He’s certified in search and rescue. But Thor, the Doberman of search & rescue Dog trainer and former Vietnam war combat medic James Ward, has upped his searching skill a notch.
After all, Thor can now find a dead body in the woods.
TRAINING THOR
James, married to Donna Mauricio, has been living in the Philippines for the past seven or so years. He relates that it all started with a female Doberman he brought with him from Dallas, Texas when he arrived in the Philippines.
When the Dog gave birth to eight puppies, he was in a quandary as to what to do with them.
“They were high-energy Dogs. They needed to be exercised a lot or [they’d] get cranky,” he explained. “A friend introduced us to a search and rescue guy down in Santo Tomas, [Batangas]. We went down and started training every Sunday for the past three and a half years.”
Thor, one of the eight puppies, became a star pupil. He trained at Mt. Makiling for mountain search and rescue, then at the Magdalena River in Laguna with the Philippine Air Force (PAF) search and rescue team for river training.
James stressed that training must be every week. “Once they learn search and rescue, you have to keep doing it,” he explained. “Because if you don’t keep them active doing search and rescue, they consider it not important. They think you consider it not important for them to keep knowing it.”
After weekly training sessions, the PAF rescue team asked if Thor could find a body in the river.
ELITE NOSE
A guy from the PAF team laid on a rock pretending to be hurt in the middle of the river some two kilometers away. The team made Thor smell the guy’s cap and, after the “search” command, they let him go.
James watched his Dog take off. “He smells air scent,” James observed. “He [doesn’t] smell with his nose on the ground.”
Thor went through the woods and down by the creek, then the river. He jumped in the water and started swimming out to the rock where the guy was.
According to the PAF team, it would have taken them at least 45 minutes to find their target. Thor reached him in five minutes.
[Thor] smells air scent. He [doesn’t] smell with his nose on the ground.
GETTING READY
“A Dog’s nose is very, very sensitive compared to ours,” James continues. “They can smell another Dog or a Cat a block away, and you won’t even see [them]. But they can smell [them]. That’s why they’re good for search and rescue.”
In times of disasters, volunteers like James and Thor, other groups handling disaster- trained Dogs, and the Philippine Air Force search teams appear on the scene to help out.
“Each Dog has a canine handler. They work with that handler, and they work as a team, but they search separately,” James explains. “I’m mainly a trainer. I train these guys how to work with the Dogs.
”You have to watch your Dog, and you have to know the Dog. You have to watch their ears. You have to watch their eyes, their body language. They can tell you that they’re getting near, if you watch them and pay attention.
“We’re training constantly for the big disasters that happen here in the Philippines.”
CANINE MILITARY SERGEANT
When Thor developed chronic kidney disease in March 2024, he had to be put down. His legacy lives on in his daughter Aenid, who’s undergoing training too as a search and rescue Dog.
Thor was named Honorary Search Dog for the Central Intelligence Agency in the US . He received a full military funeral with honors at the 402nd Cavite Community Defense Center (CDC) at Camp Riego de Dios in Tanza, Cavite. He was also given a 21-gun salute.
The video of his full military funeral is on Facebook.
LEAVING A LEGACY
Thor was given the rank of first Sergeant K9 (Reservist) from the 402nd CDC R4CDG. He paved the way for future military Dogs to have full military funerals at the 402nd K9 command. He also led the way for the First Philippine Canine Center to be established at the military camp in Tanza, Cavite.
He has left us with the legacy of leading the movement for K9 Dogs to have promotions in the military.
IT’S ALL IN THE EYES
How do you know if the Dog trusts and respects you enough to work with you?
“He will look you in the eye,” James says. James stresses the importance of the bond between the Dog and their handler when they’re on mission. He explains that most Dogs don’t look a human in the eye. They also don’t like any person who’s not their owner or handler to look them in the eye — they would feel threatened otherwise.
“If the Dog doesn’t trust the handler, [they’re] not going to work well. That’s what we teach the handlers,” James says. “They have to treat their Dogs with respect so the Dogs will respect them back. You can’t hit your Dog, kick your Dog, or do anything like that. If you don’t like what the Dogs are doing, just correct them.
“Just respect the Dog.”
DEDICATED DOBERMAN
If you think the story of Hachiko (1923-1935) in Japan is moving, there was Kabar (1922-1929), the Doberman of Rudolph Valentino, an actor of silent film fame.
When Kabar was still a puppy, he was presented to Valentino as a gift and became a constant companion. Valentino took Kabar with him everywhere. The Dog shared Valentino’s first class quarters in trains and ships whenever they travelled.
When Valentino left for New York in 1926 for the shooting of The Son of the Sheik, he left Kabar behind. Unfortunately, Valentino died there of peritonitis. He never returned to Los Angeles and to Kabar who was waiting for him. The Dog was said to have howled mournfully and cried for days, making the other Dogs in Valentino’s estate to howl along, too.
his human’s death. He refused to eat
and eventually died of a broken heart after attempting to escape and find his human. (The Canine Chronicle)
After a time, Kabar escaped. Months later when he was found, the Dog was in terrible condition: His paws were raw and he looked very emaciated. Reports said he might have been trying to travel to New York to look for his human.
Kabar was returned to Valentino’s home, but his health continued to fail as he refused to eat. He died soon after, and Valentino’s family buried him at the Los Angeles Pet Cemetery.
It was believed that Kabar literally died of a broken heart.
