Feb to March 2008

24th March - 6th April - Cracker appears on live TV in front of millions of viewers with Graham Norton, Mike starts training a new collie and Echo causes chaos when he appears to swallow a golf ball...

The last two weeks has seen our dog team attend eight incidents and even appear on BBC One! The most impressive search by Cracker was an incident in Wigan. An arson attack had taken place on a private house. The investigator was sure accelerants had been used to start a fire but he was struggling to find any trace of them. As soon as Cracker started her search she immediately indicated the presence of accelerants in two locations around the front door area. On further investigation it was apparent that accelerant had been used in the areas indicated by the dog. I was very pleased with her efforts and it's exactly the reason why we have the dog unit.

On the following Saturday I was called to an arson attack on a car in Cheadle. I was returning from London when I was contacted by the Fire Investigation Officer so I made my way straight to the incident. Cracker carried out a search and she indicated accelerants had been used at the rear of the car. This again confirmed what the Police and the Fire Investigation Officer already suspected.

On 28th March, Cracker and I headed down to London to appear on The One Show filmed live at BBC Television Centre. It was a stressful journey down taking about five hours and we only just made it to the hotel in time before getting a taxi to the studio!  The staff at the BBC were great and gave Cracker some treats and also fed me as well. We had a rehearsal just before we went on air and I told Cracker to be on her best behaviour especially as the show was live.

We appeared on the show with TV presenter Graham Norton. Cracker was fantastic although she did keep trying to get a tennis ball out of my pocket. Graham Norton also brought his two dogs but we had to leave the studio before they arrived as they weren't a calm as Cracker. When they did arrive, Bailey his Labradoodle (cross between a Labrador and Poodle) barked the studio down and caused utter chaos much to the amusement of the TV presenters Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley. Find out more about our appearance on The One Show at www.bbc.co.uk/theoneshow/article/2008/02/cb_smartdogs.shtml.

As always Echo has been getting into mischief. I was walking him at the rear of a fire station one day and as he was sniffing about I saw him pick up a golf ball. As I approached him it looked like he swallowed it!  After a trip to the vets and an X ray, we found no trace of any golf ball so he must have dropped it when I wasn't looking!

I have been involved with the training of a new puppy for Bolton Mountain Rescue Team. She is a collie called Tess and her and Echo have been getting on fantastically well running on the hills and swimming in the rivers. Keep visiting the blog over the next few months to find out how she is progressing.

The next two weeks will see the national assessments for two Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) dogs held in Liverpool. This is a 36 hour assessment and one of the hardest assessments processes in the world for USAR dogs. Echo attempted and passed his assessment in 2006. In my next blog entry, I'll explain what the dogs need to achieve to pass the Fire Investigation and USAR dog assessments.

3rd - 23rd March - Cracker is a hit with the crowds at Crufts and has a 'find' at a house fire in Wigan and Echo goes to two separate incidents searching for missing people…

The last few weeks have been really busy for the dog unit. It all started with a trip to Crufts with Cracker. I did not take Echo as there were several Urban Search and Rescue dogs on the Pedigree stand already so I took the opportunity to introduce Cracker and her fire investigation skills to the dog loving public.

We arrived at the NEC in Birmingham on the evening of Friday 7th ready for the show the following day. Cracker got a real treat as the hotel next to the NEC was allowing dogs to stay in the rooms so she had a fantastic time jumping on the bed and exploring the room.

The next day, we went to the show and as usual Cracker was a big hit with the crowds dressed in her Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service blue dress uniform. We intended to demonstrate her search skills but she was too quick for the crowds! On the first attempt she found the accelerant a little too soon so the public didn't get a good chance to see how she works! Afterwards we decided to explain how she works rather than demonstrate it. She had a great time and must have been patted on the head about 1,000 times during the day. It was a fantastic way of raising awareness of fire service dogs and the important role they play.

On Monday 10th March Cracker went into action for real responding to an incident in Wigan. At the house fire, she detected an accelerant in the bedroom so the fire is now being investigated as attempted arson.

Meanwhile Echo, our Urban Search and Rescue dog, was far from resting. He normally does not attend many incidents but this week he was called to two. His work when called upon is vital. He is an air scenting dog which means that he uses his nose to pick up the smell of a human from the wind blowing past him. He uses this vital skill when he is deployed to collapsed structures and participates in missing person searches. He is extremely useful as he can cover a large area in a very short time.  

At the first incident, we attended a derelict Labour Club in Bolton which has been involved in a serious fire. It was suspected that a person may have become trapped in the debris of the fire. On arrival I was briefed by Gary Dewar, the Deputy Fire Investigation Team Manager. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the building, it was too dangerous for the dog to enter. Luckily though, it turned out that nobody was trapped in the building.

