PPA dog handler: Maik dealt well with US soldier search tragedy

A Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) dog handler who took part in the search for a US soldier who went missing during a military exercise in Lithuania and was later tragically found to have died, spoke to "Terevisioon" on Thursday.
Risto Kotkas appeared on the show with Maik, the four-year-old German shepherd dog responsible for the sad find.
Kotkas said that Maik performed very well in his search, both on dry land and in the water, after a U.S. armored vehicle sank several meters down into a swamp, in the Pabrade training area, and also dealt well with his first ever helicopter flight.
Kotkas said: "At the start of the week we received a message that our Lithuanian colleagues needed help in locating a missing U.S. soldier."
"It was the first time our dogs had flown in a military helicopter. Maik is four years old and hadn't had any experience flying in a helicopter, but the dogs handled the flight well and the stress was minimal – they didn't bark or whine. Upon arrival, they were immediately ready to get to work," Kotkas said.
That did not mean that the job was enjoyable. Maik had to be placed on a rigid inflatable to conduct the search, getting a scent from that point.
"Searching from the boat was a very pleasant experience for him," Kotkas noted, adding: "He handled his task very well."

Maik was one of two Estonian PPA dogs taken to the site. Tiit, the other canine, was held in reserve; both had been trained to search both for the living and the deceased.
"Maik was the dog primarily involved on site. The other dog, Tiit, was in reserve. Maik searched on both water and land. The task was to find the person as quickly as possible. Searching on water with a dog must be kept separate from other activities – excavators, for example, cannot be digging nearby at the same time," the handler explained.
Even so, Kotkas noted that the dog felt much more comfortable in the working environment for which he has been trained that, for example, inside a TV studio.
"Right now, Maik is whimpering, wants to get to work and doesn't understand why we aren't searching already. Police dogs are full of energy, so if we put them on pause and make them lie down, it actually causes stress – they want to be active."
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Editor: Andrew Whyte