On Jan. 2 Blackhawk passed away. We had officially retired him in 2001 from SAR work. No one who met him could ever forget his bright intense look, his excitment about searching. Those in the SAR community will probably never forget his pink squeaky piggie. He loved dog biscuits. He lead the others in the biscuit bigrade every evening about 8 pm. He would sit in front of me and bark - demanding my attention - then rush to where we had the biscuits stashed (and it didn't matter how often we moved the location, he knew). He loved his evening treat. He led the guys in the demands for morning biscuits also - insisting that my wife hand over the treats on her way to work. He woke me at 4 am for breakfast on days my wife was on travel. There are so many happy memories. He was my best friend, a wise search partner I could always depend on and a loving companion. He was my wife's best buddy who was never happy when there were workman at the house except when he was right there with her. When he wasn't searching, his job was her protector. He is loved and will always be missed.



Blackhawk loved the woods, anytime of the year

2001 was a landmark year for myself and my partners. We officially retired Blackhawk from all SAR work. He was having serious problems related to his hips. He never lost his spirit or his willingness. Cherokee moved up in his training to advanced. I am training him for trailing and urban search work. I accomplished a great deal in 2001. I passed both my SARTECH III and SARTECH II tests. Cherokee, Nicki and I have joined two units: Down East Search and Rescue and North Carolina Canine Emergency Response Team (NCCERT) NCCERT is associated with NC Task Force I, a NCEMTF-4 team. Both units are based in North Carolina. While this may seem strange to some since I live in southern Maryland the logistics are something we talked about before I joined. I am proud to be a member of these units. In the future months I will post pictures of training and links to these units. We have also added to the family. Nighthawk is our new puppy - 6 months old in May. He will 'SOON' be included in the photos on the website. I've put one in just to show him off a little. He is a 'disaster dog' - loves to pull things apart and climb on things. I had forgotten what life was like with a puppy in the family. Nighthawk and I at obedience class working the obstacles				Johnnie DeGiorgi and the Team
There has been much controversy over the years about which breed is best - I firmly believe almost any breed of dog can be used. Physical endurance, temperment and individual skills are more important than being a particular breed. I have German Shepherds because I love German Shepherds. Just to give you a idea of why search dogs are an important tool, here are two rules of thumb which are often quoted by those associated with search dogs. A dog team (one dog and one handler) can cover about 160 acres of normal terrain in 4 to 6 hours. By normal terrain I mean something which is reasonable - not extremely mountainous, heavy swamp or extreme dense ground cover. These type of terrain and ground cover features can significantly slow any search team. A dog team is often considered to be able to take the place of 100 ground searchers doing a grid search.

A search dog handler needs an understanding of search theory and strategies, an understanding of how scent behaves, of land navigation and the ability to communicate. A search dog handler needs to know how lost people behave. The handler must be able to work with a wide variety of people. Often we are assigned an escort who may not have any knowledge of how the dog works or even how to search. Last but not least the handler must have a good understanding of how air scenting search dogs work and an intimate knowledge of how his/her dog works. I'm the least important half of the team. It's my job to get us to the search, get our assignment and do the land navigation which keeps us in the area assigned to us. I'm in charge of keeping in communication with the rest of the search team. I must be able to handle radio communications while I'm out in the field and I must be able to explain how my dog worked during our search. I also must be able to interpret what my dog is telling me during the search. I'm an independent dog handler. As an independent I approach the agencies typically in charge of searches, usually the local fire and police departments, and let them know of my existence, abilities and availability. Often when there is a search I contact the agency in charge directly. I do not go to a search unless I have been invited by the agency in charge. My philosophy as an independent is: I am a skilled technician. I have made my availability known to the proper authorities. If I am not invited, or if I am ignored by those in charge of the dog teams once I arrive at the scene after being invited by the agency in charge, I have done my best. It is up to those in charge to live with whether my presence and my dogs ability could have made a difference in the outcome of the search.

Blackhawk was my first SAR dog and will always be special. He and I started learning about searching together in 1991. He was about 6 months old when we started. He has been evaluated twice while we were members of American Rescue Dog Association affiliated groups. He was evaluated by two ARDA groups (RAMAPO, the New Jersey ARDA team and the Colorado ARDA team) in two different years. He passed both evaluations with flying colors. He has been trained for both rural/wilderness and urban searches. He is good. He lives to work.		Blackhawk working a rubble pile
Nicki during his favorite time of year	Nicki (short for Nighthawk) is my second SAR German Shepherd. He is a full blood brother to Blackhawk but is a year younger. He is as different from Blackhawk as night is to day. He is all play. He is currently trained for rural/wilderness searching.
Cherokee has grown! He's on the right in this picture. At 7 months he can hold his own at tug of war with Nicki. Seawolf is the referee.	Cherokee is the baby of our family (The DeGiorgi family consists of 4 dogs, 4 cats and 2 horses, and - oh yes, my wife, Virginia.) He is not related to my other two Shepherds. He was bred by friends from the local 4H horse club. He was born in August 1997. He will be Blackhawk's replacement as my primary partner (Shhh... we haven't told Blackhawk yet.)
I plan on training Cherokee for wilderness searches. I plan on training him to track. This will be new for me. It should take me between a year and two years to complete his training. I'll update his progress on this page. So far we've only done the basics and are working on obedience and obstacle work.		Cherokee at about 3 months and Blackhawk

If you would like to find out more about canine search and rescue and related topics, here are some books that you might enjoy. These are a few of my personal favorites. There are many books on the subject.

	So That Others May Live by Hank Whittemore and Caroline Hebard Bantam Books, 1996 ISBN: 0-553-57483-3
	Ready! The Training of the Search and Rescue Dog by Susan Bulanda Doral Publishing Co., Portland Oregon, 1994 ISBN: 0-944875-41-6
	Search and Rescue Dogs Training Methods by American Rescue Dog Association Howell Book House, New York, 1991 ISBN: 0-87605-733-4
	Staying Found, The Complete Map and Compass Handbook by June Fleming The Mountaineers, Seattle, WA, 1994 ISBN: 0-89886-397-X

We live in the country about 40 miles south of Washington DC. We have a very long driveway. The guys love to walk up to the mailbox at the end of the drive to see if we have mail via the post office - so they would like a letter or card now and then. Let us hear from you:

Johnnie DeGiorgi
10280 Adams Willett Road
Nanjemoy, MD 20662
or
email: k9sar@bellatlantic.net

A note from the guys:
This page was made possible by the help of The Renaissance Faire Junkie. Without this help I'm sure my mistress would still be trying to get everything together. So a special SAR dog thank you so very much from all of us to Lady Elizabeth

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Images and text © 1997-2002 by V.G. and J. DeGiorgi Page design by Liz Gensheimer. Last updated 12 June 2002.

K9 Search and Rescue