As I was putting Echo back into the dog unit I was again contacted by Fire Service Control who asked me to respond to an incident in the Lancashire County Fire Service area to search for an old lady who went missing the night before. On arrival we were met by the Lancashire County Urban Search and Rescue team and members of Lancashire Police who briefed us on our search area and a description of the missing lady. Echo was deployed to search a large open area consisting of heavy long grass and some Marshland. He did very well in what turned out to be the longest search he has ever taken part in - over three hours long! As we went round it became clear that Echo was becoming very tired and also very muddy and looked worse for wear so I rested him for 15 minutes to get his breath back. When Echo resumed the search, he did so with renewed vigour. Again he did well over some very challenging ground. Echo did not find the lady though. In the end, a Police Officer found the lady in a different location but unfortunately she had died.

The dogs have just spent a week in kennels having a well earned rest and I have been doing the same in France. We are on BBC's The One Show on Friday 28th March so make sure you watch us then!

18th February - 2nd March - Cracker and Echo appear on BBC's The One Show, the fire investigation team call us to some incidents and the dogs get ready for Crufts…

On Wednesday 20th BBC TV crews came to Chadderton to film our dog team in action! It was a great day with Cracker as the star undertaking some good searches for the TV crew. Echo not wanting to be outdone also got his face on camera and even managed to nearly take out the camera man whilst running full speed at him! They stayed with us all day and filmed at Chadderton and also at my home kennel complex. The show has yet to be aired so keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks - find out more at www.bbc.co.uk/theoneshow.

On the following Saturday, Cracker responded to a fire in a travel agents in the Whalley Range area of Manchester. It was a difficult search due to the amount of glass on the floor. I put her boots on and made sure she kept within her search area so she didn't injure herself. She found no ignitable liquids in the property.

Then on Wednesday we received a call from one of the fire investigation officers to carry out a search of a chip shop in Astley. This incident demonstrated the immense value of our dogs. The investigator thought that an accelerant had been used to start the fire. However Cracker carried out a thorough search and showed no interest in any areas of the property so it was decided that an accelerant had not been used afterall.

This coming week will see Cracker training with Crime Scene Investigation Officers from Greater Manchester Police and also Echo will be attending an Urban Search and Rescue exercise at the Fire Service College.  I will also be showing him at Crufts in Birmingham between 6th and 9th March 2008 in Hall three at the Pedigree Stand, along with other fire service search dogs. Watch this space to see what mischief Echo gets into at Crufts!

11th - 17th February - Get more of a background on how we train the dogs…

Due to popular demand I am focusing this instalment of the blog on how the dogs work and how we train them. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to keep the dogs in top form and ready to respond to any emergency situations.

Cracker is what we term an Arson Investigation Dog and as such she is trained to detect minute traces of accelerants. She is trained to detect about 17 different types ranging from petrol through to others like acetone and even odourless BBQ lighter fluid!

The dogs are trained on a play reward system. This means that when they 'find' an accelerant we give them a tennis ball to play with. Cracker loves this type of reward. She is part of the Fire Scene Investigation Team and as such is turned out by the Fire investigation Officers when they suspect accelerants have been used to start a fire. She is transported in a specially adapted vehicle that has air conditioned kennels in the rear and can also carry all my K9 equipment.

She is trained to undertake many different types of searches like primary fire scene search, forensic search, open area search and evidence search.

She attends roughly three incidents a week on average.

Echo is part of the National Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Dog Team made up of dog teams from Fire brigades throughout the UK. In times of national response the dogs will come together to form one big dog unit.

At present there are about 15 fully qualified USAR dogs in the UK with another 10 in training.  Echo is trained to search collapsed structures and only 'indicate' live human scent. This type of training is demanding on both dog and handler but I'm very lucky as I have some good people around me from Bolton Mountain Rescue Dog Unit and Greater Manchester Police Dog Section who help me out and provide me with expert advice.

Echo is what's called an 'air scenting' dog. This means that as he is working he has his nose in the air looking for scent being blown around by the wind.

The last two weeks has seen both dogs in action. Cracker has attended four incidents and had two positive finds of accelerants. Echo then attended the USAR national dog training in Liverpool. This was a well attended event with about 10 dogs from various fire services undertaking training.  Echo did very well during some challenging searches.

4th - 10th February - Cracker and Echo get into shape and you can see them at Crufts...

It has been a week full of training sessions for both dogs. Cracker is due for re-certification in March so she is training hard and has been working well. Echo was re-certified a few weeks ago and will be attending a national training event in Liverpool this coming weekend. Both dogs will be attending the Crufts show in March which is being held in Birmingham. They will be at Pedigree stand along with other fire service search dogs so make sure you come along and meet Cracker and Echo for yourself.

Read our dog's blog achive...

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