U.S. search and rescue dogs arrive in Japan - pics

[Kadie]

Rescue dogs are tended to by their handlers from the Los Angeles County search and rescue team in a gymnasium being set up as their base after arriving at the Setamai school in Sumita, northern Japan, Monday, March 14, 2011. Two search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles County in the U.S. and a team from the U.K. with combined numbers of around 225 personnel have arrived in northern Japan to help in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.


Rescue dogs and their handlers of the Fairfax County search and rescue team from Virginia prepare for the night at a gymnasium in Sumita in northeatern Japan, on March 14, 2011 Rescue teams from the US and Britain arrived in Japan to assist in the search for survivors following the devasting 8.9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11 and will begin work in Ofunato, 20km from Sumita, on March 15.


Rescue dogs and their handlers of the Fairfax County search and rescue team from Virginia prepare for the night at a gymnasium in Sumita in northeatern Japan, on March 14, 2011 Rescue teams from the US and Britain arrived in Japan to assist in the search for survivors following the devasting 8.9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11 and will begin work in Ofunato, 20km from Sumita, on March 15.


U.S. search and rescue dogs sit on the floor of a gymnasium after arriving with their handlers at the Setamai school in Sumita, northern Japan, Monday, March 14, 2011. Two search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles County in the U.S. and a team from the U.K. with combined numbers of around 225 personnel have arrived in northern Japan to help in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.


U.S. search and rescue dogs sit on cots set up by U.S. and British rescue teams to bed in for the night in a gymnasium after arriving at the Setamai school in Sumita, northern Japan, Monday, March 14, 2011. Two search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles County in the U.S. and a team from the U.K. with combined numbers of around 225 personnel have arrived in northern Japan to help in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.


U.S. search and rescue dogs sit on cots set up by U.S. and British rescue teams to bed in for the night in a gymnasium after arriving at the Setamai school in Sumita, northern Japan, Monday, March 14, 2011. Two search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles County in the U.S. and a team from the U.K. with combined numbers of around 225 personnel have arrived in northern Japan to help in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.


Rescue dogs of the Fairfax County search and rescue team from Virginia prepare for the night at a gymnasium in Sumita in northeatern Japan, on March 14, 2011 Rescue teams from the US and Britain arrived in Japan to assist in the search for survivors following the devasting 8.9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11 and will begin work in Ofunato, 20km fro Sumita, on March 15.



pics from daylife.com

[hlthe2b]

1. Yeah... Our US heroes to the task!

I so love these dogs and their human masters for doing what is a really tough job. Stay safe, teams. I :loveya:


Smart doggies, snaring the cots! Ahh, just makes me burst with pride at our 4-legged rescuers.

[Kadie]

9. I just love this pic

:loveya:

[hlthe2b]

14. "What's all the commotion? Keep it down! I'm trying to sleep!"

;)

[swilton]

18. Gotta love those GSD's!

Thanks Kadie!

[Shagbark Hickory]

30. Looked like mostly Belgian Malinois.

Not to nitpick or anything.

[ffeline]

44. AT AWE

I am so at awe of these little hero dogs and hope that each and everyone of them makes it back home.
They are afraid and probably confused, not knowing what to expect, but they are brave and know their jobs well.
I love every one of them even tough I have never met them.

I'm only hoping they are returning to the US!!!I hope THAT is the plan -they are heros who deserve to come back home.

In Japan, anything second hand is considered unwanted and therefore bad.
The Japanese people rarely adopt a previously owned dog.
Dogs in shelters are euthanized in trucks - with gas - no human contact. It is shamefull.

I have many Japanese friends and I respect a lot of their traditions and feel for the people and the innocent who have suffered in this Tsunami
Just like gutting of the dolphins and asking Australian dolphin Sea Shepards to back off, Japan has a lot of bad animal karma on their hands and I hope that their view of nature changes to respect.

