COAST & COUNTRY
Page 5
Graeme’s three wishes fulfilled When he left the navy, Graeme Hill wanted an interest which offered both excitement and the chance to help others.
There was one other item on his wish list – a German Shepherd dog. He has fulfilled all three by joining the Hamilton branch of the volunteer organisation New Zealand Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) and the national specialist group LandSAR Search Dogs. After 12 years with the Royal New Zealand Navy, including a yearlong stint as a United Nations military observer in the Middle East, Graeme returned to New Zealand and soon took on a role with Mighty River Power in Hamilton. “I wanted something which would be exciting and outdoors and I’d always wanted to own a dog, something you can’t easily do in the navy.” As Graeme began his LandSAR training, the idea of owning and training a search and rescue dog grew in appeal. Three and a half years ago he purchased a small female German shepherd called Gemma from Heisenberg Kennels in Bulls and began her training. “Peter Crocker from Hamilton City Council Animal Control, who has trained dogs for all sorts of working jobs, helped me get the foundations right with Gemma, who is trained to follow human
scent. As part of being on the Search Dog training programme, I have also received a lot of support and training advice from LandSAR Search Dog assessors and members of the police dog section. Pet Doctors in Hamilton has sponsored her vet care.” Initial training involved tramping small pieces of dog food into a grassy patch for Gemma to find. This associated the smell of human scent and crushed vegetation with the reward of some nice food. Then this was extended out to foot steps away from the original source. Before long Gemma understood Graeme wanted her to follow human scent. Now she’ll do that for kilometres through bush and mixed terrain and across streams, and with hours of delay, with no more food but rather words of praise and a big game ite toy at the end. with her favourGemma has also learned to fly in be winched to the helicopters and ground with Graeme. However, not just any dog can wear the LandSAR Search Dog colours and Gemma had to undergo a rigorous assessGemma, the ment before LandSAR becoming search and qualified in rescue dog. May 2011.
Sarah grateful for LandSAR rescuers “So we decided to head back a short distance to try and make voice contact again, despite Gemma wanting to track on along their path. If we had continued to track, we would have followed their exact path but it would have taken longer and we wanted to re-establish voice contact, to reassure them we knew they were there and also just in case they had separated and someone was coming up the bank. By going back and getting voice contact and then descending straight down the bank we basically took a short cut off the path the family took. “When we got within 25 metres of the family having descended into the gully, we were stuck in the thick bush above the stream for what
must have seemed like an eternity to the family because it was so thick. It was probably only a few minutes before we made it to them,” says Graeme. “I have never been so pleased to see anyone in my life as when Gavin, Graeme and Gemma came bursting through the bush,” says Sarah. Their rescuers supplied the four weary, cold members of the family with headlamps and emergency blankets and moved them to a more comfortable location on the side of the stream. Honore and Bella were relieved and excited to see their rescuers, Gemma in particular, and as they settled down, wrapped in blankets to await further help, Gemma curled up with the girls and went to sleep.
Finally, with the help of other Hamilton based search and rescue volunteers, the family was guided out of the bush, (Bella being carried most of the way) making it to safety at around 2.30am. Sarah says she, Matt and the girls will always be grateful to Graeme, Gavin and Gemma for rescuing them from a very cold and scary situation. “These three mean so much to the girls and I am so impressed that people like Gavin and Graeme give up their time to go out in any conditions to search for people.” She’s grateful too for Gemma’s incredible sense of smell which guided Graeme and Gavin to them. By Elaine Fisher
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