Zip was 911BC’s expert forensic evidence search dog until his death on July 9, 2011 at the age of 13 from rare and aggressive prostate cancer.
Zip was being fostered by Wisconsin Border Collie Rescue at the age of 2 years when A.J. was asked to evaluate his potential as a search and rescue canine by a California Police Department.
A.J. gave him glowing reviews, but Zip was passed over for this training. The very next day, A.J. adopted Zip and soon began his training in forensic evidence searching.
Archived Progress Reports
November 7, 2003
It appears that Zip has taken on the role of watching out for Molly Mae. Today was their monthly date at the groomer. When they attempted to put a ribbon in Molly Mae’s collar, Zip would growl and show his teeth. He thought they were hurting her. It was a convincing enough performance that they decided to forget the ribbon. Who would ever think that gentle Zip was watching out for his female companion. I waked out feeling quite proud of the old boy!
February 21, 2003
Zip has had a very busy year doing a variety of searches. . This included a double homicide in Waukesha County, a homicide investigation over 20 years old, many suspected grave sites, missing person cases, and over 20 seminars and public awareness demonstrations. We weekly hone his search skills and he continues to amaze myself and the people who watch him work. Zip and our forensic expert Mike Andree have not only become good friends. They also made a “find” together working a missing person case in Dodge County on a below zero winter day.
May 16, 2002
After the tragic events of 9-11-2001 Zip’s work as a forensic evidence K-9 drew the attention of people throughout the world. Attempting to keep a low profile, we continue to use Zip for forensic recovery and keep busy educating agencies on how dogs like him can enhance there investigations. Border collies are tireless and Zip demands a great deal of exercise each day. This may include training, chasing tennis balls or learning the hard way that skunks do not like to be chased!
August 30, 2001
Zip is still very eager to learn new things and has an incredible memory. His career in forensic evidence has taken him throughout Wisconsin and beyond. Not taking his skills for granted, we still train (and try to fool) him by doing evidence scenarios at least twice each week. The more we challenge Zip the more he will develop problem solving skills, a very desirable trait in his line of work. Zip still has an obsession about tennis balls. He will spend hours dropping them in your lap. A very high energy border collie, he demands constant attention. We anticipate that as more knowledge is gained about forensic evidence dogs, Zip and other like him will become an important tool in solving crimes.
February 03, 2001 showing “Alert” on human remains The only thing holding Zip’s training back, is my reluctance to train in cold and heavy snow conditions. With Molly Mae on sick leave, Zip is now getting to spend more time with me. During the K9 to 5 shoot, he exceeded what we expected of him. Zip worked as a professional, ignoring the camera’s and people around him when working. His only focus was doing what we have trained him to do, and that is finding forensic evidence. When not working, Zip continues to find his endless supply of tennis balls, and put them in your lap. Did I mention that Zip is also a very “fun” dog and would be a natural at flyball, If we had more time.
November 28, 2000
Zip continues to make significant progress in learning the problem solving skills needed to be a good forensic evidence dog. He is highly motivated and always gives his maximum effort to please . His favorite treat is ice cubes. Zip and Molly Mae have become the best of friends, and constant companions. In the house they even get into trouble together by ganging up on the old Tom cat (with claws) who still is fast enough to keep them from getting too close. Playing in the house is now prohibited pending Molly Mae’s orthopedic evaluation. We have found that Zip may soon replace our vacuum cleaner. Not a speck or drop of anything he can smell will go unnoticed. We now keep the kitty litter box in the basement (yuck). Zip still is a “bed hog” who will not only attempt to push me out, but he will stick is tongue in my ear until I move over. I guess a so called “normal” individual would find living with two border collies hectic or even impossible. I feel honored and privileged to share my life with them. They have taught me patience and created a bond for eternity…
November 17, 2000
Zip has now logged 25 hours of training time. He is able to recognize and find five different types of scent. One of these is soil believed to be between 3,000 – 4,000 years old. This sample came from an Indian burial ground in California. Zip is being trained to “alert” by doing a down. He does this intensely, giving the border collie “eye” to the location. This all is coming pretty easy for Zip as he learns very quickly. A few repetitions and he has it figured out. Now we need to work on slowing him down and teaching him problem solving skills, such as scenting articles in trees, finding multiple holes, etc.This week we were called out on an evidence search. On the insistence of one of the police officials, I brought Zip along. So he had his first official call out on Tuesday. He did fine on commands and spent most of his time trying to figure out what to look for! I have no doubt he would have alerted if human remains were to be found in the area we were searching. With pending surgery for Molly Mae’s ACL tear. Zip has some big shoes to fill while Mae heals. We may or may not be ready for search work. I can say Zip will not let me down. And he will be quick to point out my mistakes during training sessions…