Especially, seeing how wonderful these dogs are, what they are coming to do for them and that they are risking their lives.
Japanese people are very good hearted people, but there are some customs that go against nature and must stop.
For this I am afraid if the dogs are left behind....
Let's bring them home!

XO Woof!!

[Oceansaway]

2. thanks...n/t

[Scuba]

3. Love the dogs. Love their handlers. Heroes !!! Thanks for posting. n/t

[Vinee]

4. God's speed to our heros.

:yourock:

[otohara]

5. Four-Legged First Responders

are the best.

[Lost-in-FL]

6. Cute!

::thumbsup: :patriot:

[Lefta Dissenter]

7. thank you for posting

I needed that.

MAN, I love dogs (and their handlers!)

I wish them great success and hope for their safety and well-being.

[suffragette]

8. Wonderful pics. Here are more from additional countries

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110314a5.html


German help: Rescue team members from Germany wait with their dogs for a bus to travel to Sendai on Sunday after arriving at Narita airport. KYODO PHOTO


Switzerland is sending a team of about 25 rescue and medical experts accompanied by nine sniffer dogs

[Kadie]

10. awww...

Thanks for those pics.

:)

[suffragette]

11. Also, you may want to see this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x644629

In addition to that, the author describes how a person saved her dog, Shell, when water flooded her car.


And thank you again for your thread - good to see rescuers get there.

[Call Me Wesley]

12. K & R: Here's a sweet pic of a Swiss rescue dog:

[hlthe2b]

15. Too bad they don't carry kegs of brandy any more....

;)

[Violet_Crumble]

23. Australia Sends Sniffer Dogs, New Zealand Offers Help to Japan After Quake

Australia will send sniffer dogs and emergency workers to Japan and New Zealand offered assistance after the Asian nation was struck by an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, its worst on record.

A team of Australian dogs trained to help find survivors, as well as search and rescue specialists, will depart later today on a military aircraft, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters in Canberra today. New Zealand will help in “whatever way we can,” Prime Minister John Key said in an e-mailed statement

The quake shook buildings across Tokyo and unleashed a tsunami as high as seven meters (23 feet), engulfing towns along the northern coast of Japan. Australia has more than 11,000 citizens living in the country while New Zealand is recovering from a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that hit the city of Christchurch on Feb. 22 killing more than 160 people.

<snip>

Japan sent rescue workers to Christchurch last month to help recovery efforts at the Canterbury Television building, where a number of Japanese students attended the King’s Education school.

“Japan responded to New Zealand’s own tragic earthquake with enormous support, and we are ready to help our friends in Japan,” Key said in the statement. “Our deepest sympathies are with those who have been caught up in this most terrible event.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-12/australia-sends-sniffer-dogs-new-zealand-offers-help-to-japan-after-quake.html

[geardaddy]

27. What? No St. Bernards on the Swiss team?

;)

Thanks for posting those!

[pokerfan]

13. The Pros from 'Rover'

Working dogs. I read that the rescue dogs working Ground Zero grew depressed when they could no longer find survivors so rescue workers started hiding in the wreckage in staged "rescues" to cheer up the dogs.

[Kadie]

16. That is so sad and yet beautiful at the same time.

There is a special bond between the rescue dogs and their handlers.

[pokerfan]

17. It's a special bond between humans and dogs dating back tens of thousands of years

Chimpanzees share many of our genes, but dogs have lived with us for so long and undergone so much domestication that they are now serving as a model for understanding human social behavior, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29895614/ns/technology_and_science-science/">according to a new paper.



"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."
--Will Rogers

[BlancheSplanchnik]

20. Interesting article

"In my view, pet dogs can be regarded in many respects as 'preverbal infants in canine's clothing,'" he said, adding that many dog-owner relationships mirror human parental bonds with children.
I can verify that, anecdotally anyway! :loveya:

I have to comment on how UN-emotional the article is, though; that's a little glaring, given that our connection Dog<==>Human is SO emotionally based....



