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Buzz attended dog school with Jan Brennan for several years. Jan is a vet, who also trains dogs for Search and Rescue and sits on the Homeland Security Board to represent the Search and Rescue dog community. So. Dogs go to her for initial training, then for obedience training, and finally, for Open training - no limits. As can be seen, the dogs learn skills that would be useful in collapsed buildings.

I have to admit, I don't exactly know the purpose of the exercise below, but I'm certain it was very useful.

Buzz and Wayne were pretty regular attendees for about 4 years, and it was a wonderful thing. I think being constantly asked to do different tasks really kept Buzz's head in the game, as well as reinforcing the notion that he had to actually pay attention to us (at least, to Wayne) because we might be asking something different of him. The session content varied week-to-week, but I'd characterize it as improving the dogs' agility and willingness to listen. As you can see, the dogs had to walk on moving surfaces, then wait for commands from their handlers. After work, though, there was always a play session. The yellow lab on the ramp and in the last photo is Buzz's favorite play partner, Elliot.