RESCUE COCO now works for HRD as a CADAVER DOG

HAPPY DOGGY NEWS was lucky to start talking with Andrew the other week who is the proud owner of COCO the gorgeous German Shepherd.

Andrew told us COCO’S story and we were so amazed at this beautiful girl’s work, we wanted to share it with ALL of our readers.

‘COCO (along with her Dad handler Andrew) is part of the wonderful company HRDUK who help bring closure to families that have lost loved ones through their work as CADAVER DOGS.

HAPPY DOGGY NEWS has only seen the COCO’S of the world on T.V. and so are thrilled to be meeting this special girl.

Andrews story…..

A few years ago whilst working as a caretaking, looking after a disused equestrian centre and golf club, we had lots of empty buildings and 150 acres of land. The Police dog units and Police firearms units used this land for their training.

One of the Police dog trainers used to do some private training on his rest days. After the loss of my black lab Duke, just before the middle of the pandemic, a German Shepherd came up for rescue at the local RSPCA centre.

HANDSOME BOY DUKE AND THE BEAUTIFUL GIRL COCO

I was in luck and chosen to be the person to rescue her. They had very little history about COCO apart from she had been rescued by the Police in a raid. They had tried her as a Police dog but she would not bark or bite on the training sleeve they use, they gave her to the RSPCA.

One day while I was watching the Police training, I was asked if COCO would like to see if she fancied having a go at CADAVER HRD training. COCO took to it so well that we both were hooked. That has led me to where we are both now with monthly training with a Police trainer. I also do my training a couple of times a week.

In the training, we start with pork as it decomposes at a similar rate to human tissue. Then we move on to human teeth, hair, blood and human bones (pre 1940). It is great for COCO to keep her mind working and you can see that she loves doing this.’

Fascinating right! How life takes you down roads you would have never expected. If you are willing to try new things, it will take you on enriching journeys just like COCO and Andrew are experiencing.

This is a story of jumping in the deep end with a wing and a prayer and finding a life which is not only wonderful for yourself but helps others in a way which you would never have thought of!

Andrew also told us….. ‘It is also good for me with lots of exercise. It is good for me mentally, reading and researching how dogs work with their noses. There is a great community spread all across the World to talk to that will pass on their wealth of experience!

COCO looks forward to work as soon as she puts on her work harness. It’s nose down and off we go!

For me, it’s great to get up in the morning and start working on the CADAVER HRD news that I write. Plus I am on the new venture 4 licensed CADAVER DOG HANDLERS which have set up HRDUK.’

HRDUK is a Cadaver Dog/Human Remains Detection team, based in the UK, dedicated to assisting those in need. We train regularly with a Master Trainer for continuation training, as well as together as a team, and have a good supply of dogs and handlers in training. We cover the whole of England and Wales, with connections to RRI (Response Rescue International) Scotland, who have a strong HRD/cadaver section.