Category 5 K9

10/12/2026

In recent years, Canyon has searched for people amid wildfire ash, along steep muddy banks after floods, and beneath homes destroyed by tornadoes.

10/12/2026

Exciting news! Bruno, now named Duke, has been adopted and is loving life with his new family. He may not have wanted to be a search dog but he’s loving fetch with his new human brothers and playing with his four-legged sister. Congrats Duke!

10/02/2026

https://people.com/rescue-dog-who-survived-neglect-wins-award-for-search-and-rescue-work-12154511

Canyon is a certified search-and-rescue dog with FEMA and the International Police Work Dog Association, and was trained through the Category 5 K9 program by Christy Bormann.

09/24/2026

CAT5 Alumni Pferal, Canyon, and Alley along with their Texas A&M Task Force 1 teammates Tilley and Finn ran a challenging training problem on the rubble pile that is in the middle of a rebuild. Their training aids were set out a day before training so the scent had time to spread around the area creating a more complex search problem.

(BTW we are all jealous of Tilley’s amazing stripes)

09/21/2026

We are heartbroken to announce the passing of K9 Taz. Taz was rescued from the streets of San Antonio by God's Dogs Rescue before joining the Shelter to Search program in 2018. He’s been loving his life as a search dog and giving back to his community ever since.

K9 Taz and his handler Tom have responded to both disaster and wilderness searches across Texas and the United States. Taz has also been a great ambassador doing demos and events and even letting others try their hand at being a K9 handler for a training search.

Huge thank you to everyone that donated and supported Taz through cancer treatment giving him a few more months with his loving family.

Run free K9 Taz 💙

09/21/2026

Check out Shelter to Search alumni K9 Canyon and Christy’s interview with KENS 5 & Kens5.com for his ASPCA Dog of the Year award.

A shelter rescue-turned-hero, Canyon, earns national acclaim as the 2026 ASPCA Dog of the Year for his lifesaving efforts.

09/17/2026

Don’t let the heat keep you from spending time with your friends. Blu and Bruno burning off some energy with some wrestling this evening.

09/13/2026

Blu exploring his first big rubble this weekend!

Blu is currently under evaluation for urban search and rescue (USAR), also known as disaster search. USAR canines search for people lost or trapped after a disaster and must be comfortable navigating uneven, unstable surfaces of all different materials.