Photos by AUTHOR and/or UPMV K9 CORPS
The first thing people always notice is his goofy yet ever-so-impish grin, offset by his perpetually lolled tongue, all framed by his big brown eyes and floppy velvet-black ears — the happy result of his Golden Retriever and Dachshund heritage. The second thing that never fails to catch onlookers’ attention is the big nameplate on his K9 service Dog collar, emblazoned with his name: BAGNET.
“Why that name?” I’m always asked, and I wish the answer could be as straightforward. My family’s beloved old Dachshund, Vienna, had been a fixture in our lives for many years. She was a quiet and gentle soul who, in her old age, discovered that she could clamber into my bed and sleep in my arms. And she was quite the sausage, hence her name.
It was a long while before we felt we were ready for another Dog, but we wanted it to be another Dachshund. On my brother’s suggestion, we all agreed that we would name them Bagnet.
BIG MISCHIEF IN A SMALL PACKAGE
We picked him out of a lineup of puppies because of his mischievous smirk. I carried Bagnet home the day we got him. He was just a teeny spud, but so full of energy! Who knew such a small thing could have a bark to rival Dogs over five times his size?
He would run all over the place, sinking his teeth into anything he could get his jaws on. A couple of tables, a bag, a pair of headphones, and a dozen mismatched slippers later, we knew something had to be done.
Clearly, Dog training was in order. But where and how? I found a few trainers for hire online who offered to either take Bagnet in or come to the house to teach him basic commands. Apart from cost, I wasn’t keen on putting him through boarding school nor having a stranger in our home. Then a friend suggested the UPMV K9 Corps, which I was told offered free Dog training every Saturday in UP Diliman.
GETTING READY FOR “THE BIG ONE”
I knew, of course, that there’s no such thing as a free lunch: It came with physical training for the handlers, too, including everything from rappelling to collapsed structure search-and-rescue. As I soon learned, the UPMV K9 Corps’ entire raison d’etre is to train volunteers and their Dogs to assist in the event of “The Big One” earthquake that could hit Metro Manila at any time.
As a fortysomething bespectacled geek whose main bread and butter is writing on a laptop and whose idea of fun is board games and comics, this was completely uncharted territory for me. And I couldn’t imagine our short, goofy Bagnet being a search-and-rescue K9! I hugged him close and promised him we’d only go as far as our proverbial legs could take us: If either of us couldn’t stand it anymore and wanted out, we would quit. “Kahit hanggang saan lang tayo umabot,” I reassured him.
The next 20 weeks saw Bagnet and I waking up early every Saturday to come to UP Diliman’s Department of Military Science and Tactics for physical training — for the both of us!
I soon found that, contrary to popular belief, Dog training is more about learning to communicate than it is about teaching them to do something.
We were also taught the importance of paying close attention to what our Dogs are saying, not just through their barks but also through their body language.
“Your Dogs already know how to sit, lie down, stay in place, and approach you; they also instinctively know how to look for people. The trick is letting them know when they need to do it,” UPMV K9’s founding president Jon Sarmiento kept reminding us.
A GEEK AND HIS DOG
By the time we graduated from the basic course, Bagnet and I could confidently go to malls and parks without either of us worrying about making a mess or disturbing other people. I use Tagalog commands to tell him what to do: “upo,” “higa,” “diyan ka lang,” “halika rito.” He’s even learned to sit patiently in a chair at any table I’m at, whether I’m eating a meal alone or playing games with friends.
Most of all, we hope we can be of help when we are called to service for search and rescue. These are lessons that Bagnet and I learned — and are still learning everyday — as we continue to grow together as a team. But there are many things that Bagnet has taught me himself: the value of patience, empathy, and kindness, and of taking care of myself so that I can be there for him and for others. He makes me a better person.
Bagnet greets me every morning with his big goofy grin and I wonder if he will ever really understand how much I’m thankful to him for.
Follow Bagnet’s further adventures on Instagram at @hoybagnet.
Timothy James M. Dimacali is a professional science communicator, futurist, and science fictionist. He is also an active member of the University of the Philippines – Metro Manila Development Authority – Vanguard, Inc. K9 Search and Rescue Corps (UPMV K9 Corps).
Established in 2017, the Corps provides free Search and Rescue training to help civilian volunteers and their Dogs play active roles in disaster response efforts. As of April 2024, there are already close to a hundred handlers and K9s in the program, with Batch 11 already in training. For inquiries, please email [email protected] or call/ text 09177922194.