Shrimpy and I send our love to Japan, the rescuers, the rescue doggies, and everyone


"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." ...........yes, indeed
--Will Rogers

[pokerfan]

24. It also jibes with this Nova episode from last fall

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/dogs-decoded.html

The two species essentially co-evolved to an extent. Of course, the length of a canine generation is much shorter than a human's so they've experienced the brunt of the adapting, but we've definitely adapted to each other, much more so than with cats (though I love cats as well.) It's interesting that dogs will intuitively understand pointing where a chimp will just look at your finger if he's even paying that much attention. The Nova episode also went into how dogs can pick up on subtle cues to our emotional state that we unconsciously broadcast. Really fascinating stuff. A shame that it's no longer streaming online.

[intheflow]

35. Not really a "new" paper

since it was published two years ago. But interesting all the same.

[Generic Other]

19. If I ever need saving let one of these critters come to my aid

The idea of having that wet nose poking its way into the rubble would be such a relief.

[taught_me_patience]

21. Go get em!

I hope they can find some survivors.

[TorchTheWitch]

22. smart doggies - they all commandeered the beds

DIBS! DIBS! I got it first!

[Myrina]

25. Those brave, sweet furrbabies ...

... I worry about the PTSD that many of them get, though, when they don't find anything/one. They too experience stress and depression at not 'being successful' in their missions ... how do they recover from that?

[TorchTheWitch]

46. it doesn't last

PTSD is different than what is sometimes normally experienced depression in failure to find and is exceedingly rare. Failure to find depression is easily solved with having the dog occasionally "find" someone that hides on purpose.

PTSD results rarely and most usually from longer term situations and is almost always caused by stress levels rather than a particular event. Longer missions tend to be harder on the handlers than the dogs since people aren't nearly as good at "letting go" as dogs are in general, and people aren't nearly as good at realizing when the stress is becoming too much or very good at getting it out constructively and truly suck at hiding it from a dog. You can't hide your feelings from a dog.

However, dogs also become stressed when they detect it in their handler because they rely on their handler to be the "alpha" and dogs are not usually comfortable when they no longer trust that their leader is what the dog considers capable. Leaders are always calm and assured... if they detect continual stress in their leader/handler, they become confused about their rank status... dogs are always most comfortable when they know what their rank is within their "pack" even if that "pack" is just the dog and its handler. Handlers tend to know when they themselves are becoming too stressed when they recognize the dog reacting to it.

[KittyWampus]

26. Those dogs and their human co-workers will have a lot of stress in the next few days.

Hope they get some "play time" in between work shifts.

[geardaddy]

28. K & R

Truly inspirational.

[GSLevel9]

29. K & R!!!!

[avebury]

31. As much as I feel sorry for the Japanese

if there was any chance of radiation exposure I would not take my dog into the area. It was one thing for people to review the situation and make a decision to go and help but the dogs are not given any choice. Depending how bad the radiation exposure is, the long term health of all of those dogs may not be good.

[mod mom]

32. Stay safe GOOD dogs!

[Maru Kitteh]

33. Good Puppies! Yay! n/t

[glinda]

34. I really wish they would suit these dogs up against radiation.

[colorado_ufo]

36. Stay safe, good pups,

and your handlers, too!

[xchrom]

37. ...

:applause:

[Scurrilous]

38. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Shagbark Hickory]

39. They look like they're suffering from jet wag.

[ellie]

40. Puppies over there!

Animals are great.

[tpsbmam]

41. I hate thinking about all of them (human and canine) in danger from radiation.

I hope they all come home gratified by a job well done and HEALTHY!!

[webdiva]

42. aww

Awesome pics! THanks for sharing!

[Liberal_in_LA]

43. all kinds of dogs! Not just German Shepards. Where are the rescue cats?

[Stinky The Clown]

45. Dawgz

They thrive when they have a job.