On a search, dog & handler may need to be lowered - over a cliff or the side of a building, for example. Many handlers learn rappelling, and how to bring their dogs down with them. The dogs don’t like it any more than some handlers:
Ten Meter Rappel
To step feet-first backward off the cliff,
into sky above rock rubble –
can you trust rope, rigging, hasty-harness
you learned to knot of green webbing?
Did you get it right? You,
the outsider here, search-dog handler
at Mountain Rescue training.
You overhear, “I hate rappelling,
it’s so dangerous.”
No one would notice you slip away,
back home. But isn’t that
what they expect? Would they trust you
on a search? Credibility, honor
of the whole dog team….
Let yourself down that rope,
hand-over-hand till you hit
something to stand on.
You may die, but not a coward.
Light-headed first step
is hardest, over the edge,
and down….
~ Taylor Graham
