Firegeezer » dogs

Vote for Woof !

firegeezer — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:22:06 +0000

WHICH FDNY FIREDOG IS THE CUTEST OF THEM ALL? You have the opportunity to pick your favorite and vote for it. The New York Post is cooperating with the Silver Shield Foundation to select the top three firehouse canines to represent the city on an upcoming calendar that will be sold to benefit the charity. The Silver Shield Foundation covers college tuition and other expenses for the children and families of tri-state-area public-safety officers killed in the line of duty.

The Post is encouraging its online visitors to vote for the pooch that they’d most like to see on the calendar. The three who get the most votes from Post readers online will appear in the calendar with fire and police dogs from upstate, New Jersey and Connecticut, said Joe Debono, head of the nonprofit MBA Corps, which is helping Silver Shield with the project.

Lucy, Bronx Dispatch Center.

The Post goes on to tell us:

The pageant of doggies is as diverse as the city they serve. Yogi and Stewie are sleek Dalmatians, and Frank is a stocky bulldog who hogs the firehouse couch. Lucy is a gentle, golden-haired stray, while Milo and Yayo are a mischievous duo who eat off plates when nobody’s looking.

The pooches do try to earn their keep. Nikita and Lightning know how to stop, drop and roll — and demonstrate it for visiting schoolkids.

The three who get the most votes from Post readers online will appear in the calendar with fire and police dogs from upstate, New Jersey and Connecticut, said Joe Debono, head of the nonprofit MBA Corps, which is helping Silver Shield with the project.

CLICK HERE to go to the page that has the online ballot and links to all the contestants photos.

Alaskan Automatic Alarm Dog

firegeezer — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:07:46 +0000

The following is a press release from the Alaska State Troopers agency:

CASWELL LAKES -– German shepherds were bred for intelligence to protect sheep flocks from predators. They are revered for their loyalty and renowned to be sensitive to people’s emotions. While a collie named Lassie may be best known as a dog hero for the saying “Lassie, go get help,” Buddy carried on the tradition set by German shepherds Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin when he went to get help after his owners’ Caswell Lakes property caught on fire on April 4, 2010.

Like usual, Buddy was beside his human companion, Ben Heinrichs, who was working in the family’s shop. A heater ignited chemicals the 23-year-old was working with, giving Ben flash burns to his face. The flames quickly grew as Ben escaped the shop. However, Buddy was briefly entrapped inside the burning shed when Ben shut the shop door behind him to keep the flames from spreading. After extinguishing the flames on his body, Ben immediately realized his dog was still inside the shed and went back in to let Buddy out. After Buddy exited the shed, Ben said to him, “Buddy, we need to get help.”

Buddy headed for the woods, but not to hide as his owners expected the shy dog to do. Instead he ran to Caswell Loop Road where he eventually found help.

Alaska State Trooper Terrence Shanigan was struggling with finding the fire in the Caswell Lakes area outside Willow, which has approximately 75 miles of back roads.

He had just received a frantic phone message calling for help left by neighbors of the Heinrichs who are members of the local neighborhood watch program.

Shanigan’s global positioning device froze up on him, and dispatch was trying to pinpoint the address among the maze of neighborhood back roads. He was planning on taking a turn that would send him the long way around the neighborhood when Buddy appeared as a shadow at the edge of Shanigan’s moose lights on his patrol vehicle.

When Shanigan approached the intersection, the dog looked at him, and took off running down a side road. Shanigan acted on a hunch that the loose dog was there for a purpose and followed the running dog through three turns that eventually led the Heinrichs’ property.

This image from Trooper Shanigan’s dash cam
shows Buddy leading him through the maze of
forest roads to the house on fire.

Every once in a while during the run back to his home, Buddy looked back at Shanigan’s car as if to make sure the trooper was following. By the time Shanigan reached the property, the work shop was fully engulfed in flames that also lapped precariously close to the Heinrichs’ house.

Shanigan said Buddy stopped at the end of the driveway and turned around to wait for him. When Shanigan got out of his parked car, the dog ran around the patrol vehicle and approached him, jumped up and down and nudged him as he walked up the driveway to the burning building. Afterward, Buddy disappeared, presumably into the woods.

Shanigan was then able to verbally guide fire engines from local volunteer fire departments to the Heinrichs’ home. The work shop was destroyed, and a nearby wood shed was badly burned. However, the Heinrichs’ home escaped the flames. Only the trim around the kitchen window was damaged by the fire.

