Interview with Jennifer Jordan Hall, the handler of “Pocket,” AKC Humane Fund ACE Award Winner – Search And Rescue Dog.
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Jennifer Jordan Hall: Pocket is a 10-year-old Parson Russell Terrier (PRT). She began training to be a Search Dog when she was a tiny puppy. She is nationally certified in trailing (scent-specific live person) and finding human remains on land, water, and in forensic cases. Pocket had her first live find when she was just two years old. About four years ago, a forensic anthropologist whom Pocket and I had been working with in criminal cases asked Pocket to search for ancient Native American remains. I was not sure what would happen, but Pocket surprised everyone and she found 1,000-year-old human remains. It was so incredible! She and younger brother Wick have now found remains at least 2,000 years old. This work is called archaeological human remains detection (HRD). Pocket and Wick are one of a very small number of dogs that perform archaeological HRD searches.
Jennifer Jordan Hall: Parson Russell Terriers are not a breed typically associated with search work, but they are the perfect breed for me. They are smart, athletic, and tenacious with incredible drive. They are small (16-18 lbs.) but fantastic at their job, which they love. Over the past 18 years, I have trained four Parson Russell Terriers to be Search Dogs: Scout, Remy, Pocket, and Wick. Currently, I work with Pocket and Wick. The PRT’s independence, intelligence, and strong will make them very challenging to train. They both exhaust me and fill me with joyful energy. I am honored to be their partner.
Jennifer Jordan Hall: Pocket and I have searched for people in many different locations. We have searched schools and homes, warehouses and abandoned buildings, farms and campsites. We have searched fields and woods, streams and railroad tracks, urban centers and Appalachian towns, deep lakes and flooded rivers. We have searched in a bass boat, a jon boat, a large U.S. Coast Guard cutter, and a canoe. We have searched mine-stripped mountains, briar-filled underbrush, and cavernous caves. Our work has taken us to Oregon and Louisiana, throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky and every Midwest state, and to New York and Connecticut.
Jennifer Jordan Hall: A few years ago, a young paramedic, Brittney, had been missing for seven days and her family feared that she might be suicidal. Police thought that Search Dogs could not follow a seven-day-old urban trail, but that is exactly what Pocket did. She followed Brittney’s scent trail for three miles, heading in the opposite direction of previous search efforts. Pocket worked through a crowded street, down a set of stairs, across a parking lot, through woods with heavy underbrush, and through a field. She worked down a lonely highway before heading under a guard rail. I followed Pocket, sliding down a steep embankment where I saw Brittney lying face down. Pocket went up and gently touched her nose to Brittney’s head several times. Pocket then looked at me and quietly sat down as if she were standing vigil.
Jennifer Jordan Hall: I am blessed to be Pocket’s partner. Pocket loves to work, and when we train she brings joy and a smile to my face. Her intelligence and tenacity, while helping her excel at her job, have also forced me to become a much better handler. For that I am grateful. When Pocket has found a missing person alive, she brings families joy and relief. When Pocket has found a missing person who has died, families are devastated. But they are also amazingly grateful to Pocket. To see that thankfulness and connection at a time of such grief is to see the best in humanity. That is an incredible gift that Pocket has given me and the families she has helped.
American Kennel Club (AKC)
Meet Flint, a German Shepherd Dog honored with the AKC Humane Fund ACE Award for Search & Rescue disaster response with Jennifer Michelson.
