Emergency K-9 Operations at the

On April 1, 2007, Emergency K-9 Operations of Clinton, Iowa, trained their canines at the Bickelhaupt Arboretum. Bill and Lois Hall, and Mike LeBlanc, joined by team members Connie Heath, Selby LeBlanc and Amber Leblanc ran search dogs Hawk, Raven, Deker,and Trax through their paces. The dogs trained to sharpen their skills at scent tracking on the grounds of the arboretum. Each canine successfully followed a 17 hour old scent after storms had also dumped more than a 1/2" of rain on the arboretum. Emergency K-9 Operations is a professional, not-for-profit, 501(c)3 volunteer canine Search and Rescue Team that primarily serves eastern Iowa and western Illinois. They have been called out to work as far away as Idaho. Below are photos of their training at the arboretum. Hawk is encouraged to take the scent track by handler Bill Hall. Hawk and Bill Hall follow the scent track. Raven, handled by Mike LeBlanc, works to find the scent track. Raven and Mike LeBlanc work the scent track. Trax and handler Lois Hall work the scent track. Trax finds his "victim." Selby LeBlanc and Connie Heath record data and results of each dog's search. Emergency K-9 Operations, Inc. at the Bickelhaupt Arboretum