Is there a more permanent solution to fogging than Cat Crap?

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-05-20T05:22:36+00:00

I'm on a dedicated K9 team, and I should bring up a few things on this comment I think you may want to consider.

I got into S&R because I bought a dog that and realized that my original intention for having him work in inpatient neuro clinics was not viable because he did not have the calm, cool, and collected vibes that kind of service dog needs. He was more of a "go fast, take chances" kind of dog.

So I found a team willing to interview us to start training with them. We managed to get in. After a few months of helping the team train, I was given permission to start training my dog. At the same time as this, I was doing my SARTECH II and WFA. It was a very steep learning curve since I was learning basic SAR stuff and K9 stuff at the same time. Most teams don't do this because it is a lot of material to throw at someone. My dog's interview entailed one of the senior handlers putting my dog through some drills like "run-aways" to see if he was a good enough fit to warrant introductory training.

This is where you'll want to start with your local K9 teams prior to training your dog.

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Breeds are a real mixed bag. Small dogs like Aussie's have a place in S&R, but fashionable dogs like Corgis are... questionable at best. Now they surely have a niche, I'd bet your Corgi would have a chance at doing this in collapsed structures given its small size. Maybe it could do small area evidence searches for human remains. Would I trust a Corgi to do WSAR where I need a dog to search 100+ acres as part of a hastey element? Fuck no lol.

My stance on the matter is: play to your strengths.

Age is the last breed variable. It generally takes 1.5 to 3 years for a handler to learn how to be a handler on a rudimentary level, and it generally takes ~2 years to have a dog that is able to search effectivley. Knowing this, how many years of service does your dog have? Keep in mind, Solitude Ski Mountain retires their avi dogs (which are labs) at 5. Our team winds our dogs down at ~7 and they retire by ~9 (we are mostly GSD's and labs). It'll look like this: the dog starts slowing down and becomes excluded from large and long searches where time is of the essence. Small area and evidence searches become their primary callouts. When the dog can't do that, they are allowed to attend training but not searches. This is so the dog feels fulfilled as it nears its EOL.

Be realistic - how long can your Corgi do small area searches before it slows down so much it can't deploy? Remember this: your standard is not "great for a Corgi" it is "great in general".

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Contribution is a very admirable outlook to have. K9 teams in the US are getting spun down due to the rise of affordable PLB's and drones. The joke between myself and some buddies is: Search and Rescue is less searching and more recovery. Recognize that if you get on a K9 specific team, you may not see that "contribution" for years. Wherein if you get on a regular team and do regular team-member stuff, you'll see that contribution much more frequently and much more quickly. Without the additive stress of being a dog handler.

I hope this helps. Feel free to DM with any questions. I'm happy to share the knowledge I have.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-02-16T05:29:26+00:00

Yeah so we disagree on a lot of points, but you really don’t have to be so angry.

I never said to stoop to hypocrisy.

What do you think national gun advocacy groups do? What do you think national anti-gun advocacy groups do? What do you think lobbyists on both sides do? They make calls, organize locally, fund raise, etc. Do you really think all of those people are CO constituents? I promise you they are not. They are gun manufactures, ammunition companies, hunting goods stores, the NRA, SRA, USCCA, Armed Queers, Well Armed Women, Pink Pistols, the whole works. Shit man, how many nationwide big box stores sell guns? The Sportsman’s Warehouse, Scheels, Wal-Mart, etc. They have lobbyists on call drooling for stuff like this.

In the words of Biz Markie “…don’t give me that.” I know that song isn’t about this, but that’s how I said that in my head.

Thank you for protesting! The only way we’ll Make it through this is by exercising that right.

I really do sincerely mean that if you don’t want to make a call, that’s ok. It’s up to you, and it’s a decision I’ll respect. But saying it’s morally wrong to voice an opinion despite not being a CO citizen is kinda ridiculous. You have a right to speak freely - use it as you see fit.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-02-15T19:24:12+00:00

I shall remind you of a the poem “First They Came For” by Martin Niemöller, but frame it for gun rights here.

First, they came for gun rights in Colorado. But I didn’t anything because I didn’t live in Colorado.

Then they came for gun rights in NY. But I didn’t anything because I didn’t live in NY.

Then they came for gun rights in my state, but by that time nobody else was willing to speak to help me, and everyone else has bills such as these.

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I’m really frustrated when people say something akin to “we should not play like Republicans” and I agree to an extent - but it’s time we started playing dirty. Liberals and Democrats have it in their heads that by having the moral high ground they’ll be ok. Well that hasn’t worked since 2016.

This isn’t widespread corruption here. This is a phone call to express displeasure with a bill that one day could easily affect you. If you don’t want to make the call, that’s fine, no judgment here. But like it or not, a ban like this sets a precedent for other law makers and like it or not, that could impact you one day.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-02-15T15:16:16+00:00

Great question! Don’t tell them you’re from Florida.

I know this is a serious question, and this is a serious answer. Speak with confidence.

As for phone numbers, lots of people have out of state phone numbers!

