They're our canine family members with a day job — and they work plenty of nights, too. The MARK-9 search dogs are owned by the handlers who work them and are trained collaboratively by their handlers, team trainers and outside coaches. These dogs generally work search for eight to ten years, and when they retire, they remain with the families they love. Each dog has a personality and charisma all his or her own, with two things in common: all our dogs are people-friendly, and they all love their work.

We happily announce honors recently received by two MARK-9 dogs: Saber, a roughcoat Collie handled by Fleta Kirk, won the American Kennel Club ACE award for Search Dog of the Year for 2004, and Hunter, a German Shepherd handled by Max Kirk, was a finalist for this award as well.