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Marie became a certified K9 SAR handler in 2006 with her first dog Kahlua. In 2008 she found her new partner Guinness, a male Bloodhound-Labrador from Mississippi, who she started training as an 8 week old puppy. From the start it was obvious that Guinness was a natural tracker and a great dog. They are certified as a level III team in both tracking/trailing and wilderness with Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs. Marie is also certified with National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) as a SARTECH II and as a team they have a NASAR Canine Sartech II area certification.
Summer of 2009 Marie and Guinness went to Washington State and completed the TTT (Tactical Tracker Teams) and Georgia K9 Academy's 40 hour Trailing Course and passed their level I certification. In April of 2010 they completed a 40 hour California POST and TTT continuing Course hosted by Placerville Police Department and Georgia K9 NTC.
In June of 2010 Guinness and Marie attended NAPWDA's (North American Police Work Dog Association) workshop in Blackfoot, Idaho, with focus on Trailing and HRD. Later that month they went to Cody, Wyoming for a 3 day HRD seminar hosted by NSDA (National Search Dog Alliance).
Marie and Guinness train 2-4 times a week, mostly distraction trails that have aged a couple of days. They train trailing in highly contaminated areas to prepare for any situations where a great trailing dog can make a difference.
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