RILEY THE RESCUE DOG

Riley might appear to be a great family pet — a cuddly, well-mannered yellow Labrador that follows commands and has boundless energy. But to local fire officials and his handler, Firefighter Eric Gray of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the 70-pound pooch is the latest addition to their search-and-rescue toolbox.

“This dog is effectively a tool just like anything else,” Gray said. “His whole job in life is to go places where we as rescuers and firefighters can’t get to.” With a nose adept at finding trapped victims and the ability to traverse rubble and rugged terrain, As a member of the local urban search-and-rescue force, Riley will play a critical role in finding victims trapped in rubble following natural or manmade disasters — such as an earthquake, building collapse or landslide.

Beyond the ability to respond to local disasters, Gray said he could also deploy with Riley to national and international disasters when search-and-rescue teams are needed. “Within four hours, we could be on the road to LAX to be put on a plane to be sent overseas,” he said. “That’s a big deal.”

Riley came to the department about a month ago free of charge from the National Search Dog Foundation based in Ojai. The Santa Barbara Firefighters Alliance made the program possible by purchasing a vehicle to transport the dog to training sessions and deployments.

Gray explained that Riley must be kept in a kennel to protect his effectiveness. While some might consider that to be cruel or unnecessary, the firefighter said Riley would lose his touch if he could roam as freely as a normal pet. “If you get lax with them as far as what they eat, how they train, how they are treated, you see the dog get disinterested in his job,” Gray said, adding later, “He’s not a pet. He doesn’t sleep on the couch, he doesn’t jump on the bed, he doesn’t eat human food.”

Riley’s motivation for tracking down victims is simple: if he is successful, he knows he will be rewarded with his toy. “What we see as work, he sees as a game,” Gray said. “He doesn’t know we’re getting work out of him. The things that they can do are astounding — how they can differentiate smells, how they can disregard 50 guys just standing there because they’ve been trained to ignore people who are standing up,” Gray said. “I couldn’t get my head around just how phenomenal this dog was.”

By ERIC LINDBERG –Santa Barbara Daily Sound