Dr. John Berberian: A Dog Rescued in Oregon Returns the Favor as a Search and Rescue Dog
A Dog Rescued in Oregon Returns the Favor as a Search and Rescue Dog
For most of his life, Dr. John Berberian has touted the extraordinary rewards that tend to come with giving a rescue dog a second lease on life. While there is no shortage of stories centered around a rescue dog providing a lifetime of love and happiness to its new family, no story of a rescue dog taking full advantage of its second chance at life is more powerful than the story of Forrest – a rescued black Labrador retriever that is now returning the favor by serving as a search and rescue canine for the Search Dog Foundation.
After being rescued in Oregon, Forrest completed months of training with the Search Dog Foundation – an organization supported by Farmers Insurance that is dedicated to training dogs for search and rescue roles. According to John Berberian, the Search Dog Foundation is an excellent organization with a history of giving second chances to rescue dogs such as Forrest. In order to actually make the cut, though, a dog needs to exhibit all of the skills and behaviors required of a pup that is charged with a task as important as finding and rescuing survivors in disaster areas.
Fortunately, Forrest has excelled at his training and has already been paired with his new partner, first responder Tom Simons. In the years to come, this courageous duo will be deployed to emergency sites across the country in order to assist those who are affected by both man-made and natural disasters. John Berberian points out, though, that the Search Dog Foundation would have set Forrest up with a comfortable new life even if he had not been able to complete his training; as an organization that focuses on recruiting rescue dogs, the Search Dog Foundation is committed to caring for all of the dogs they take in even when those dogs aren’t able to meet the rigorous standards required of a search and rescue dog.
However, thanks to his intelligence, loyal demeanor, and ability to overcome all of the obstacles put in his way, Forrest can now look forward to a new life helping others. It’s a beautiful end to a heartwarming story, and one that John Berberian hopes will help bring attention to other dogs such as Forrest who are in need of rescue. All over the country, rescue dogs such as Forrest are waiting for another chance at a happy life. While Forrest’s new role as a search and rescue dog is certainly a happy ending to his story, there are still many more happy endings left to write before all of the rescue dogs awaiting a new home are given the opportunity they deserve.