Paul Hamman
AMPWDA Instrcutor/Evaluator
Search and Rescue started for Paul when he and his wife Gail
rescued Mallie in 2016, a Chocolate Lab, that had been loose around
New Orleans. Mallie was terrible on the leash, pulling and nose down
all the time, so the thought was she might make a good search dog.
After a few phone calls we were able to contact ChesCO Search Dogs
in PA and were invited to attend a training day. We had the
opportunity to observe the different dogs work and also talk with
the handlers.
Since Mallie couldn’t be trusted off lead, trailing really was the
only option plus at the time, the team didn’t have any trailing
dogs, so the decision was made, and the SAR/Mantrailing training
began.
SAR/Mantrailing milestones:
2017 NASAR SARTECH II Certification
2018 NASAR Canine SARTECH II Certification
2019 AMPWDA Basic Mantrailing
2020 NASAR Canine SARTECH II Re-certification
2021 AMPWDA Level III (Distinguished Expert) Mantrailing
2022 NASAR Canine SARTECH II Re-certification
2022 AMPWDA Level III (Distinguished Expert) Mantrailing
2024 NASAR Lead Evaluator SARTECH III, SARTECH II, and K9 SARTECH II
Trailing
2024 AMPWDA K9 Trainer – Evaluator
2024 NASAR Canine SARTECH II Re-certification
Paul completed the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training
in 2019 and has been a CERT Instructor since 2023. Other courses
completed include Wilderness Emergency Care/First Responder, K9
First Aid, Autism Spectrum Disorder: First Responders and Law
Enforcement, plus numerous others.
Retired from the Marine Corps in 1993 he has maintained his USMC
affiliation as a member/officer in the Marine Corps League Diamond
State Detachment 704 in DE.
After his second retirement in 2019 Paul joined DelMarVa Search and
Rescue. As of January 2024, he has assumed the duties of President
of the team.
He is training Dolce, their 2-year-old Chocolate Lab in mantrailing
to eventually fill Mallie’s shoes when she is eventually retired
from Search and Rescue.
