Beckerhead pets

I know this a late late late response but that is a beautiful knife.
daizee said:
My human won't sit still long enough to have his picture taken.

-Daizee

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benny the chinchilla
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gooser He's in love with my wife
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keke
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mimoo
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guinea whom my wife hates
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king of the fish
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K9-Handler said:
The avatar above is my current Search and Rescue dog, Scout (5). He's certified in Wilderness and Cadaver.

Also in the family is my retired partner, Phantom (15), who went with me to Ground Zero two days after the planes hit, and to coastal Mississippi doing recoveries two weeks after Katrina. He's now totally deaf, and mostly blind, but still gets around.

Ten days ago we had to put down my wife's dog, Merlyn (14), who was a registered Therapy Dog who brought joy to hundreds of patients of nursing homes and group homes. His mind was strong but his hips gave out. RIP. :angel:

All would go to work with me every day. All Border Collies.

All our dogs must be Beckers, 'cause they all work for a living! :D
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I'm sorry about your dog. I had to put down my dane a few years back and it is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Props for your working dogs.
How did you go about training them?
 
dallastxco said:
Props for your working dogs. How did you go about training them?
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You make it a game for them. Someone holds the puppy and the owner makes an absolute giddy fool of themselves, runs away and "hides" behind a nearby tree. Of course the puppy is interested and on command is released to go "find" the owner. When they do they get treated, either with food or play. After many repetitions the people switch, and now the owner (handler) sends the dog out to find the other person. After a lot of repetitions, suddenly the dog doesn't get treats from the "lost" person, and thinks "WTF??", so he goes back to the handler who rewards him. Game changed! Obviously the "hiding" gets tougher and tougher, and farther and farther. The goal is to have a dog get released and work off-lead -- in Scout's case out of sight -- and they search the woods around you as you grid your sector. If conditions are right it would not be uncommon for the dog to pick up the scent of a human past 150 yards out. He follows the scent in to the subject and verifies it's real, then runs back to the handler and alerts (bark, jump, whatever works), the handler shouts "Show me!" and the dog takes the handler back to the subject. A handler's first dog takes about two years of this training to get to a point where he's a certified wilderness search dog. Experts have said that at a minimum a dog/handler team is more effective than 40 human searchers gridding the same woods.
Cadaver work is more similar to what a drug dog would do. They work close in a smaller area. Training involves building up their "inventory" of scents and making sure they don't false alert. At a training a couple of years ago, Scout alerted on a file cabinet in an office we were searching. The instructor told me he was right so I rewarded Scout, then asked what the scent source was. She said it was a piece of a human bone over 1000 years old! They differentiate human remains and animal remains, and will even alert on cremated human remains and ignore cremated animal remains. They live in a very fascinating world. I've been doing this stuff for 16 years and I'm still blown away by what they can do.
 
Rosie. Fanatic for hikes, trail runs, camping, and squirrels.


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K9-Handler said:
You make it a game for them. Someone holds the puppy and the owner makes an absolute giddy fool of themselves, runs away and "hides" behind a nearby tree. Of course the puppy is interested and on command is released to go "find" the owner. When they do they get treated, either with food or play. After many repetitions the people switch, and now the owner (handler) sends the dog out to find the other person. After a lot of repetitions, suddenly the dog doesn't get treats from the "lost" person, and thinks "WTF??", so he goes back to the handler who rewards him. Game changed! Obviously the "hiding" gets tougher and tougher, and farther and farther. The goal is to have a dog get released and work off-lead -- in Scout's case out of sight -- and they search the woods around you as you grid your sector. If conditions are right it would not be uncommon for the dog to pick up the scent of a human past 150 yards out. He follows the scent in to the subject and verifies it's real, then runs back to the handler and alerts (bark, jump, whatever works), the handler shouts "Show me!" and the dog takes the handler back to the subject. A handler's first dog takes about two years of this training to get to a point where he's a certified wilderness search dog. Experts have said that at a minimum a dog/handler team is more effective than 40 human searchers gridding the same woods.
Cadaver work is more similar to what a drug dog would do. They work close in a smaller area. Training involves building up their "inventory" of scents and making sure they don't false alert. At a training a couple of years ago, Scout alerted on a file cabinet in an office we were searching. The instructor told me he was right so I rewarded Scout, then asked what the scent source was. She said it was a piece of a human bone over 1000 years old! They differentiate human remains and animal remains, and will even alert on cremated human remains and ignore cremated animal remains. They live in a very fascinating world. I've been doing this stuff for 16 years and I'm still blown away by what they can do.
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Wow, that's incredible.
 
This is Ahmi and he is my most loyal trail companion. Sturdy, agile, and protective. He. Is. Awesome. That is all.
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And this is Dexter (RIP). We had to do the "deed" just after the first of the year. For 11 years, he was the best buddy a goofball like me could ask for. I still miss the little guy!
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not sure what it takes to be a Beckerhead... ive had a BK2 for 8 years now, but heres my dogs. hunters, family pets, and ADBA showdogs

Riot n Ladybug



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Well this sure was a crappy weekend :thumbdn:

Our ferret Chili (see post #10) got spayed 10 days ago. The vet says she bled alot, which was unusual. She lost alot of blod...her nose and paws were all white as opposed to the usual pink. The first 2 days after the operation she was doing well, then it started going downhill. She got more and more lethargic. The vet says that i might take a month for her to regenerate all the blood she lost. But 2 days ago she stopped eating and became even more lethargic.

This picture was taken 2 days after the operation. She was doing reasonably well here.

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Yesterday she got so weak she couldnt walk more than a yard, then she would have to lie down and rest. I took her to the vet yesterday night. Turns out she had fever caused by an infection, so she gets a shot of antibiotics and pain reliever. The vet suspected internal bleeding too with her being a bleeder, but he couldnt feel anything abnormal. He assures me, that it isnt critical. I believe him even though she looks extremely weak.

3 hours later my stepson wakes me up and says "Chili is wimpering". I get up and i immediately see that shes not doing too good. Shes lying lifeless in her bed in the closet wimpering, and her tail is all bushy. Her breathing is very rapid too. I immediately call the vet and tell him she needs to be put down asap. I cant stand to see animals suffer. I hang up and grab my jacket and keys, but its too late and she dies before i can pick her up. :(

We had since she was a pup and had grown real attached to her. My girlfriend is heartbroken because she wasnt home when all this happened.

Its crazy, i often see dead people on the job, but that dosent affect me one bit. But when Chili died, i shed some tears.

Pets are great, but it sucks when they die :( Ill miss the little critter.

This was taken at the vet 3 hours before she died.

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thats sad....im sorry for your loss. losing pets flat out sucks. RIP little Chili
 
Here's my German Shepard Lucy. She's 4 but still acts like a pup. She's super smart, but very, very, playful.

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