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This page will explain some of our equipment and it's uses. We are adding info on new equipment frequently! K-9 Transport and Rehab Van
1998 Chevy Van formerly used by animal control for transport of dogs, cats, and other animals. The van has been striped with SCEM colors and logos to match the remainder of the SCEM vehicle fleet, and equipped with light bar and siren. It is currently equipped with multiple cages in the rear and side with temperature controlled heat, air conditioning, and a drainage system. Several cages have dividers in place that can be removed to allow room for our larger dogs. Our team will be able to pull a trailer and/or boat with the vehicle as well. We use the van often at training and on searches to cool and rehab dogs in the summer and keep them warm in the winter. Thanks to everyone at Sedgwick County for allowing us to have this greatly needed piece of equipment. Wave next time you see us out and about! Bark Barrel
A primitive, but important piece of training equipment. The Bark Barrel teaches the dog to alert on human scent it can smell but cannot see. When the appropriate number of barks is given, the victim inside the barrel carefully but quickly the lid and rewards the dog with a treat or game of tug with a favorite toy. Dogs training for a national standard must bark continuously for 30 seconds at the alert barrel. Enzler Bark Box (AKA "The Cougar Box"!)
The Enzler Bark Box is another piece of equipment similar to the Bark Barrel. It was developed by the Swiss in their disaster dog training and serves the same purpose as the Bark Barrel, except that an assistant or the handler has control of when the dog is rewarded, not the victim. This is done by untying the rope in the picture (which is fed through the pulley at the top) and held by the handler at a distance many feet away from the box. The bark box was constructed by Lt. Tom Hammond. Agility Equipment and Multiple Ladders Our team dogs must be knowledgeable about how to climb several different types and lengths of ladders (especially for disaster work). This is just an example of several types of ladders we use. The two ladders to the left are from old fire apparatus and are round rungs nearly 12-14 feet long. Several of the team dogs have mastered this advanced and unnatural skill. The ladder on the right was constructed by Lt. Tom Hammond and has adjustable rungs to accommodate different angles the ladder will be used at. The rungs are in different positions in the photo to demonstrate this unique and original feature. Adjustable Catwalk The adjustable catwalk was developed, designed, and built by Capt. Stephanie Guinn, Lt. Mark Handzo and Lt. Tom Hammond. (K-9 Clarice demonstrates.) The 12-14 foot frame was specially routed for a variety of 2 x 4's in a way to allow for the handler to design continuous new training opportunities for the dog. The photo to the left shows the catwalk nearly full of 2 x 4's and the photo on the right shows how it can be adjusted to make the "bridge" to the Advanced Catwalk in the agility course. A variety of heights of wood blocks are now being used on the catwalk for more advanced problems. The catwalk can also be placed at varying heights and can accommodate different materials. Assorted Equipment Other equipment frequently used is the large spool as a target in directional control training and as the base for a teeter totter. The assortment of rope is being used for the bridge and unstable obstacles on the agility course. There is an assortment of blankets, tarps, sleeping bags, old military cache boxes and more we can post about more at a later time.
Agility Course (click here) Rubble Site- Coming soon! Scent Boxes These blocks were especially made for scent line ups at PR events. The "T" box has scent holes drilled in it with a hinged lid that secures the scent aid inside, allowing us to handle the blocks without coming into contact with the aid. These can also be hidden in a variety of places during training. They are durable and have worked very well for us. We have several other scent boxes built by Tom Hammond that are used in imprinting the dogs in scent as well. K-9 Rappelling Harnesses (2) This piece of equipment is used when a dog needs to be lowered down into a search area from a height, lifted up to a height or traversed across an area. The one pictured below is for our larger dogs and is a mock up similar to the old style Lewis and Clark harnesses. Our team has another harness, from Search Gear that fits our smaller dogs and also works extremely well. Both are padded under the chest and belly of the dog for comfort and support the dog well. The weight is distributed evenly across the dog when the handler adjusts it correctly. This is a piece of equipment that our handlers taking the High Angle Rescue Class must be familiar with. Zodiac Boat This boat is a personal watercraft owned by one of our team members. It is great fun and incredibly durable. If it can handle tiny 10 foot breaker waves on the ocean, it can handle Cheney Reservoir! All dogs are oriented to the boat and handlers wear personal flotation devices. Some members are trained in water rescue and our team has a swim test in place to ensure additional safety on the water.
GPS, Computer, and Radio Equipment This is a photo of one members communication pack. It holds his Amateur radio, GPS, spare batteries, compass, charger and batteries for our 800 mHz radios that are issued to each Officer, flashlight and other items. With the GPS and laptop we can set up an APRS system which will give us a breadcrumb trail of a tracking problem or pinpoint alerts in the water. The information is superimposed over an aerial photo or a topographical map. This allows our handlers to see how far away from the target scent they are and where improvement is needed for the next training session. When this technology is used on a search, the requesting agency receives a print out for their records with our reports. The thumbnails below show the results of 2 different water training sessions. RACES member Roger Bailey (left-below) prepares to enter a building to take video of one of our certification sessions with one of the color ATV (Amateur Television) Helmet Cams. RACES member Kent Lupton (below-right) enters the building with a second ATV Helmet Cam (black and white) but operates at an extremely low lux. Kent took video in the basement of our building, which was without any lighting was completely black. With lighted collars on the dogs from Auroralites, the video signal sent back to the communications van appeared to be taken in daylight! Way to go Kent and Roger! We hope to place a piece of this video online soon- it's amazing!
OTHER EQUIPMENT (info and photos soon) Human and K-9 First Aid Kits Team Display Case Please report any broken links and send feedback to webmaster . |
Equipment 
