| I got Kinsey in August of 2000 from Dallas-Fort Worth Labrador Rescue (DFW-LR). The dog had been hanging around for four or five days at an elementary school playground, and when Kinsey began to play a little too vigorously with moving balls during recess, a teacher called her friend at DFW-LR. A gal from DFW-LR came to the school to pick up the flea and tick-infested, emaciated dog to take her to a veterinary kennel for a month of rehab. At the end of that month Kinsey then went to her first foster family, where she lasted less than 24 hours. Another foster home, a third, then a fourth; her longest stint lasted only 48 hours. Each time she was brought back to the kennel because, "she was crazy". DFW-LR knew I was looking for a disaster dog so I got the call and picked her up for a test drive. She was a big, beautiful girl – muscular and lean with a massive barrel chest and the biggest feet God ever put on a dog. She was magnificent
with droopy lab eyes, eyes that always bore a mischievous glint. (This glint never went away even on the most dire mission, no matter her level of exhaustion.)
I had been out of town the three days prior to picking her up, and since I lived in the country, I needed to take advantage of this time in the city. I took the dog to a buddy's home to put her in his kennel run while I ran errands. Entering his back yard, I found a red Kong toy on the pave stone by the pool. To see how well the dog swam, I kicked the toy into the water, not realizing that only blue Kongs float. Oops... It promptly sank and Kinsey, already in the water, proceeded to chase it to the bottom of the pool. "Great", I thought, "I just drowned the dog!". I pulled off my shirt, kicked off my shoes, and dropped my pants to my ankles, prepared for a water rescue. Meanwhile, Kinsey had retrieved the Kong from the bottom. She swam up to the edge of the pool, placed her massive paws on the side, and with sheer strength, pulled herself onto dry land. I was so happy to see her alive, I failed to retreat away from the shower launched by the shaking dog. So, here I was, standing soaking wet, in my briefs, pants to my ankles, in a residential neighborhood backyard, in Euless, TX. Thank God there was a privacy fence, and my buddy and his wife were not at home. And this was just the beginning of life with Kinsey.
Later that evening, I took her to my home. I pulled up to my house and opened the crate door to attach a leash, intending to take her to an outdoor kennel run. I never let a new dog come right into the house, until I make sure my cat and other dogs are out of conflict range. As I snapped the lead, I could hear my home phone ringing. I didn't want to miss the call, so I grabbed a tennis ball to keep the dog occupied. With detection dogs, in most cases if you have a toy you have total control. As we entered the house, Kinsey stepped over the cat and never looked twice. I answered the phone, sat down on the sofa, and immediately began "clunking" the ball in her mouth. ("Clunking", is the sound that occurs when you throw a ball directly into the waiting mouth of a Labrador Retriever. Anyone who has ever owned a Lab knows the sound.) I "clunked" it once, she spat it onto my lap...Twice, she spat it onto my lap. Three, four, five times... On the sixth "clunk", things went south. The ball bounced off her head and disappeared between the entertainment center and the wall. Kinsey went for it. Her head didn't quite fit in the four-inch gap between the wall and the entertainment center, which promptly fell forward and crashed to the carpet. It hit with so much force that my 57" TV literally exploded. Sparks flew. Fire appeared from under the side nearest me. I threw the phone down and ran to the kitchen to retrieve a fire extinguisher. I pulled the pin, aimed, and began to depress the trigger. Kinsey, who until now had been dancing on the back of the TV with the ball in her mouth, seized the opportunity for an impromptu game of tug-o-war. She grabbed the rubber nozzle of the fire extinguisher and started to pull. Since the handle and trigger were combined, the trigger depressed even further. Fire retardant began to spray wherever Kinsey pointed the nozzle -- all over my den, everywhere except the fire. Eventually the fire extinguisher was depleted. The fire grew. Kinsey ripped the extinguisher from my hands and began to shake it like she was killing a rabbit, all the while beating the metal cylinder against her head. I was frantically laughing and choking on a mix of smoke and fire retardant. Kinsey went back to the tennis ball and again danced triumphantly on the back of my TV. The fire grew. I ran to the bathroom, grabbed two towels, and dipped them in the toilet, then raced back to the electrical fire and began to beat it with the wet towels, expecting any moment to be electrocuted. Finally I was able to get the fire out, but not before Kinsey had grabbed one of the towels and began to put it through it's death throes. I sat back, dazed, on the arm of the sofa. Kinsey, realizing I was no longer in "the game", picked up the tennis ball and tossed at me hitting me square in the face. I looked at the shambles that used to be my house, looked at the delighted Kinsey, now repeatedly using my face and chest as a backboard, and realized I'd gotten exactly what I wanted. I had a disaster dog.
