In Sweden, the breed may be affectionately called the “rat dog” for its passion for finding (and digging) into the burrows of rodents, but one Danish Swedish Farmdog had a taste for finding distressed people. “Skraalian” (now retired) passed his country’s incredibly difficult test to become a certified rescue dog.
To pass, “Skraalian” needed to show bravery and eagerness, but he also had to work close to fire, machinery noise, panicked people, as well as stand strong when 46 gunshots were fired nearby – and, he had to do all of the above at night, as well as the day. When “Skraalian” made a find, he barked loudly, not always easy when he had to wear fire-retardant boots in order to walk over glowing hot coals during a fire situation.
This little dog with a huge personality was recorded in the AKC’s Foundation Stock Service in 2011, and we predict that when more people catch wind of this terrific breed, no longer will we hear, ” A Danish Swedish what?”
Image by shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.