Origins of Sandia Search Dogs
Prior to Sandia Search Dogs (SSD), Mary Berry trained her Bluetick Coonhound, Beau, in trailing and went on search and rescue missions from 1986-1992. Beau’s favorite thing to do was to snuggle with Mary’s female Bluetick, Katy. With the growing need for a highly skilled, canine specific search team, Mary with the help of Keith Hayes founded SSD in 1999.
JC (Jose Cuervo)
- Dates of Service: 1996-2004
- Breed: Bloodhound
- Certs: Trailing (SSD)
- Favorite Things: Drooling (so was restricted to the den), shredding things when no one was looking
- Handler: Mary Berry
Dusty
- Dates of Service: 2000-2008
- Breed: Labrador Retriever
- Certs: Air Scent (SSD); FEMA Type I Disaster – deployed to 9/11 (Pentagon) and Hurricane Katrina
- Favorite Things: Food! Hot dogs hidden in tug toys ended up increasing his food drive
- Handler: Mary Berry
Dona
- Dates of Service: 2003-2009
- Breed: German Shepherd
- Certs: Air Scent (SSD)
- Favorite Things: Loved Kong toys, food dishes, and playing tug. Had a strong work ethic and was very loyal.
- Handler: Cindy Oliver
Don Diego
- Dates of Service: 2006-2012
- Breed: Golden Retriever
- Certs: Air Scent, HRD (SSD)
- Favorite Things: Great sense of humor and loved all of his team “peeps.” Missions took him to much of New Mexico across his seven years with SSD. Loved searching and could spend hours in the field and still be on task.
- Handler: Katy Lindberg
Tadc
- Dates of Service: 2001-2014
- Breed: Border Collie
- Certs: Air Scent, HRD (SSD); 50+ missions; Dawdy Award
- Favorite Things: Rope Ball, SAR
- Least Favorite Things: Bloodhounds
- Handler: Dave Baldridge, Art Fischer
Jaguar
- Dates of Service: 2006-2016
- Breed: Labrador Retriever
- Certs: Air Scent, HRD (SSD)
- Favorite Things: Carrying stuffed toys around the house, retrieving toys from the irrigation ditch, socializing with other dogs (was called the Frat boy)
- Handler: Mary Berry
Sullivan
- Dates of Service: 2011-2018
- Breed: Rhodesian Ridgeback
- Certs: Air Scent (SSD)
- Favorite Things: Eating everything he can get his chompers on, dreaming about food, nibbling his sister’s whiskers
- Handler: Julie Augustine
Jasper
- Dates of Service: 2012-2018
- Breed: Airedale Terrier
- Certs: Air Scent (SSD); Air Scent Area I (NASAR); CGC; AKC Rally Excellent
- Favorite Things: Anything that is a tug toy
- Handler: Mary Walker
Callie
- Dates of Service: 2009-2019
- Breed: Labrador Retriever
- Certs: Trailing, HRD, Air Scent (SSD); HRD (NAPWDA)
- Favorite Things: Loved tugging a flying squirrel and loved to chase reflections of light. Everyday was a great day for Callie.
- Handler: Cindy Oliver
Shiloh
- Dates of Service: 2017-2020
- Breed: Airedale Terrier
- Certs: Air Scent, HRD (SSD); Air Scent Area II, HRD IV (NASAR); CGC
- Favorite Things: Behavior Shaping Device Buckets, rope-ball, hanging head out truck window
- Handler: Mary Walker
Taz
- Dates of Service: 2010-2020
- Breed: Labrador Retriever
- Certs: Air Scent, HRD (SSD); Obedience, HRD (NAPWDA)
- Favorite Things: Obsessive retrieving, eating spilled seed from the bird feeder
- Handler: Mary Berry
Gus
- Dates of Service: 2015-2021
- Breed: Labrador Retriever
- Certs: FEMA Type 1 Disaster; Air Scent (SSD); Air Scent Area 2 (NASAR)
- Favorite Things: Rubber tennis balls, giving kisses, playing fetch, swimming, mud puddles, and the like. Loved searching and was always ready to go.
- Handler: Dayna Dominguez, Amanda Kreider
Hondo
- Dates of Service: 2012-2021
- Breed: Golden Retriever
- Certs: FEMA Type 1 Disaster; Air Scent, HRD (SSD); Live Find, Cad-2 (Tri-State); CGCA
- Favorite Things: Lived to search – got excited when he heard the bell on his collar, spasm of joy when visiting his friends, food of any kind, hiking (especially in snow), loved his four legged brother Stanley
- Handler: Katy Lindberg