STEVE HOGG & ROONEY

I started my career in Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue 10 years ago and at present I work at a 24 hour station in Lincoln as a crew manager.

I am currently a retained USAR operative for Lincolnshire and a member of their UKFSSART team. As well as being a dog handler I am also trained up on all the equipment on the USAR modules.

Whilst not having had an operational dog I have been involved in major USAR incidents as an assistant to dog handlers and as a tool technician. These include the Stockline Plastics Incident in Glasgow and the UKFSSART deployment to Pakistan.

 I have been training as a dog handler for some time with little success. Two years ago a lovely border collie called Tess was ready to take her assessment but tragedy struck when there were complications after a minor operation and she passed away. We then rushed into selecting another dog, letting our hearts rule our heads, and chose another little border collie from Wiccaweys Border Collie Rescue which we called Bonnie. After a month or two of trials it was apparent she would not be suitable and is now a much loved family member. 10 months ago I took on a Springer spaniel called Rooney. He was just under three years old and belonged to a Manchester police dog handler who had trained him to a decent standard in Search and Rescue but didn’t have enough time to devote to him. In the last ten months I have intensively trained and tested him in every conceivable environment he may encounter leading up to his assessment in Liverpool on 25-26 May. After 36 hours of searches and obedience tests we were finally told that we had successfully achieved the required standard and were qualified as a Search and Rescue team.

Rooney is a natural Search and Rescue dog. His enthusiasm for the job never falters and his agility and fearlessness on rubble piles is both good to watch and slightly nerve-wracking at the same time as he shows no fear in these hostile environments. He always seems to have a smile on his face and is one of life’s ‘my glass is half full type’ of dogs. I am now looking forward to many years of working with him and helping to get other dog teams qualified. My thanks to all the team members who have been unfaltering in their support for me over some difficult years.  

For further details e-mail Lincolnshire Dog Teams.