“Buddy’s valiant actions saved Trooper Shanigan valuable time in responding to the fire,” said AST Director Col. Audie Holloway. “Buddy’s pluckiness is a bright spot among an otherwise tragic event for the Heinrichs family.”

Because of this, Buddy will be presented an award at 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 23 at the Alaska State Troopers Headquarters building at 5700 E. Tudor Road in Anchorage. Buddy and his owners, Lynnette and Thomas Heinrich and their son, Ben, will be given the award with much appreciation from Alaska State Troopers. AST Director Col. Audie Holloway and Trooper Terrence Shanigan, who works out of the Talkeetna post, will be present as well.

This is the complete dash cam video that was released by the Alaska Troopers:

Fire Dog Gets New Duties

firegeezer — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:15:47 +0000

IN THESE DAYS OF INCREASED LABOR EFFICIENCIES, job descriptions are being enhanced to include new and additional jobs for everybody in the F&R departments. And now it has even come down to giving the fire dog some extra responsibilities.

In Springfield, Massachusetts, a citizen has donated an 8-month-old dalmation puppy to the fire department and the pup has already begun rookie training as a fire prevention specialist. Tiller (his new name) has been living at the home of Capt. Michael Richard, the SFD’s public education officer, for the past 3 weeks now and is undergoing training to be used by the department for work with schoolchildren and other public education presentations.

WWLP-TV Ch. 22 has this video report from Tuesday’s public introduction of Tiller to the community:

Nice Doggie….Down, Boy!

firegeezer — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:15:36 +0000

A CASSELTON, NORTH DAKOTA, FARM FAMILY has what may be the world’s tallest and longest dog. They’ll find out after they hear back from the Guinness Book of Records people later.

“Boomer” is a 3-yr.-old Landseer Newfoundland canine that stands 3 ft. at the shoulder and is 7 ft. long. The 180-lb. pup startles drivers when he makes eye contact with them while standing next to their car.

The Associated Press filed this video report on Boomer:

Halligan Returns

firegeezer — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:08:50 +0000

EASTERN DERRY VFD (PENNSYLVANIA) FIRE CHIEF Derrick Bollinger and a few of his FF’s were dispatched Friday to rescue a couple of dogs that had become stranded on a cliffside. After one of the firefighters rappelled 20 ft. down to get them, and then brought them back to safety, they took the dogs to the local animal shelter for treatment and security.

While they were there, the director told Bollinger she had a dalmatian that would be an ideal mascot for the fire company. When he took a look, it was only a moment before he realized the dog was orginally his own pet that he had to give away five years ago when he moved to a new house. You know the rest of the story.

“Halligan” the dalmation is back home again.

The Night We Got The Dog Drunk

fossilmedic — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:55:22 +0000

A LASTING MEMORY FROM THE APOLLO 11 LANDING WAS WATCHING OUR DOG RECOVER FROM A CHAMPAGNE HANGOVER ON MONDAY JULY 21st.

My parents hosted a neighborhood moon landing party. TVs were playing in four different rooms and the house was jammed with their friends and neighbors. There was a huge buffet and a lot of champagne.

Neil Armstrong did not step on the moon until 10:56 PM (east coast time), four hours after the lunar module landed. The party went into high gear and continued for a couple of hours.

My brother and I were working the party as indentured teenagers. As the relief of a successful walk on the moon filled the home, we decided to share the joy (and the champagne) with our dog, Brutus. He loved parties and enthusiastically lapped up the bubbly.

I am sure many people were late to work that Monday morning. We were tasked with cleaning up the house and the dog’s vomit.

Paley Center for Media Apollo 11: 40 years later … My how the technology has changed!

Apollo 11 moon landing As It Happened with Walter Chronkite/CBS (youtube 9:45 minutes)

NASA Apollo 11 mission page

Another Task For Fire Dog

firegeezer — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:35:39 +0000

FD’s ARE ALWAYS USING DOGS TO ASSIST. Originally the dalmations were used to protect the horses and watch the stations. Today we use dogs to sniff out accelerants and track down arsonists.

But in Nigeria, a new need has arisen. Who else but a dog is best suited to sniff out a human being disguised as a goat? Police needed one last month when an armed robber attempted to elude capture by transormation.

