1. Alan Zink gave $3 becuase they managed to move 35 years worth of stuff out. He mentioned that not all of it went to the new house thanks to the VOA and Habitat for Humanity. 
2. Ann Pechacek's sister celebrated her 50th birthday in Colorado by participating in a 14 feeter. 
3. Ted Inbusch is happy the Milwaukee Bucks won.
4. Jerry Katz told a number of "dad jokes" and according to him; "if you groan, you pay". 

Presentation

Heather and Alan Grossman talked about their dogs. They have 3 dogs that are F.E.M.A. certified. One is certified as a search and rescue dog and two are search and recovery dogs. Other names are live find dogs and/or human remain dogs. 

Heather is part of the Ohio Task Force as a Canine Search Specialist. Their dogs have helped the American Police Canine Association (APCA), Midwest Canine, and The Kentucky Search Dog Association. 

Common breeds that trained for this work are field bred hunting dogs like Labs, Golden Retrievers, Belguin Malinois, and German Shepherds. Dogs that do this type of work need to be independent, have high drive, and love rewards. It is also important that they are able to separate from their owner/trainer to be sent away to work. A dog can not become certified until at least 18 months of age. Dogs are taught in two parts; hunt/search and obedience. Heather says that the Belguin Malinois are the best dog for this because of their agility and high level of intensity. This means that the dog will work longer and harder. 

Heather and Alan train their dogs through odor. It is important to make sure they generalize the odors so that the dog can search anywhere. Their dogs are rewarded with "tugs". This is a particual toy that is connected to a specific odor. If they dog doesn't find anything (because nothing is there), they get a ball. The dogs are also taught to not engage with people so that people become neutral to them. The dog will never have to worry about people this way and will only trust Heather. 

The training requires a lot of volunteers. This is a combination of people and samples of tissue in various states of decompositon. They will hide people everywhere of all different ethnicities and ages. The dogs are trained to find as little as an ounce of blood up to someone who is deceased. This includes skeletal or tissued samples. These samples can be hidden, burned, buired, and even underwater. The dog will sit in front at attention in front of the source of the odor. 

Heather gave a public service announcement; Always ask to pet a dog. 

Enjoy the presentation by clicking this link. Melvin, one of their dogs, also gives a demonstration.