I trained her in a year. We passed our basic certification but it took her a few years to get me through the Advanced Type I test. Training was a blast. Kinsey was so much fun. A video of her initial assessment by TX - TF 1 was taken to Turkey where it was used to show the Turkish national Urban Search and Rescue team what a disaster dog looked like. Kinsey taught me everything I know about handling a dog. I showed her the search and rescue game, but training and handling are not the same and she was ever patient until I finally figured out my role. She gave me opportunities I would have never had, had she not have entered my life.
One year and two weeks after we started with Texas - Task Force One, one year and a month after she tried to burn my house down, we were called out on our first mission. It was September 11, 2001. We were being called to search for survivors of the collapse of the Pentagon. By the time I got to College Station, where the task force is based, our mission had been changed to the World Trade Center. I had always wanted to serve my country. I grew up after the end of the Viet Nam war and felt guilty that I had never served. Now was my chance. I was issued my uniform. When I put it on, I have to admit tears rolled down my cheeks as I looked at the American Flag patch sewn above the breast pocket. Kinsey, who was sitting in front of me, responded by licking away the tears. She always licked away my tears. Kinsey was a great search dog but she was 25% search dog and 75% therapy dog. I will always remember the New York City fire fighter who came up to us, knelt down putting his forehead on Kinsey's and cried, his tears dripping down from her ears. That image is burned in my soul, and I get teary-eyed writing about it.
Kinsey and I helped teach several British USAR teams at Texas A & M's Disaster City showing how a disaster dog team should be utilized in a disaster environment. We traveled all over the US to train and to go on missions. In addition to the World Trade Center, we were in Utah for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and we went on missions for Tropical Storm Erika and Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Ernesto. I had to ask Kinsey many times to put her life at risk and she never, ever wavered, even the slightest amount. The missions were not fun, but traveling to train was a blast. I got to meet some great people that would have never come up to talk to me, had it not been for Kinsey. She loved to travel. On the plane, all 80 lbs of her could curl up small enough to fit under the seat in front of me. People would often give up their spot in First Class so Kinsey would have more room. After our work at the World Trade Center Iams Imaging paid for us to have an MRI done every year, as a precaution, because of all the toxins she had been exposed to. For one of these MRIs we went to Washington, D C, and we got to walk along the plaza up to the White House. A group of Marines, all assigned to Presidential Detail, were playing football on the plaza. One of them was sidelined with ice on a purple swollen ankle. We stopped to chat and Kinsey was all over the young Marine. Then she caught sight of the moving football and almost pulled me off my feet. The Marine said, "Sir, I'll pay you to let her go!" I refused payment but did set her loose, and Kinsey went head first into the game. Touch became tackle, and Kinsey had a great time. When the guys came over to say hello, Kinsey thought it was all about her, and I guess it was. The last trip we took together was an MRI trip to Redwood City, CA. I have a friend who lives near Carmel, so we spent a day at the beach. Kinsey owned the beach, or at least she owned every toy on that beach. By the end of the day she was so tired she was down for the night by 7:00 p.m.
A short time later we were training at Disaster City when Kinsey fell 15 or 20 feet off the top of a training structure, landing on her back and breaking it. The vet at Texas A&M told us recent studies showed that dogs with this type of fracture had had 0% success ever walking again. Kinsey remained brave to the end. When it was time, she kissed my hand, closed her eyes, and went to sleep. She didn't fight it. She was on to the next adventure.
Kinsey had an effect on almost every area of my life. I met my wife because of Kinsey. When we got married, Karen said she felt like the "other woman" for a while, until Kinsey let her have a place in my life. It was due to Kinsey that I became a full time dog trainer. Since the business pays for our house, I'd have to say Kinsey had a hand in the house we live in, and she became the near perfect house dog with the privileges she had earned. Karen is a Regional Training Contractor for Paws with a Cause, and a lot of the puppies that have been raised by Karen's puppy raisers, were first raised by Kinsey, always stern, but fair.
I could go on forever. I miss her. I thought about quitting when Kinsey got killed, but I realized, if I did, she would have died for nothing. When I first got Kinsey I told my boss on the task force, it was all business. She was a working dog, a tool, and I would never become attached to her. Yea, right... I miss her. I love her. She won my heart.
There was a version of the "Rainbow Bridge" that came out after 9/11. It told about dogs greeting Fire Fighters and Police Officers that died at the World Trade Center, as they passed over the rainbow bridge. Well. now I hope they are there to return the favor for Kinsey.
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