Four-legged hero retires from rescue career in Penticton, B.C.

“I'm proud of him and I'm proud of the work that he's done."

It’s the end of an era for a 12-year-old golden retriever named Sam, as his rescue career comes to a close this week.

Sam is Penticton Fire Chief Larry Watkinson’s canine companion and trained disaster response dog. The pair belongs to the Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue team.

“It’s a light urban search and rescue team that is rapidly able to deploy in 48 hours to international, domestic, catastrophic events being in an urban environment. Where there’s building collapsed or otherwise and our team can go in and search,” said Watkinson.

“I’m proud of him and I’m proud of the work that he’s done. Although it’s been short-lived experiences over a 10-year career with this team.”

The partnership began after a friend suggested Watkinson train his next dog for disaster response after the fire chief lost his Dalmatian a decade ago.

Research led Watkinson to choose a purebred golden retriever.

“Golden purebreds are a very common kind of search and rescue dog and have all the demeanour that goes with it. They have to have zero aggression — Sam is not very aggressive and is very lovey,” he said.

“He also has the nose for the work, too, and agility.”