June 6, 2010 - MDRD members train with the ARDA-PA team in Wernersville, PA.

June 1, 2010 – MDRD responds to a search for an injured 911 caller in Harford County whose exact location was unknown.

May 26, 2010 – MDRD members attend a Wilderness SAR course coordinated by the Harford County Technical Rescue Team.

May 15-16, 2010 – Congratulations to Kristyn Kelsch for passing her NASAR SAR Tech II test.

May 7-9, 2010 - Sharon Ballweg with K9 Miko and Lisa Kakavas with K9 Zildjian attend a HRD Building Search Seminar hosted by Bay Area Recovery Canines in Williamsburg, VA.

May 1, 2010 – MDRD responds to a search for a missing 9 year old autistic boy in Fair Hill, Cecil County.

April 23, 2010 – MDRD gives a demonstration for the Harford Girl Scouts at Harford Day School.  Jessica Cox with Shadow, Brian Cox with Kora and Tessie, Paul Manley with Nitro, and Lisa Kakavas with Cleo attend.

April 17, 2010 – MDRD holds its 5^th Annual Bull & Oyster Roast!  Proceeds from this event support unit operations, helping to defray training, equipment, and search deployment costs.  Thank you to all who supported MDRD during this event.  We can’t wait to see you all next year!

April 11, 2010 – MDRD sends 3 K9 teams to support the UMBC Managing Land Search Operations course.  Students of this course utilize actual SAR resources while managing a mock search set up by instructors.

April 3, 2010 – MDRD attends the statewide SAR Standards workshop in Howard County.  MDRD is a pre-qualified SAR team for both the Maryland State Police and the Maryland Natural Resources Police.

March 26-28, 2010 – Sharon Ballweg with K9 Miko and Lisa Kakavas with K9 Zildjian attend a HRD Building Search Seminar hosted by Bay Area Recovery Canines in Williamsburg, VA.

March 20, 2010 – Kirby Hill, K9 trainer, of Creature Comfort Inn in Strasburg, VA worked with MDRD members to troubleshoot and offer training guidance and feedback.

March 16, 2010 – Lisa Kakavas attends a seminar hosted by the Virginia Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators.  Instructor for the day was Dr. Elayne Pope discussing the burning process and its effects on the body and the implications for HRD K9 handlers.

March 13, 2010 – MDRD members attend the statewide Search and Rescue exercise.  Lisa Kakavas and Sharon Ballweg attend as instructors for the airscent K9 workshop.

March 7, 2010 – Lisa and Zildjian pass their Light Brush Assessment.  Evaluators were Brian Cox and Sharon Ballweg.  Thank you to Ben Chemelli for playing the subject.

February 28, 2010 – MDRD members join members of the Harford County Technical Rescue Team during a ropes/rescue training.

February 20, 2010 – MDRD gives a demonstration to boy scouts at Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation.

January 23, 2010 - Congratulations to Thomas Pate for passing his SARTECH® II certification.  Also, Sharon Ballweg, Donna Pate, and Lisa Kakavas are now SARTECH® II Evaluators.

January 9, 2010 – Lisa and Zildjian pass their Trail Assessment.

 

December 24, 2009 – MDRD responds to a search for a missing girl in Salisbury, MD.

 

November 22, 2009 – Lisa and Zildjian pass their Open Field Assessment.

 

November 21, 2009 – Sharon and Miko pass their Night Assessment.

 

November 7, 2009 – MDRD participates in and helps coordinate a mock search for Harford County Technical Rescue Team search managers.  Members from Susquehanna SAR (http://sqsar.com/default.htm) and Pleasant Hill Fire Department also participate.

 

October 27-31, 2009 –Lisa Kakavas with K9 Zildjian attends a seminar for Human Remains Detection hosted by Joe Canfield of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This seminar was taught by nationally known instructor Lisa Higgins and BARC’s (Bay Area Recovery Canines) Heather Roche. Highlights of the training were working the K9s on historical gravesites and having full access to an abandoned house and a large junkyard.

 

October 23-25, 2009 – Lisa Kakavas shadows the full unit evaluation of Headwaters Search and Rescue K9, ARDA-WI (http://www.hsark9.org/).  This is Lisa’s second shadowed evaluation, now making her a lead evaluator for ARDA.

 

October 17, 2009 – MDRD members attend a public relations event at Chestnut Ridge Volunteer Fire Company to help celebrate their open house.  Paul Manley with K9 Nitro and Lisa Kakavas with K9 Cleo attend.

October 10-11, 2009 – MDRD hosts the national ARDA (www.ardainc.org) conference, offering workshops in Human Remains Detection, Lost Person Behavior, Crime Scene Preservation, Critical Incident Stress Management, Base Camp Processes, Agility, Airscent, Trailing, and K9 Drives. MDRD would like to thank all of the instructors of the workshops, and especially thank the Harford County Sheriff’s Office and Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation for their incredible support.

September 27, 2009 – MDRD responds to a search in Manheim Township, PA for a missing woman.

August 22, 2009 – MDRD members attend a public relations event at Icelandic Sheepdog Association of America. Sharon Ballweg with K9 Miko and Lisa Kakavas with K9 Zildjian attend.

July 16, 2009 – MDRD members attend Organizational Day at Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Paul Manley with K9 Nitro, Sarah Troyer with K9 Morgan, Lisa Kakavas with K9s Cleo and Zildjian, and Jessica Cox attend.

