Bali Dog Names

Andy Wibowo is a former swimmer whose specialty was the butterfly stroke; he won a bronze medal in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games. Andy is also the name of a Golden Retriever who was successful at Search and Rescue. The pup came to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation from Golden Retriever Rescue of Wisconsin (GRRoW). Andy was having a hard time finding a home, having lived with two different families before winding up at a midwest shelter. He had a lot of energy and enthusiasm and turned out to be too much for either family to handle. When GRRow found him at the shelter, the could see immediately that Andy wanted a job. While it is not unusual for adolescent Golden Retrievers to have a lot of energy, Andy’s was apparently off the charts. He definitely needed a direction for all of that energy and fortunately, GRRoW had the idea to connect him with the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation.

Andy was accepted into the Search Dog Foundation’s program with part of his training being paid for through a memorial fund that was established by the Haberman Family. The Haberman’s daughter, Andrea, passed away in the World Trade Center attack and he was named Andy to honor Andrea’s memory. Prior to starting his training, Andy moved into a Canine Prep home with an employee of the Search Dog Foundation, Kerry Ballantine.  After his time with Kerry, Andy spent the next six months undergoing intense and specialized training at Sundowners Training Kennels in Gilroy, CA. With what seemed like endless energy, Andy was able to get through the program, where he learned advanced obedience, how to understand verbal and non-verbal commands, searching through rubble piles, walking on shifting and unstable surfaces, climbing ladders, how to tell the scent of a live “victim” from other scents, as well as how to signal with a “bark alert” when having found a live scent.

Andy was paired with two different handlers prior to being matched with the man who would be his long term partner, Russell Tao. An experienced handler, Tao had achieved Advanced Certification with his first disaster canine partner, who sadly died suddenly of a heart condition. Andy and Tao quickly formed a close bond and worked together happily. They achieved advanced FEMA Certification within months of their partnership and started to assist in rescue events, to include Hurricane Gustav in Lousiana and Hurricane Ike in Galveston. When Andy reached ten years of age, he retired, spending the rest of his life as a much-loved family pet in Tao’s home.