Great Basin K9 Search and Rescue

K-9 Team Gunny

Certifications: Avalanche, Wilderness Air Scent, Cadaver, and Water Shoreline

Handler:  Joe Jennings is a retired U.S. Marine whose 24 years of service include 2 years as a combat infantryman in Vietnam.  He also spent 4 years as a reconnaissance platoon commander where he did extensive training in land navigation, communications, helicopter operations, and survival.  He is a certified military parachutist and combat swimmer and he was the Honor Graduate in his class at the U.S. Army’s Ranger School.

After his retirement and move to Utah Joe became involved in a number of outdoor activities including search and rescue.  He is certified as an Outdoor Emergency Care Technician by the National Ski Patrol.  He is a member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America and is a Level II Alpine instructor and an accredited backcountry instructor.  For the last 3 years he has been a snowcat guide at Powder Mountain.

K-9:  Gunny is a 2 ½ year old Golden Retriever from Hunters Trace Kennels in Albin, WY.  His name comes from the nickname for a Marine Gunnery Sergeant.  Gunny started avalanche rescue training when he was 9 months old.  He passed his avalanche rescue test at Powder Mt. in February 2009.  He passed his Wilderness and Cadaver certification tests in May 2009 in West Yellowstone, MT.  He trains with Joe 2 – 3 times per week to improve his skills  and to prepare for his Cadaver II and Water/Shoreline search certifications.

K-9 Team Kaiser

Certifications: Avalanche, Wilderness Air Scent, Cadaver II, Water (Shore), and Human Remains Detection

Handler:  Kurt Hadfield has been actively involved in outdoor activities for a number of years, he has over 30 years experience as a ski patroller with the following credentials

v     Outdoor Emergency Care instructor

v     Instructor IT

v     Avalanche Instructor

v     CPR Instructor

v     Mountaineering

v     NSP National Number 8886

He is a member of the Weber County Sheriff Search and Rescue for the past six years and has been involved with the following teams:

v     Climb

v     Backcountry

v     ATV/Motorcycle

v     Swift Water

v     Winter Strike force

v     K9

He has been involved with the Mountain Rescue Association as well as completed  all required ICS courses. 

K-9:  Kaiser is a 2 ½ year old German Shepard from Celhouse Kennels in Sheridan, WY.  Kaiser started is search and rescue training at 14 weeks and has the following certifications:

v     Avalanche  - April 08

v     Wilderness – October 08

v     Cadaver I -  May 08

v     Cadaver II – June 09

v     Water (shore) – July 09

Kaiser also holds Splash Dogs record for the longest jump for the GSD breed.

Team Mary

Mary Lehman is currently a FEMA Certified Canine Search Specialist with her Yellow Labrador, Casey.  Their certification was completed in June 2008 in Irvine, CA and is valid until June 2011.  Mary is a member of the New Mexico Task Force 1 (NMTF1), a FEMA/DHS search team.  She is also a Certified Logistics Specialist with NMTF1.

Mary has always had a love for working with, training and owning dogs. She began training at the age of 9 as 4-H projects with both her dog and her horse.  Since that time it is safe to say that she has trained an estimated 30 +/- personal dogs including dogs that she has raised or rescued/adopted and placed in new homes.

Mary became interested in canine SAR in July of 1994 while working at the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office as an Emergency Dispatch Supervisor in Prescott, Arizona.  Search dogs were utilized to search an area that was believed to have buried bodies at the home of a homicide suspect.  Fortunately, no bodies were found, but having the opportunity to watch those dogs work really piqued her interest in doing something different with her dogs.  She was one of the founding members of the Yavapai Sheriff’s Response Team K9 SAR Unit, Prescott, Arizona in 1994 . 

In the summer of 1997 Mary, and her husband Dave, moved to Utah.  Since that time she has been a Search Dog Handler and has participated in many searches in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Arizona.  Mary also owns a successful dog training business, Who’s Walking Who(m)? Dog Training.

In addition to Mary’s FEMA dog, she currently works Jetta, a 4 year old Belgian Malinois, in Cadaver, HRD and Evidence.  She also works Jordy, a 5 year old Belgian Malinois in Area Search and Cadaver.  Prada, a 5 month old German Shepherd is in training for Cadaver and Area search.

Mary and her husband, Dave, just recently relocated to the San Antonio, Texas area where they plan to continue working their search dogs.