July 4, 2009 – MDRD participates in the Bel Air Independence Day Parade.

June 13, 2009 – MDRD members attend a public relations event at Baron’s K9. Sharon Ballweg with K9 Miko and Lisa Kakavas with K9s Cleo and Zildjian attend.

May 8-10, 2009 – Lisa Kakavas shadows the full unit evaluation of Virginia Search and Rescue Dog Association (http://www.vsrda.org/). Every three years, each ARDA unit must undergo a rigorous evaluation of the unit as a whole (rather than individual handlers). A Unit Evaluator must shadow two evaluations before becoming a Lead Evaluator.

May 2, 2009 – MDRD members attend a public relations event at Linden Heights Methodist Church for a group of Girl Scouts. Paul Manley with K9 Nitro, Lisa Kakavas with K9s Cleo and Zildjian, Donna Stumpfel, and Thomas Pate attend.

April 24-26, 2009 – Brian Cox with K9s Kora and Tessy, and Lisa Kakavas with K9 Zildjian attend a seminar for Human Remains Detection hosted by Joe Canfield of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This seminar was taught by Heather Roche of Bay Area Recovery Canines. Highlights of the training were working the K9s on old slave gravesites and having full access to a junkyard.

April 18, 2009 – MDRD holds its 4th Annual Bull & Oyster Roast. This event was as successful and fun as the previous three, and we look forward to next year’s Bull Roast. MDRD would like to thank all of those who supported this major fundraising event by donating items for door prizes, buying ad space on our placemat, and buying tickets to the event.

April 11, 2009 – Sharon and Miko pass their Light Brush Assessment.

April 5, 2009 – MDRD sends 3 K9 teams to New Germany State Park to participate in a mock search for UMBC’s Managing Land Search Operations course.

April 4, 2009 – Five MDRD members attend a seminar hosted by Chesapeake Search Dogs on K9 First Aid for the Working Dog.  Presenter was Dr. Paul McNamara, DVM, DACVS from New York.

March 15-21, 2009 –Lisa Kakavas with K9 Zildjian attend a week long seminar for Human Remains Detection hosted by Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.  Instructors were Lisa Higgins with the State of Louisiana Search and Rescue Division, Jan Scofield with NAPWDA (Master Trainer) and NNDDA (National Instructor), and John Snow with Florida Wildlife Commission (retired Master K9 Trainer).

March 2, 2009 - MDRD responds to a Centreville, MD search where Brian Cox with K9 Kora find the missing 79 year old man after a record snowstorm.   View article

 

February 28, 2009 – Congratulations to Mike Calkins, Vickie Maas, and Leigh Miller for passing their SARTECH® II certification.

 

February 15, 2009 – Congratulations to Brian and Tessy, Lisa and Zildjian for passing their obedience assessment.

 

February 15, 2009 – Sharon and Miko pass their Dense Brush Assessment. 

 

January 24, 2009 – Sharon and Miko pass their Trail Assessment.

 

November 8, 2008 – Sharon and Miko pass their Open Field Assessment.

 

October 12, 2008 – Sharon and Miko pass the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen test.

 

September 6, 2008 – Congratulations to Sharon Ballweg, Jessica Cox, Donna Stumpfel, and Sarah Troyer for passing their SARTECH® II certification.

 

August 17, 2008 – Brian Cox, Jessica Cox, Lisa Kakavas, Donna Stumpfel, and Sarah Troyer pass the Managing Land Search Operations course.

 

July 26, 2008 – Vickie and General pass their Open Field Assessment.

 

July 4, 2008 – Jessica and Shadow pass their Open Field Assessment.   Sarah and Morgan pass their Open Field Assessment also.

 

June 29, 2008 – Sharon and Miko, and Jessica and Shadow, pass their obedience assessment.

 

May 11, 2008 - MDRD qualified for and passed testing to ARDA Type B Unit standards. This required 2 operational K9 teams, 1 K9 team in training and an operational base camp. The evaluation involved a full weekend of testing from 4 ARDA unit evaluators. The evaluation takes a wholistic approach and not only looks at operational teams but MDRD as a whole. The team met or exceeded all requirements.

 

April 20, 2008 – Congratulations to Brian Cox and Lisa Kakavas for passing their SARTECH® II certification.

 

March 9, 2008 – Brian Cox and K9 Kora pass their Wilderness Certification in Virginia.  Excellent job!  Thank you to VSRDA team evaluators Jen Massey and Scott Cates for evaluating.

 

February 24, 2008 – Lisa Kakavas and K9 Cleo recertify in Virginia for Wilderness search.  Thank you to VSRDA team evaluators Jen Massey and Scott Cates for setting up the recertification evaluation.

 

November 29, 2007 - MDRD receives a letter of appreciation from the Southwest Regional Police Department related to the previous search. View letter

 

November 5, 2007 - MDRD responds to a York County search for a missing elderly man.  Lisa Kakavas and K9 Cleo make the find!   View Article

 

May 20, 2007 – Congratulations to Paul Manley for passing his SARTECH® II certification.

 

July, 8 2006 - Cecil County: MDRD responds to a search for a missing elderly woman.  Lisa Kakavas and K9 Cleo make the find. This is MDRD's first find.