After arriving at Ground Zero, Ricky and another rescue dog, Thunder, were given the night shift. Since Ricky was so small, he was able to reach locations that larger dogs couldn’t. He had the ability to climb ladders, run complex patterns for recognition, and could determine the difference between living and deceased people. In some cases, Ricky would disappear from Linker’s view for several minutes. When he located a hit, Ricky was able to bark continually for long periods of time, which is unlike other rescue dog breeds. He was not distracted by noise, and would search until told to stop.