Pup left to die rises to life as elite rescue dog
Bryn started his life dumped and left to die on the streets of Auckland.
Now, the border collie/staffy cross has risen through the ranks to become one of the country’s top Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) dogs.
If disaster strikes it will be Bryn helping save lives.
“It’s amazing, this was a little pup someone just dumped, and left to die, and has turned into an animal who will be on the frontline in the worst of disasters,” Pukekohe- based owner Alex Schanzer said.
He and his wife, Rachel, adopted Bryn from the SPCA in 2015.
Bryn was found by SPCA staff when he was only a few days’ old, wandering down a major street.
He was so young and malnourished he went through a couple of foster families before he could be adopted.
When he came into the Schanzer household he was 14 weeks old, but Schanzer said he knew straight away the wee pup had something special. When the couple first visited him at the Ma¯ngere shelter, it was love at first bark.
“We were sitting there watching, and then he stopped what he was doing, saw us in the corner, came running over and jumped into our laps. We knew we had to have him after that.
“He is just the most wonderful dog. Very high energy, high drive. I knew we had to do something with him. He could not just be a pet, he needed a job.”
Schanzer, a keen tramper, thought about training him as part of the Land Search and Rescue (LSAR) programme, which helps find people lost in the bush.
But it was quite a long programme, so they looked at USAR instead.
Schanzer took Bryn, then about
8 months old, to a training session to see if he had the attributes.
“He flew through,” Schanzer said.
Now, four years later, after tough weekly training, Bryn is at an advanced operational level — one of only six such dogs in the country.
Bryn and Schanzer are now part of the New Zealand Task Force, so if the country faces another major disaster or is asked to assist in any overseas rescue missions they will be sent.
In the Christchurch earthquakes, USAR dogs were used to search the rubble to find any signs of life.
Luckily in Bryn’s short life they’ve not been needed for any disaster relief just yet, Schanzer said. “But we train every week, so we are ready.”
Bryn is a lifeline dog. He finds people buried under rubble, his light paws meaning he can get to areas too dangerous for handlers to go. Bryn and his teammates are trained to detect live human scent, and bark when someone is found, continuing until help arrives.
As part
of the
dogs’
training, volunteers are hidden in rubble and the dogs have to find them.
“It is an amazing thing to be involved with, and especially over Covid we have been inundated with people wanting to volunteer,” said Schanzer. “We went from almost no subjects to now over 90 people we can call on.”
Bryn recently passed his second advanced level recertification. He won’t need to go through the process for a further two years.
“He is at the top of his game.” Bryn’s breed is an “SPCA special”, Schanzer said, but has border collie and maybe a bit of staffy in him.
“All around the world rescue dogs typically have that collie, working dog, aspect. It allows him to be very good at what he does.”
SAR does not breed dogs, but has a relationship with the SPCA where any suitable dogs that are difficult to adopt out are brought to its attention.