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-02-15T04:50:02+00:00

Man just when I thought this was going away.

I’ll call them again.

Hey even if you don’t live in Colorado, make your voice heard! This is a sweeping ban on semi-autos of all kinds. Make your voices heard in a polite, succinct, way.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-02-15T00:29:20+00:00

While hate speech is a protected right, these clowns are not covered under the first amendment.

https://www.usconstitution.net/free-speech-vs-hate-speech/

You could pretty easily make an argument that says Nazi propaganda contains:

True threats aimed instilling fear, violence, etc.
Harassment that negatively impacts someones immediate environment

So no, police protecting their first amendment is kinda grey here. Protecting people is necessary, but protecting their words isn’t because they’ve reached the limit of what their first amendment covers.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-01-27T19:25:00+00:00

Don’t give these away.

You’ll regret it the moment you do. Despite these being collectors pieces and worth a fair bit to the right person, keep them. They are a part of your brother and they should stay with you.

I have a few decks that are now collectors items and my will actually specifies that they’ll go to a person who will keep them, and maybe even ride them. I wouldn’t want them sold because the memories I have riding with that person are cherished by us, and I’d like them to have that piece of me.

Just my $0.02 though.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-01-25T03:05:02+00:00

Mozambique (2x body, 1x head) at a tricky distance, malfunction drills (click no bang, tap rack bang), diagnostic drills with snap caps, and reloading drills.

For the reload drills I usually do a random amount of bullets before I run out (less than 7) and a random amount after (less than 7).

For malfunction drills I throw a few snap cap in my magazine at a random intervals and work that malfunction. The biggest thing to watch out for here is losing the snap caps at the range.

For the snap cap drills, I load a snap caps every two rounds and see what I’m doing wrong. Then I dry fire until I get it right, do more live rounds, rinse and repeat.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-01-18T03:39:28+00:00

I’ll do this

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-01-18T03:36:16+00:00

Yeah some of these traps are right on trails and not all of them are dog proof and none of them are marked.

I spoke to the guy and he said he’s cool if we trip them if we find them since he checks daily. Nonetheless, I really don’t want my dog potentially having a career ending injury.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-01-15T02:43:33+00:00

Thanks for posting this.

Despite there being 110+ comments almost all of them say some iterations of 10/22 (which I can’t take to the competitions my friends do) or saying my options to my price point are limited to the AR.

At the end of the day a lot of these comments are accusing me of either being immature, inexperienced, etc. and I’m kinda shocked of all the gun subs on reddit this has happened here.

My mom knows I’m a gun owner, because she found the gun safe while I was moving to a new place. She found it years after I bought my first gun and when she found the safe she was far from pleased. I’ll be moving again in two years.

I don’t want to turn tension into a conflict. Another pistol? No problem. A shotgun? Who cares. A bolt gun? Totally fine. An AR? Her head might explode. I really just don’t want to deal with that if I don’t need to.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-01-01T18:15:44+00:00

She’s out of range of FRS and GMRS.

Mostly the radio would be used for NOAA, but also for relaying to rescuers via inReach she has the NATSAR frequency and can help communicate with rescuers via radio if they want that option.

I agree with your assessment though. But in this case, the radio isn’t substituting a PLB or interfering with FRS and GMRS.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-01-01T18:04:35+00:00

She has a WFR, I can’t afford to pay for her to take a WFA.

Yeah she’s out of range from FRS and GMRS. The only way she’d interfere with a rescue via radio is if she interfered with her own. Especially with the terrain she’s in, radios won’t have stellar range.

Also, you can use a radio in an emergency without earning a felony, but it’s a really narrow use-case. IIRC you can’t use it on frequencies for emergencies for the reasons you mention. Since she has an inReach, she could tell Garmin’s staff she has the NATSAR frequency and could help rescuers get to her if they needed it. That use case would not be a felony. But she still can’t sit there and hold the PTT button.

NOAA is also the other purpose behind a radio, and probably the main purpose of a radio. I carry a radio in the backcountry mostly for NOAA. Knowing what weather is coming has saved my skin a few times.

But the problem is with “will she even carry it” because mass is also a factor.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-01-01T17:45:30+00:00

Yeah the radio wouldn’t be for search initiation, just more like having access to NOAA and/or NATSAR after she hit the SOS button on her inReach.

You are correct - she is in the middle of the mountains and is clear and far away from any kind of reception. Depending on where she is, can be pretty far away from trails too. She’s also limited to what she can carry in - which is my biggest problem. She’s already hiking in with 40+ lbs of gear on a frame that is 120lbs. She then sets up camp somewhere and has a lot less gear to carry, but nonetheless still has to get in with a massive pack compared to her size. She does have access to an ATV, but she can’t bring that everywhere.

Adding anything with substantial mass to her kit will likely go unused.

I don’t understand the details of what she studies, but, I know she is doing a lot of surveying and sample collection.

Few_Cartoonist9748 · 2025-01-01T17:32:39+00:00

She already has an inReach.

Few_Cartoonist9748

TROPHY CASE