or
Rhode Island State Police when the police dogs are unavailable,
or if the search area requires multiple teams.
(Mr. Handfield did assist on the search for the late Patrick Murphy on the Barrington River in July, but only as a navigational assistant for the local public safety departments; Fisher was not involved.)
"This is something I've always wanted to do," said Mr. Handfield,
a former member of the Barrington Harbor Patrol.
The searches, he said, usually mean tracking down someone
who wasn't prepared to be out in the elements for a long period of time — he added that his team isn't involved in searches for escaped convicts.
Fisher's skills, like those of other search and rescue dogs,
are based on his keen sense of smell. Mr. Handfield said his dog is able to differentiate between the subject of the search and others in the
general area.
"He won't even chase after animals that he comes across,"
Mr. Handfield said. "He's a great dog."
Along with future search and rescue assignments, Mr. Handfield,
and Fisher plan to visit schools across the state to share
important information about wilderness safety.
BY JOSH BICKFORD
jbickford@eastbaynewspapers.com
Courtesy of East Bay Newspapers.
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