Today I am remembering lots of souls that lost their lives that day. I am especially remembering my amazing partner, Barkley.
We started our lives together in an unexpected way. No one wanted him, he languished in a tiny animals shelter for months. His time had run out, he was sent to be euthanized. He was already there, he should have been dead when I arrived. But fate had different plans for us. I took him home and our journey began.
Together we joined the newly forming FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Teams. Only California had these teams, this training and these dogs. It didn't deter us. We were inseparable, we spent just about every moment of every day together...along with my son Zach. Zach was a key member of this team. Zach was an expert "victim".
We were always on the lookout for anything that could be used as a "rubble pile" to train. Back then they didn't exist outside California. We would use anything we could find, giant log jam piles, dilapidated houses, old barns, huge glacial deposits in the forest, quarry piles, everything was looked at with its potential to be a rubble pile. Zach would go hide, Barkley would search for him. We eventually had a group of others to train with us, but Zach was always the best "victim". His timing was perfect and enthusiasm for play (the dogs reward) unmatched.
The 3 of us traveled to California to train a few times and also to test. It was a big event to travel to the Type I test. The most advanced and notoriously difficult. At that time, the pass rate was only 25% (it is much better now with more experienced folks training...and an easier test). On our first attempt we passed. He became only the second dog outside California to EVER pass the Type I test and the FIRST dog East of the Mississippi to do it. At that time he was one of less then 25 dogs that were certified Type I. I am very proud of him for that and don't want it to be forgotten.
It was a long day, Barkley worked amazingly hard. He was not the type of dog that would be chosen by most people today. He may not have passed the testing to see if he was a worthy candidate. But he had an amazing heart, amazing work ethic, he was very smart and he would do anything for me. We were an amazing team. He got a perfect score that day. I have never had another partner like Barkley. I still cry today of his loss and miss him terribly.
We were there at the World Trade Center. The photo in this post is Barkley on his tenth birthday. He celebrated by spending our entire 12 hour shift working on the rubble. An amazing honor. He helped, along with the other k9 hero's from MATF-1 locate the remains of 7 people, 4 of them came on that day.
18 months after we returned home Barkley came to me one evening after I got into bed. This was unusual because he always chose to sleep, upside down, at the front door. He put his paws on the bed and laid his head on my chest. As I rubbed him and wondered why he was there I felt it.....lumps on his neck. As it turned out he had massive cancer. At least 3 different types and his body was riddled with it. He hated the chemo treatment. So, one month later he disappeared one night. The next morning he came by while I was in with the horses. He stopped by the fence and sat. I recall, with his head drooped low, that he looked like Snoopy on top of his dog house. Then he walked away. I didn't realize then that he was saying goodbye. He walked off into the woods, crawled under a cottage by the lake and quietly passed away.
So, on this day I will remember all the hero's from September 11th...but especially my hero Barkley.
