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Published: Jun 05, 2008 - 01:58:09 pm CDT
Search Dogs South serve a missionn Methodist church supports organization. By Mack SpencerMonitor-Herald CALHOUN CITY - Ivan is a very large dog. At only 8 months old, the Caucasian ovcharka - a Russian and Central Asian herding and guarding breed - dwarfs his companions, chocolate Labrador retrievers Shiloh and Nitro and bloodhound Cheyenne. The four good dogs got a treat of some cake at the Methodist Corner, while the Bible-schoolers gathered for the event’s kickoff considered it a treat to see the dogs and hear about their jobs. Ivan, Nitro, Shiloh and Cheyenne are part of Search Dogs South, an organization that helps to find missing people and recover bodies. Dogs and handlers from the organization came to Calhoun County in April and were instrumental in helping to recover the body of Calhoun City first-grader Christopher McDonald, who slipped into the Yalobusha River and drowned. Lewis Memorial United Methodist Church is providing information on the organization through the Bible school and collecting offerings to contribute to help support Search Dogs South and its mission. “We’re starting to train Ivan in finding live people, and as we go on, we’ll add body recovery,” said handler Bob Weible. “It takes about two years from the start of training until they’re field ready, and then it’s an ongoing process. “The student is really the human component, not the dog,” he said. “The people have to learn to trust the dogs.” The 8-year-old Cheyenne is a live recovery dog, used to find any missing person, whether a child, a lost hunter or an elderly person. Nitro, 8, and Shiloh, 7, are used for body recovery efforts and are also bomb-sniffers. The group also has an older ovcharka, another bloodhound and a yellow Lab. Search Dogs South was founded in 1994 and serves an area within a 250-mile radius of Memphis. For more information, visit the Web site www.k9sar.com
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