The Week reports:

Police in Nigeria are holding a goat on suspicion of armed robbery. A group of citizens were on an anti-crime patrol in the capital city of Lagos when they found a pair of armed “hoodlums” trying to steal a Mazda 323. The vigilantes say they chased the men, but one escaped and the other used black magic to turn himself into a goat.

“We cannot confirm the story,” said a police spokesman, adding that the goat will be held, but not prosecuted, until “it can be proved scientifically that a human being turned into a goat.”

Reuters has the full STORY HERE.

Just imagine, if your fire marshal had a dog that could detect magic goats and tigers, he could patrol the bystanders at your next 4-banger and maybe even nab the magical evil-doer.

Firegeezer adds: Don’t be too hasty in questioning their scientific skills over there. Remember that these are the people who have successfully convinced thousands of Americans to contribute millions of dollars to help out their deposed royal family, including most recently a generous $2.5 million disbursement from the Utah State Treasury (HERE).

A Different Kind Of Arson Dog

firegeezer — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:55:58 +0000

WHEN YOU HERE THE TERM “ARSON DOG” you usually think of those sleek Laborador retrievers who sniff around the fire scene trying to detect an accelerant or other suspicious chemical. But the Alabama Forestry Commission is training a bloodhound who will be sniffing out the arsonist himself.

Hello, Blaze
(Tuscaloosa News / Lopez photo)

Blaze is a 6-month-old puppy who just started training in December and has another eight months to go before he begins assisting investigators in tracking down fire-setters. Over the past three years approx. 42% of all Alabama wildfires have been arsons, and they are hoping that not only will Blaze help in making more arrests, but that he will also act as a deterrent if the bad guys know that they can be tracked.

Brett Bralley writing for the Tuscaloosa News reports:

Once investigators determine the point of origin of a fire, they will bring Blaze to the site. Blaze will pick up a scent from a piece of physical evidence, such as a footprint, a tire track, clothing or a piece of trash.

The scent might be days old and covered over with several other scents, but Blaze should be able to track the scent for a few miles. Already, he can already track scents for about 500 yards while still in training.

Lamkin said even if an arsonist is driving on a highway, as long as a window is open or his scent is released through a vent in the car, Blaze should be able to pick up the scent.

“What he can trail off of is dead skin cells,” Lamkin said.

The funding for the purchase of the bloodhound and its training, food and care came from donations made by several volunteer fire organizations, a peace officers association and a Creek Indian tribe.

Read the full story of this up-and-coming crime fighter HERE.

Hat tip to Chief G. W.

Loyal Pet Follows Ambulance

firegeezer — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:09:30 +0000

IT WAS ON NEW YEAR’S EVE that the little tan puppy showed up at the ER entrance to Beverly Hospital in Montebello, California. She was first noticed as she was circling around a parked ambulance in the loading dock.

The next day the hospital staff would watch the cute little pooch peek into the doors as people would come and go, as if she was watching for someone that she just knew was in there.

San Gabriel Valley News

It didn’t take long for them to guess that the dog had probably followed an ambulance that was perhaps carrying her owner to the emergency department. But they couldn’t find out who she belonged to, despite making inquiries through the hospital and checking with everybody who had arrived by ambulance during that approx. time frame.

During “down times” she would sleep on the seat of the golf cart that the security guards use to patrol the parking lot and sometimes she would even ride along or follow behind while they did their rounds.

SGVN

Nicknamed “Beverly” by the staff, she was fed and watered by the hospital workers who adopted her temporarily. After a week of futile searching for the actual owner, Beverly’s time was up as a hospital mascot. One of the employees took her home with the hope that she’d be just as loyal to her new owners as she was to the previous one.

The Whittier Daily News has the complete STORY (well worth reading).

It's Not A Sheep Dog

firegeezer — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:41:43 +0000

IT’S A SHEEP GUARD DOG. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE, it turns out.

[photopress:dog_a_fls.jpg,full,centered]
Free Lance-Star photo

A sheep farmer in Culpeper County, Virginia, is handling the problem of predators such as coyotes by bringing in an Italian dog breed that is largely unknown in America. After consultation with a guard dog authority, the Campbell family has placed two Maremma’s on their 1,000-acre farm.

This unusual breed does not herd sheep, such as a border collie does, but it guards and protects the herd. The dogs actually live with the sheep, wandering with them in the pastures and staying with them day and night.

Firegeezer finds this to be a very interesting story about an unusual animal and I thought you would enjoy reading this REPORT.