12/05/2025
Flint ACE Award 2025 – Announcement for PDTC Obedience Training Director
Flint, PDTC Instructor Jennifer Michelson’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Dog. She and her German Shepherd Dog have been awarded the American Kennel Club’s 2025 Award for Canine Excellence in the Search and Rescue: Disaster Response category. The Search and Rescue – Disaster Response category is a new category for the Awards for Canine Excellence this year.
As a search and rescue dog, Flint has been certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as an Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) task force team member. He is also a member of the New Jersey Task Force-1 (NJTF1) FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team, which is one of 28 federal FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams, along with Michelson, his handler.
Flint and Michelson’s deployments include a small building collapse in West Orange, New Jersey, in 2020. In 2021, they were deployed to the Surfside condominium collapse in Florida. It was a 12-story residential building that suddenly, partially collapsed overnight. Of the 136 units in the building, over half were destroyed, and 98 people died as a result. It took a month to recover everyone.
Flint and Michelson often respond to hurricane aftermath on the East Coast. They were deployed to Hurricane Ida in 2021 and then to Hurricane Idalia in 2023. They were already in Asheville, North Carolina, when Hurricane Helene hit in September 2024. They worked for 17 days in North Carolina, assessing the damage immediately after the hurricane passed.
Many of these deployments take an emotional toll on handlers and dogs alike. No matter the challenge, Michelson says that Flint does a great job of living up to his breed’s loyal, working nature.
Flint passed his last certification in 2024 at the age of 9. USAR dogs must recertify every 3 years. Knowing he is nearing the end of his career as a USAR Dog, Jennifer is currently training one of Flint’s offspring, Bear, to follow in his sire’s footsteps. Bear is already showing signs of being a great Search and Rescue Dog with Jennifer’s training and dedication. She says, “If you want to be in canine search and rescue, it’s truly a lifestyle. It really is your life that you’re putting on the line, too.”
Each year, the AKC Humane Fund gives out six awards to hardworking dogs for making significant contributions to an individual or entire community. Winners will be highlighted in a made-for-tv special created by AKC productions. Watch for Flint’s video on AKC TV.
