Abby, Female Black Lab, proud member of SDF

Abby-CA
Abby, a female Black Lab, was born October 30, 1997- the only girl in a litter of seven. She was born in the bedroom of the Search Dog Foundation (SDF) founder Wilma Melville. Abby lived with Wilma for the first seven weeks of her life. She only weighed one pound at birth, but quickly grew to be a good-sized puppy.
After leaving Wilma's home, Abby went to live with a woman named Kim in Ojai as part of her "Prep Home" training. She stayed with Kim for eight months, was given heaps of love and affection, and learned good discipline.
At 10 months old, Abby went off to Sundowners Kennel, our professional training facility in Gilroy, California. She learned all of the basic skills for becoming a search dog and at the end of her training was partnered with Debra Tosch, then SDF's Program Director.
Abby and Debra bonded very quickly. They loved being together and practiced their search skills diligently. After only seven months, they attained Basic Certification for disaster search from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Three months later, they attained Advanced Certification and are now considered one of the top canine/handler search teams in the nation.
Abby goes everywhere with Debra. Debra travels extensively, frequently visiting our handlers in Washington D.C., Ohio, Florida and the state of Baja, California to help them develop and maintain their search skills. Abby has definitely put on the most miles of any SDF dog! She is our search dog representative at the SDF office in Ojai, and we love having her at work with us. She is just like a member of our staff-- always on hand to meet and greet visitors. She also represents SDF at events and training demonstrations.
Because she has been a part of such intensive training in so many different search situations, she is now what we consider a "push button dog." Whatever she is told, she just does it - no matter who tells her or how they tell her. This makes Abby invaluable in training new handlers. (We don't know what we'd do without her!)
On September 11th, 2001, their skills were put to the ultimate test when they were called into action as one of thirteen SDF search teams deployed to Ground Zero. On 9/11, Debra and Abby were training with other SDF teams in Washington State and missed going to New York immediately with the Los Angeles City Task Force. As all plane flights were cancelled, they drove down to San Diego and made the second deployment by flying to New York on a military transport with the San Diego Task Force.
The assignment was extremely dangerous and demanding, climbing over twisted metal and sharp, hot slabs of concrete, breathing in dust and smoke. But the SDF teams were completely prepared for the challenge. The dogs are always eager to search: they enjoy it and even thrive on it! The team searched the rubble in twelve-hour shifts. The rest of the time was spent caring for the dogs and sneaking in a few hours sleep. At the end of the ordeal, the teams were exhausted, but proud for having served their country and having met a profound physical and emotional challenge.
Debra and Abby's next major deployment was to the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics. They were stationed a helicopter ride away from the games along with other search teams and emergency personnel.
In 2005, Debra and Abby were deployed with eight other SDF teams to assist with rescue efforts in a deadly mudslide in La Conchita, California. They appeared with Paula Zahn on CNN to talk about the rescue operation. They were also deployed to help with rescue efforts after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Abby truly enjoys her work as a search dog. She is fearless in her approach to any new obstacle she must tackle in training, and moves with confidence when searching over rubble. For two years, Debra served as captain of the Ventura County wilderness canine team. This gives Abby the distinction of being one of a few SDF dogs that has also trained for wilderness rescue. The team also serves as part of the Los Angeles City Task Force and, when deployment is required outside the U.S., as part of the Los Angeles County Task Force. In January of 2005, Debra was selected to represent California and Washington on the FEMA Canine Sub-Committee. This committee makes recommendations to FEMA on the disaster search program in the US. In June of 2005, Debra was appointed as the new Executive Director of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, with Abby by her side!