Wednesday, July 21, 1999
Trainer gets canines ready for rescues
BY MICHAEL D. CLARK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — Dogs are cherished as our best friends, but in recent years they are often our best hope in searching for the missing and dead.
Since 1989, Karen Lemaster has operated Lemaster's School for Dogs, where she trains search dogs for law enforcement officers.
“There's a bigger demand for it because people are beginning to understand how important they are in searches,” Ms. Lemaster said.
Ms. Lemaster, whose back yard doubles as an obstacle and training course for dogs, said interest from police and emergency rescue teams has grown steadily in recent years.
“They are becoming more aware that there are dogs that can assist them,” she said.
Finding missing people, searching for bodies and tracking fugitives are where dogs' vastly superior sense of smell is proving invaluable to law enforcement officials.
Some recent examples:
• In February, the disappearance of a Kettering, Ohio, girl, Erica Baker, brought dozens of professional search and rescue personnel to her neighborhood. With them were search dogs — trained to track human scent. Also used at a nearby pond were cadaver-sniffing dogs especially trained to detect submerged bodies.
• Hours after the April 9 tornado that tore through northeast Hamilton County — killing four and injuring dozens — search dogs were deployed by the Hamilton County Urban Search and Rescue Task Force to help find the dead and survivors trapped beneath debris.
• The disappearance in June 1998 of 6-year-old Mary Jennifer Love prompted Hamilton County sheriff's deputies to call in search dogs that combed through the woods near the girl's Colerain Township home. Mary's body was eventually found in woods about 3 miles from her home.
Training search dogs is more calling than career for the former food chain supervisor. After years of vol unteer work with dogs at animal shelters, Ms. Lemaster decided to start her own training center and kennel.
Ms. Lemaster's favorite breed is the German shepherd, and she has eight.
She also trains dogs to aid the physically challenged and offers lessons for private citizens wanting a bet ter behaving pet.
Almost every breed of dog responds to firm, nonviolent obedience training, she said, citing the animals' natural tendency to follow a pack leader.
“Most dogs don't want to be the boss, but if they sense there is none they'll take charge,” she said.
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