Saving a newf from a sinking car

Capri

Capri

New member
Earlier this year ILS (International Life Saving Federation) took under itself K9 water rescue teams. Last week we organized the first International K9 water rescue team instructors course with participants from Belgium, Latvia, Ukraine, England, New Zealand and USA. The course included human & dog life saving and ways of incorporating dogs into life saving. On the last day we had the opportunity to practice getting out of a sinking (and sunken) car.


Driving into the lake




I climb out of the window to get to the back door before the pressure of the water will make it impossible. The car will stay above water around 7-9 seconds.



Vera comes to the door and swims to me.



Swimming onto my arms:



Swimming to shore:





It was very interesting to notice that none of the dogs were phased about driving into the lake and the water starting to come in. Of course we had chosen stable dogs as examples, but still. The other example dog was a labrador who climbed out of the front window.

My Vera is now the first dog to jump out of a helicopter AND climb out of a sinking car as a part of a (stimulated) rescue operation to save others.
 
Milliejb

Milliejb

New member
Wow! That was awesome!! Way to go Vera! I would love to have her by my side in case of an emergency :)
 
blaue_augen

blaue_augen

New member
Wow! Vera you are fabulous!

I think those pictures are frightening, even though I know they were done on purpose with safety precautions.
 
W

wrknnwf

Active member
Wow! I could never do that! Of the two ways I DON'T wish to die, one is in a car and the other by drowning (why I chose Newfs). That exercise would incorporate both of those fears and add to that the fear of my dog drowning! Holy smokes! I admire your guts.
 
Cascadians

Cascadians

New member
*** awesome *** !!!

Incredible pictures worth more than 1000s of words!

Huge applause and chest rubs, belly scritches to the one and only amazing Vera! and ultimate courageous pioneer trainer Bettina: BRAVO!

Orka waves a trembling paw to his mom Vera and howls "No Way Jose for me" LOL

Now that I've had over 3 years of interacting with the Newf community a bit, I want to express how truly extraordinary Bettina is, with her continual outstanding advocacy of Newfs and their lifesaving potentials, and her non-stop international work to advance and promote real life Newf training.

Bettina is exact and precise in her efficient training methods, and at the same time is open to learning ever better ways to accomplish tasks. She is NOT a snot, not exclusionary, nor shuts down anybody else trying to learn, teach, or train. She listens carefully to any question and addresses issues and finds ways to help the handler and dog learn how to do anything.

The world is blessed to have such a young vibrant smart generous Newf champion in Bettina Salmelin. Newf Net is extraordinarily lucky to have her expertise now and in archived threads.

I live near Portland, in an area criss crossed with rivers. There are many drownings and rescues near my home. And there's drunken party ppl who manage to drive their cars off bridges and ramps into the rivers. This summer we were at the Sandy River Delta (1700 acre off leash dog park with 2 major rivers) and some nutcase drove a stolen car into the Sandy and then led police on a wild chase thru the park complete with police dogs etc.

Bridges everywhere, overpasses, and we're in subduction 9+ Earthquake territory. I'm FEMA NET CERT certified and car sinkings are a big concern. It's incredibly dangerous and terrifying when a car goes into water.

Major major accolades to you Bettina, and all who train with you, all the dogs and handlers and those who make this possible. Cutting edge heroic work.
 
Cascadians

Cascadians

New member
The photos at your link are breathtaking. Some beautiful places.

Is that a special car that can handle being flooded? Or is it a "dummy" that can roll in and be pulled out but no longer driven?

Have you heard anything about training Newfs to assist during floods? One thinks of the lifeguard team patrolling beaches and helping swimmers getting into trouble. Lately I'm getting asked if Newfs have been used as SAR for floods, not only the rushing water part but also going door to door in swamped neighborhoods where ppl are SOSing for help from attics and rooftops. Boat based. Apparently on these trips the rescuers find ppl clinging to trees and debris in the water also.

From the questions it sounds like scent work is a desirable skill, to detect presence of humans, pets and livestock in buildings and also under water for recovery. Have you heard anything about that?
 
Capri

Capri

New member
marylouz said:
Watersafe UK does SAR during flood events with Newfs- http://www.wuksart.org/
Click to expand...

Yes, we train with Pete in the UK. He is a very good friend of ours & of course was also at the course with his dogs (& wife & friend).

Pete has done swift water trainings with his newfs with Wuksart, but is currently moving away towards another (similar) organization where he'll use his skills to train dogs for pretty much exactly what Leska described: there are a lot of little islands / water areas in Derbyshire and he will train his next newf (in about a year :) ) to swim out to the islands with him & locate lost children/ppl & as a paramedic treat and transport safely across the water back to shore where the emergency vehicles are waiting. Having a dog will give him a head start for the rescue operations (no need for 6wheeldrive, no need for boat etc.). Very interesting work & very exciting to have such interest backing him up (even if it HAS taken a lot of work to get to this point). Very exciting. Best way to combine real rescues & lifesaving & dogs & tracking & water rescue :).

In Finland they do use dogs (non-newfs) on boats to locate bodies in water areas and humans on small islands. They mostly do this work at the coast.
 
Capri

Capri

New member
Cascadians said:
The photos at your link are breathtaking. Some beautiful places.

Is that a special car that can handle being flooded? Or is it a "dummy" that can roll in and be pulled out but no longer driven?
Click to expand...

Most likely Ford donated the car especially for this, because it is only the housing of a car, slightly modified. Ie no motor, seats are plastic, holes on floor, no front side windows etc. Just so that it would sink quicker, drain quicker & be pulled up quicker ;).
 
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