January 27, 2011 8:21:00 pm
by Mary Beth Smetzer, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Associated Press
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — As 8-year-old Toby closed in on a sunspot reflecting off the side of a leather couch, Marty Williams pointed out that the German shepherd's intense focus is called "prey drive" in search and rescue circles.
Prey drive is just one of the canine attributes that make for a successful search and rescue dog. And Toby is a veteran seeker.
Toby, a certified search and rescue dog, trained under his late father, Fritz. But Williams has another up-and-coming talent, 1-year-old Maya, also a German shepherd, now Toby's protege.
"Maya, she's going to be a firecracker," Williams predicts. "She has the fundamentals down real well. Now we have to fine tune her."
For more than a decade, Williams, 53, has been a member of the local PAWS search and rescue group, a nonprofit group of volunteers who locate missing people — someone who may have strayed away from home or become lost in the woods, as well as drowning victims. And from time to time, PAWS members may be involved in criminal investigations.
Raised in Alaska, Williams has worked as a commercial pilot and feels confident searching the Bush.
The big game trophies on his living room wall, ranging from musk ox to moose, attest to his outdoor skills.
"Marty has lot of energy and is very devoted to his dogs and spends a lot of time working with them," said Cathie Harms, the only remaining charter member of PAWS who still lives in the Interior.
PAWS' roots date back to 1985 and a three-day wilderness search for a woman and family members who became lost while berry picking. A couple of local dog trainers were called in on the third day and were hot on their trail when an air searcher located the lost party a short distance away, Harms said.
Like Williams, Harms works a full-time job, and trains and works her German shepherd, Link, Toby's brother, in her spare time.
"In Europe, search and rescue is a career choice," Harms said. "But in the U.S. there are enough wing nuts to do it for free."
Williams grew up with German shepherds as pets, and when Fritz came into his life he realized Fritz needed a job and PAWS was the likely answer.
Williams joined the group in 1998.
"You're responsible for training your own dog, but you have guidance from the older members," Williams explained.
"I know a lot more about dog training than I did 15 years ago," he said, "and we're learning more all the time."
The local group invites Outside trainers for classes, and Williams teaches classes Outside, where he says he always picks up more information.
He also speaks to elementary and high school classes locally about trail and scent searching with trained dogs.
Water searches are Williams' favorite, in part because they are intangible — a mystery to be solved — and the dog senses what its trainer can't see.
"Toby gets so excited when we go out in a boat ride with the wind in his face. Then we go to work. The dog tells you where it's at. You have to trust your dog. You don't get to help; it's all dog," Williams explained. "We never find the body, the divers find them."
But Williams points out that a dog is not a sure thing in search and rescue.
"Every dog is different and they make mistakes," he said. "They're just another tool."
PAWS members meet regularly every Saturday for training either indoors or outdoors. During the warmer months, training sessions are more frequent.
North Pole veterinarian Margy Eastman said Williams is a good dog person and has taught her a lot during PAWS training sessions.
"He's very capable and he's kind of the epitome of Alaskan self-reliance," she said. "He's an experienced pilot, and he's very comfortable in the back country, and that's not suitable for everybody."
Eastman said Williams is good at reading terrain and wind and sets up some challenging problems for training searches.
"The best way to see the woods around Fairbanks is to have Marty set up a problem for your dog," Eastman said.
Eastman did search and rescue in Wisconsin previous to moving to Alaska in 2004, where, she said, you can see 30 feet in front of you and between trees, not like Alaska's often unpenetrateable wilderness.
It's nice, Eastman said, to have somebody on the team, able to pick up his gear and be flown to a remote location to assist in a search.
"Marty's dogs are fit and acclimated as well," she added. "He's dedicated countless hours and provided good reliable search help for law enforcement when they needed it.
Harms, who works at the Alaska Department of Fish and Wildlife, agrees.
"Marty has high drive dogs. They're not couch potatoes — they work hard; they work fast, they are very focused."
As a search organizer, Harms said, she doesn't have to worry when Williams is out on a cross-country wilderness search.
"His dogs don't get lost, and he doesn't get lost. He knows how to handle himself in the wilds; he knows how to get around," Harms said.
When not working, Toby and Maya are house pets at the Williams homestead.
Williams, a longtime employee at N.C. Machinery, takes personal leave when necessary to assist on searches locally or in remote areas of the Interior.
In September, Williams and Toby survived an aircraft accident on their return home from the western Alaska village of Tuluksak, where they had been searching for a missing man. The plane crashed into trees at the end of the village runway at takeoff.
Both were banged up, and Williams assisted in giving first aid to the pilot and Alaska State Trooper who were injured more severely.
But the experience won't keep Williams and his dogs from going out again.
"We don't intentionally put ourselves in jeopardy," he said.