Ron Handke
AMPWDA Master Trainer Emeritus
Ron served in the United States Navy, first on active duty, then in the reserves. He has been working with dog’s for over forty (40) years. His experience includes working as an obedience instructor and training his own dogs within the Schutzhund system for tracking, obedience, and
protection work. He achieved a Shutzhund Level 1 on several dogs. However, his real expertise is with training dogs to work off leash for both Live and HRD finds, including water search work.
Ron has extensive training in Search and Rescue through attending classes and seminars over the past twenty-five (25) years. He holds a certificate of Ground Search with the State of Illinois. This includes Search Management, Ground Search Instructor, Map Reading, Team Leader and Logistics.
Additional training he has pursued includes: EMT, Firefighter, Private Pilot, Law Enforcement, Personal Manager, Building Structure Engineer, Various FEMA courses, Disaster Management, Debris Management, Damage Assessment, Crime Scene Evidence and Scene Protocols, Land and Water Cadaver Search Techniques, and Urban - Building Human Remains search.
Ron is a search specialist in numerous areas and is currently a member of the Tazewell County EMA. He has been a HRD trainer and handler for the past eight (8) years and has been called out by various local and state agencies to search for lost or missing persons. He has been requested for court testimony on numerous occasions for various cases involving searches for deceased persons. Recently, he was called out for the Joplin, Missouri tornado disaster.
