Training the Next Generation of Search and Rescue Dogs
PVWDC puppies have a normal home life with foster families and spend their days training on-site at the PVWDC. This formula greatly benefits working dog development; as Dr. Otto says, “it gives the puppies the best of both worlds. They get to live with families and learn how to adapt to that kind of lifestyle, which will be the way they will live when they’re working and living with their handlers.”,During Thanksgiving 2013 I finally was able to join Dr. Otto in Philadelphia for an intriguing tour of the PVWDC. The highlight of my visit was the opportunity to witness the rigorous and methodical process the dogs go through as part of their training.,Thirteen years have passed since the tragic events of 9/11. The aftermath of the World Trade Center’s destruction drastically changed my day-to-day life in Washington, D.C., where I was living in 2001 and working at a veterinary hospital in close proximity to the Pentagon.
