Sally Dickinson

Sally grew up with working dogs on a sheep farm in Northern England and was greatly  influenced by her father who volunteered for many years with the Mountain Rescue team. After  moving to the USA and settling in Northern Ohio she joined the local Fire and Rescue department in  1997 and trained her first search canine working with local agencies and ultimately joining Ohio Task  Force 1 as a canine search specialist. 

Now based out of northern Virginia, Sally has worked in public safety as a firefighter / paramedic  and is an operational canine handler for Virginia Task Force 1. Sally is also the training officer for  Virginia Search and Rescue Dog Association, a wilderness air scent search and rescue team. When not  on searches locally or deployment with VATF1 she teaches for various organizations and groups  including the Commonwealth of Virginia Search and Rescue program and Veterinary Tactical Group,  training handlers and medics in the rapid interventions needed to save the lives of working dogs injured  in the field. 

The science behind animal behavior and the wellbeing of working dogs is a passion for Sally. She  is a graduate of the KPA Professional Dog Trainer program, University of Tennessee Certified Canine  Fitness Trainer, and the University of Washington Animal Behavior program. As a self-proclaimed  ‘behavior geek’, Sally is currently continuing her formal education as a PhD candidate in Applied Animal  Behavior focusing her research on working dogs and how physical conditioning affects field ability at Virginia Tech. 

“To work a dog well you must know the science, the theory, the training methodology. But you  also need to let your hair down and figure out a way to dance in time with the dog. It is a beautiful  thing when a team finds their rhythm and masters the dance.” Sally D.