Search and rescue volunteer writes book, with help from dog
Article Created: 06/30/2008 06:14:29 PM PDT
Leah Waarvik, back, follows her dog Emma during the search and rescue training for the Alameda…
OAKLAND — General contractor Leah Waarvik is walking in the woods with her partner, Emma. Emma hurries ahead in a state of excitement, searching and searching.
Once Emma, an Australian shepherd, finds her target, she turns around and runs back to Waarvik, with an exultant bark.
Waarvik is one of many California volunteers who have trained their dogs and had them certified for search-and-rescue missions.
While Waarvik said the work is rewarding, she has gone a step further by writing a book that instructs children how to stay safe when they are lost.
“I Sit and Stay” features Emma and several of her canine colleagues as the characters; Waarvik painted the illustrations. The pooches explain to children how to survive with the help of three simple and included tools: a pea whistle, a signal mirror and a plastic garbage bag for warmth and insulation.
On the training day, Waarvik and Emma are joining other volunteers in the woods behind the Chabot Space & Science Center for a regular training sessions.
The dogs look at it as a game. Training involves a person hiding in the brush; at an agreed-upon time a dog is released to find him or her. The dog’s companion follows as it goes prancing forward, sniffing and darting through the trees and undergrowth. Once a dog like Emma locates the human decoy, it barks, returns to the trainer and gets rewarded with treats.
Waarvik, 38, of Oakland, has been a search-and-rescue volunteer since 2002. She remembers the satisfaction of having retrieved lost and stricken people with the help of her hairy friend, such as the time last year when they were among those who found an Orinda woman who had fallen into a ravine. That’s what makes her contribution fulfilling, she said. She and Emma were also among the team that searched for homicide victim Nina Reiser, who went missing in Oakland in 2006, and whose body has not yet been found.
“We were called out three times over a period of the year for that mission,” Waarvik said.
But most often dog and human are called on to retrieve those suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s, who go out for walks and cannot find the way home.
For her book, Waarvik sought the help of “book shepherd” Cypress House, a Fort Bragg-based company that supports writers in self-publishing.
“Leah has a destination book, something you go to the store or online specifically to buy,” said Cypress House founder Cynthia Frank. “It has a lot of potential for schools, scouts and the PTA and potential for developmentally disabled children.”
The book and kit sell for $19.95. Visit www.isitandstay.com or www.getsiriuspress.com for details.
Waarvik said she hopes to write more books. She started a publishing house, Get Sirius Press, after the Dog Star in the Canis Major constellation, of course.
“I’d like to do a series of books aimed at children about public safety,” she said.
Search-and-rescue volunteers seem to have a shared enthusiasm. For many, their devotion carries them through enormous demands.
Bob Carlisle of Benicia has served the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department for years.
“It’s not unusual to be awakened at 11 p.m. or 1 o’clock in the morning to go on a mission,” he said.
Alameda County Deputy Sheriff Mark Collins says the sheriff’s department has 14 volunteers with dogs of different kinds of certifications. Waarvik volunteers for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department and is a member of the California Rescue Dog Association, which is called on by the state’s sheriff’s departments for search-and-rescue missions.
“The area scent dog is important when you do not have a scent article to start with,” Collins said.
Emma, 6, is an area scent dog. She is trained to work off leash to detect any human scent from 50 acres to 800 acres. A trailing dog, on the other hand, starts with a human scent specimen and searches for that individual. Then there are the dogs that search for cadavers.
“The canine division is one of the cornerstones of our team,” Collins said. “We’re very proud of them. They do this for free. They get awakened at night. They can be gone for days at their own personal expense.”
“As well as the vet bills,” Waarvik interjected.
If this new publishing venture doesn’t take off for her, she reasoned that she still has her contracting skills to fall back on.
When her dream of becoming a firefighter didn’t work out, she turned to volunteering in search-and-rescue as a way of contributing to public safety.
Today, Waarvik is a self-employed general contractor and a construction inspector for East Bay projects. She said the job allows her the flexibility to pursue her passion as a public-safety volunteer.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Waarvik resolved to become active in search-and-rescue and began researching several search-and-rescue agencies. She learned about the California Rescue Dog Association (www.carda.org), which focuses on wilderness and urban rescue. Next came finding the right dog. It had to be an Australian shepherd, Waarvik said, to replace her Australian shepherd Mika, who had died. But finding Emma was a problem because Australian shepherd puppies online kept getting purchased before she could adopt one. Finally, she acted fast enough to claim her current companion. Today, both Waarvik and Emma are CARDA-certified.
The association has 257 active members in the state. Both humans and dogs require between 18 and 24 months of training before they are mission-ready, said the association’s spokesman, David Trachtenberg.