Group Hopes Search Dog Is Looking for Love

Romance was in the air this week when a black Labrador champion hunting dog was flown from Cleveland, Ohio, to LAX, where he was picked up and taken to Ojai to meet another black Lab named Murphy Black.

Murphy is a disaster search dog who participated in the rescue after the Oklahoma City bombing two years ago, said John Melville, a member of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation.

Melville’s wife, Wilma, founded the group.

The Melvilles hope Abe, the Ohio Lab, and Murphy Black will get along well enough that they will produce a litter of search puppies.

The dogs’ meeting will include a trip to the kennels of a veterinarian in Riverside who specializes in reproduction.

With the high transportation costs involved, the search-dog foundation wants to maximize the chances of a litter of December puppies.

If nature takes its course, the puppies will be raised by firefighters in California who volunteer to be keepers.

After a year, the puppies that show good rescue-dog qualities will begin the training program to become certified disaster search dogs.

Melville said dozens more disaster search dogs are needed in California. Currently, 14 have been certified by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation.