Retrievers For Firefighters in Search and Rescue 

Field Trial Washout =

Substantial Tax Deduction for Client + Productive Life for Dog as Working Search Dog + Family Dog

 A field trial washout can be donated as a charitable contribution to the National Urban Search and Rescue system and that retriever will be placed in a firefighters home and entered into search and rescue work.. A 1 yr to 2 yr old Labrador Retriever that doesn’t quite make the grade in field trials is the ideal candidate for search and rescue work. 

The field trial washout that is well bred, steady, and started on hand signals can be given a quite defendable appraisal in the $5,000 to $10,000 range depending on skill levels. That will create a substantial tax deduction for the dog’s owner. The dogs will be donated to the Bird Dog Foundation for subsequent placement with one of the 28 task forces of FEMA’s National Urban Search and Rescue Response System. 

From the standpoint of the professional trainer, the recommendation that a client donate the dog to the Search and Rescue Program has several positive aspects. The donation gives the dog’s owner the satisfaction of knowing that the dog is going into a program that is vital to Homeland Security, and that the dog will be a family dog. Additionally the dog’s owner will achieve a substantial tax deduction for the charitable donation. 

The FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Program consists of 28 task forces, which are 70-man deployable units based in major cities of the US. Currently the national program has about 110 certified dogs, but should have 300. Thus more talented dogs are needed. 

Robert Milner is Search Team Manager for Tennessee Task Force One Urban Search and Rescue System, and Robert Milner is the coordinator of this donation program and administers it solely on a volunteer basis. Robert is a dog trainer of many years experience and the author of two published retriever training books. As an industry expert Robert Milner will appraise the dogs. He will also match the dogs to the best suited firefighter handler in one of the 28 Task Forces that make up the Urban Search and Rescue Response System. 

If you are currently training a client’s dog that is not measuring up to field trial standards, please consider recommending to the client that he donate the dog to the Search and Rescue Program. Please contact: