Aris Aprila: Helping the Country with Igor

KOMPAS/STEFANUS OSA TRIYATNA

Aris Aprila

Three days after the disaster that devastated Palu, Donggala and surrounding areas, Aris Aprila, 31, along with his favorite dog Igor (2.5 years) were invited by the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) to help in the search for victims. Almost every time there is a disaster, Aris and Igor arrive on site to help search for victims.

For Aris, Igor is part of the team, just like all other search and rescue (SAR) dogs. He never sees Igor as a tool. Among the ruins of the buildings and mounds of earth, Aris and Igor worked together to search and rescue disaster victims, particularly survivors.

Igor has been trained since he was three months old as a SAR dog to find missing people. This is different from the police’s cadaver dogs that are trained to find corpses.

Aris said that while working in Palu with Igor, they found a number of survivors trapped in the ruins of the Balaroa and Mercure hotels. In Patobo village, they were merely observers because they were unlikely to find survivors under the collapsed mound of debris and earth.

In addition Palu, Aris and Igor have previously been involved in searching for disaster victims in Aceh, Padang, Lombok and in Nepal. What makes Aris willing to rush to the site of a disaster at any time?

“With Igor, I want to help the country,” Aris said briefly on Friday (11/2/2018) during an interview in Lembang, Bandung, West Java. There, he and several colleagues had built a special training facility for search Dogs.

The AK9 Dog Training Center that Aris founded in Bandung focuses on training dogs with certain skills. Fortunately, the AK9 is affiliated with Jakarta Rescue, which provides assistance to SAR operations using search dogs, which find survivors after a disaster. Besides Igor, three other SAR dogs are often involved with from Jakarta Rescue.

So far, SAR dogs have been rarely utilized in the country. AK9 is the only dog training center that has international accreditation from the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), a global network under the United Nations that operates SAR missions for disaster victims.

There are several stages that a dog must undergo before becoming a SAR dog. Initially, the trainer will observe the dog’s behavior and character. Once it is approved, the dog goes through basic training in compliance, agility and confidence in understanding the post-disaster conditions. During the development stage, the dog is trained at the Education and Training

Center in Citeko in simulated landslides, building collapses and other disaster simulations.

Crying dog

Aris has loved dogs since he was a child. However, it was not until 2005 when he was in university that he got his first Rottweiler. He kept it a secret from his parents. One morning, his parents found out and told him to keep the dog in the yard. It not allowed in the house.

“The dog cried. I offered it to other people, but nobody wanted it. I tried to return it to the breeder, but they didn\'t want it either. So I kept it and faced my parents’ disapproval,” said Aris.

Aris trained his dog on his own. He started training at 9 p.m. outside, because it was not allowed in the house. One night when he came home, Aris detected the smell of a dog in the house. He saw his mother watching a soap opera with his beloved dog was under her chair. “As the only child in the family, I was touched, because my parents finally accepted the dog,” he recalled.

After graduating in 2009 and meeting a veterinarian, Anton, he was inspired to become a professional dog trainer. “I saw an opportunity there,” he recalled.

Aris started training dogs, making house-to-house visits throughout Bandung. He mainly trained dogs for personal protection. Through this experience, he found a way to focus on training SAR dogs. He saw a greater opportunity when he met members of Jakarta Rescue.

However, the road to becoming a professional dog trainer was long and winding. When he trained his first SAR dog, he only had a 3-by-2.5-meter space in Cikole. The area was only enough to accommodate five cages. He did not have any money, and even took out a loan to build the cages.

In order to finance the training, Aris works as a freelancer in the mornings. He is only able to train his dogs in the afternoons. He continued this for one year.

Four years ago, another challenge arose. His land lease was not extended. Aris had to vacate the property within three days. Aris was shocked. “I thought my career was over. I had to return one dog to its owner. Meanwhile, I had to take the four others. Luckily, I had rented a car. So, I lived a nomadic life with four dogs in kennels.”

Three days later, Aris found a suitable location in Lembang. A 2,300-square-meter area was up for rent or sale. The rent was Rp 60 million per year. Unfortunately, Aris had no money. Fortunately, a friend of his wanted to set up a combined dog training center and pet shop. Aris resumed training the dogs. Today, the center not only trains SAR dogs, but also trains dogs in dexterity, for dog shows and as sniffer dogs to detect drugs and explosives.

Aris said he had never been to a special school for dog trainers. Nevertheless, he has several certificates he obtained from courses, seminars and workshops in several countries. Aris said the most important attribute of a dog trainer was “heart”.

“A dog trainer must be able to understand and animate. I just keep learning,” said Aris, who also founded the Agility Bandung Group (ABG) dog owner community.

Over the past three years, Aris said, the AK9 Dog Training Center had trained many dog breeds, including golden retrievers, German shepherds, huskies, herders, corgis, mini Pomeranians and poodles. In theory, all dogs can be trained.

“The key is food, playtime and love, as well as proper repetitive communication. Dogs need it all,” he said. (HARYO DAMARDONO)

Aris Aprila

Born: Bandung, April 23, 1987

Education: - SMAN 9 Bandung senior high school (2005)

- Bachelors in Communications, Padjadjaran University (2009)

Experience: - Founder, High Five (2012)

- Dog trainer, AK9 Dog Training Center, Bandung (2012-present)

Achievements: - First prize, IPO Helper, MIPOC Trial & Championship, National German Shepherd Dog Club of Malaysia (March 2017) - First prize, Thor vom der Baiertalerstraße (GSD) and Andre Yanuar, Indonesia German Shepherd Club (2016, 2017, 2018)