Hello friends-
I’ve been out of the office for a few days in St. Louis working with NAPWDA and their amazing group of K9 work dogs…there were bomb, accelerant, cadaver, search/rescue and other types of dogs. Melanie (my webmaster) and I volunteered to be decoys at the “area search” station and with the help of Master Trainer Mike Perkins, we landed the job of “decoys”.
This meant that we needed to “hide” in the woods, while each handler took their respective dog through the paces and sent them off looking for us. Since these dogs are also protection dogs (and are used in law enforcement to find suspects), we either needed to put on a bite suit or crawl up a ladder into a tree stand quietly and wait for the dog to find us. Once they did – it was “game on” as the dogs would bark and intimidate while we waited for the handlers to come secure and reward them. Remember, this is training and these men and women need to keep their animals in top shape!
So, this cute pup was my first “lesson” for the day. You’ll notice that I took this picture from about 12 feet up in the air, and had I been any closer to the ground he might have ripped my boots off. It almost looks a little like he’s smiling, but make no mistake- he was all business and could smell my fear.
I like taking a little time out of my busy life to give back to the law enforcement and other agency groups when I can because they actually do lead thankless careers- it’s obvious that their dedication and devotion to protect us civilians just comes from within…so thank you to all of you that provide safety and security to the rest of us that don’t realize it enough. You’re our heroes.
Lastly – it was a fun day and I didn’t get bitten by any K9 dogs- only mosquitoes. They we out to get me!
Have a great afternoon and I’ll be back with some awesome Mission Survivor news soon.
Best, Ryan
