DOGGED DETERMINATION

COEUR d’ALENE — Dogs are miracles with paws.

That’s what the humans behind Idaho Disaster Dogs believe.

Founded by Captain Jeff Sells in 2005, the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department’s canine search team turns 15 this year.

Six Labrador retrievers make up the team: Duke, Murphy, Scout, Bear, Lady and Tamarack. Any high-drive dog can do this kind of work, Sells said, but the team has had particular success with Labs.

“They want to learn,” said handler Scott Robinson. “They want to be active and have a job.”

Idaho Disaster Dogs have been called to help with rescue efforts after the 2014 mudslide in Oso, Wash., and to Hawaii after Hurricane Lane in 2018.

Closer to home, the dogs helped search for victims after last month’s avalanche at Silver Mountain Ski Resort.

“We’re glad we were able to help,” Sells said.

Four of the dogs are trained to search for live victims. Two are trained to sniff out human remains.

It’s not like in the movies, said handler Scott Dietrich, where search and rescue dogs follow a scent with their noses pressed to the ground. Rather, the dogs sniff the air, zeroing in on the scent they’ve been trained to find — human breath, in the case of live-victim dogs.

“It’s pretty treacherous,” Dietrich said.

The dogs are trained to navigate collapsed buildings and disaster zones. Even physically fit dogs often struggle to clamber over the concrete rubble piles the disaster dogs use for training.

Trained dogs can run a 15,000-square-foot pile of rubble in minutes, said handler and firefighter/paramedic Cody Moore. They give rescuers a localized area to search.

“They can usually find all the victims,” Moore said.

Dietrich has been with the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department for 11 years but joined the disaster dog team about a month ago. His canine companion is a bouncy 3-month-old yellow Lab named Tamarack.

Tamarack is trained to be a recovery dog — his job will be to find human remains.

“I have as much to learn as he does,” Dietrich said.

The pair have Sells and his 15 years of experience to help guide them. During a training session, Sells talked Dietrich through some of the finer points of Tamarack’s training.

“Jeff [Sells] put in so much work to learn this and find the info,” Moore said.

One of the most important parts of training, Sells noted, is consistent rewards for correct behavior. Rewards come in various forms: treats, play time with favorite toys, praise.

Because dogs and their handlers are often physically separated during a search, handlers need a way to reward the dogs from a distance. One way is with a single word: “yes.” It’s built into the dogs’ training as a secondary reward.

As part of his training, Tamarack will eventually be exposed to human remains. When he becomes interested in the scent and investigates, he’ll hear the word “yes,” and begin to associate the scent with his reward, motivating him to seek it out.

Similarly, handlers make a game of finding victims. As far as the dogs are concerned, they’re playing an elaborate game of hide and seek.

“I can’t play hide and seek at home with my daughter, because Murphy is too good at it,” Moore said. His dog, 5-year-old Murphy, is FEMA-certified. “She doesn’t know how to play — she just follows him.”

The dogs only get to play with their favorite toys — chew toys made out of durable fire-hose material — during search training, after they locate volunteer victims hidden inside barrels and behind barrels. The victims then play with them.

This builds “victim loyalty,” motivating the dogs to remain beside victims they find during real searches.

Handler Scott Robinson is working on this skill with his dog, Duke, who happens to be Murphy’s brother from the same litter.

“He’s so connected to me that I have a hard time keeping him motivated to stay with the victim,” Robinson said.

The goal is to make handlers seem less appealing than victims during a search.

“We’re the unfun person who takes them away from the most fun thing ever,” Robinson said.

Disaster dogs typically work for 10-12 years before they retire. Handlers work closely with their vets to determine the right time for a dog to retire.

“They’ll keep working as long as you let them,” Sells said. “We’re responsible for the safety of our dogs.”

His dog, Otis, retired last September.

“He’s still one of the best search dogs on the team,” Moore said. “But ethically, we want to let old dogs enjoy life.”

What’s retirement like for a disaster dog? Relaxing in front of the fireplace and romping with their human family. Handlers typically keep their canine partner as a pet after the dog retires.

“The dog finally gets to be like any other dog,” Moore said.

Though the dogs are often seen as the face of the program, Sells noted that the dogs are only one part of a greater whole.

“We’re part of the team at Coeur d’Alene Fire,” Sells said. “It takes all the different parts of the technical rescue team to make it work.”

Over the course of 15 years, Sells has helped Idaho Disaster Dogs grow from a fledgling team to an established program.

“I’m tremendously proud of the folks we have on the team now,” he said.