K9 Tamarack

Tamarack (Tam for short) is a 3-year-old Red Fox Lab who was graciously donated to Idaho Disaster Dogs by Songbird Farms Labrador’s in Rathdrum, Idaho. He is a fun loving, intelligent, excitable, and hard-working dog.  He loves working with Idaho Disaster Dogs.  Even though he is a working dog, it’s all play for him.  He loves going over all the agility props and loves searching.  Tam is a recovery dog.  It is amazing how fast these search dogs find their targets.

In the fall of 2022, Tam got to go on his first airplane ride.  He rode up in the cabin of the airliner to California when he attended a training at the National Search Dog Foundation site in Santa Paula, CA.  That training site is amazing, and Tam experienced a lot of new challenges to add onto his previous training. Being able to travel in various forms is not only critical for training, but also for deployments.

When Tam is not working, his favorite past time is swimming. When he gets to combine swimming with his other favorite activity, playing fetch, that is the ultimate excitement.  He loves to run full speed and jump off the end of the dock to retrieve the ball out in the water. 

At home Tam loves to be outside.  There are a lot of wild rabbits around the house that cohabitate with him.  He does not chase them, and they are not afraid of him.  It’s fun to watch him hanging out with the rabbits.  When a deer comes into the yard to visit, Tam runs to the other side of the house.

Tam spends almost every day hanging out at Shoshone County Fire District in the Kellogg station.  His handler (Scott) works for the fire district. Whenever Scott goes on an errand or responds to an incident, Tam rides along with him.  Both Tam and Scott have learned so much together over the last few years. They have become quite an inseparable team together. Next time you’re in Kellogg, stop by the fire station and say hi.

CritterDoc Corner:

A favorite treat that I recommend is a frozen stuffed Kong. It's great for teething puppies, crate training, positive reward, distraction, separation anxiety, and as a cool summer chew. I mix a few kibbles with either canned dog food, peanut butter, bananas, canned pumpkin, or mashed sweet potato. Fill a Kong with the mixture and freeze until hard. Always supervise your pet with any chew treat or toy.