These are my friends "Topper" and his owner Pat Grant. I had the privilege of grooming, getting to know and falling in love with this very special dog at the 1997 ABTC National Specialty. For those of you who may not know, Topper and Pat were one of the search and rescue teams sent to Oklahoma City. They did a job that most of us can little imagine. I can tell you they are very unique individuals and I am proud and honored to call them both my friends. Pat and Topper, THANK YOU!

Everything above was written in 1998 when Topper joined this web site. Topper has continued to work including Ground Zero. In 2002 Topper was awarded Search and Rescue Dog of the Year.

Topper, bred by Carmen Helgessen, of Snowflower Kennels, has competed in the breed ring and has earned an Open obedience title. But AKC competition is merely a sideline for Topper, one of America's most experienced and dependable search-and-rescue dogs.

The 11-year-old Terv joined the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Task Force as a Type-1 disaster dog in 1993. Topper began his US&R career at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing, being the first FEMA dog deployed on the rubble of the Murrah Building. His special skills were also invaluable at a very different sort of disaster site, the massive Yosemite rock fall of 1996. Topper's most recent US&R assignment was Ground Zero at the World Trade Center site in New York. His owner, Pat Grant, says, "As one of the most experienced FEMA dogs responding, Topper again gave generously of his mature confidence and enthusiasm to help bring closure to a terrible tragedy." On site, it's not unusual to see dispirited firefighters and rescuers being comforted by this gentle and majestic co-worker.

Topper is a certified wilderness-search dog and has participated in many local manhunts and missing-persons rescues. Between assignments, the hard-working Terv has logged hundreds of hours in training for what Grant calls "Topper's great game: finding the 'hiding' person."

The American Belgian Tervuren Club has recognized this magnificent representative of the breed by including his picture in the "Personality and Temperament" section of their judges' education Web pages.

Despite his relatively advanced age, Topper is still on the job. "Whether or not he continues as one of the oldest FEMA dogs ever," says Grant, "Topper will remain my best-ever working partner and friend."