All dogs do not have the right disposition for this king of work. It is not a question of breed but more of certain qualities a dog will need to have.
But what is search and recue ?
It means the dog will try to find the trail and then a person who is lost or being searched for.
It is the job of the leader to find the start of the trail following the invetigation he will have done among the witnesses present on the premises. THe leader is provided with a reference object (a handkerchief for example) belonging to the person to be found, which he has the possibility to present to the dog to smell at any moment during the search. Once the investigation is completed, the tandems handlers-dogs have between 30 minutes and 2 hours to find the person. The trail s run for from 1 to 3 kms , cold from 1 to 6 hours. A search and rescue trail can run through any type of ground. It is not rare that a trail crosses a road (with little or a lot of traffic), a viilage or a city, with the difficulties (volatile and aggresive smells, various distractions) that this can represent for the dog.
A search and rescue trail is not judged in the same manner as another trail. Here, the leader can choose to influence his dog (at his own risk). The dog does not necessarily have to follow the trail : quite the contrary, he must do wathever he can find as many clues as possible to progress in search, and succeed : let's not forget that often the life of a person is at stake.
In search and rescue, the tandems handlers-dogs are not marked on a scale from 0 to 100 as in the other disciplines of tracking (and defence). Here, either they succeed, or they fail.
FOr the search of lost person, and dangerous persons escaped or not, a tandem having its certificate of master and search and rescue dog can eventually be called upon in real search to help the authorities. We have have to point out that real situation interventions are rare, but seem to be more frequent, as firemen and the police are guetting more and more interested in the discipline.
what characteristics predispose a dog to work in search and rescue ?
* Sociability : he must find an unknown person, often stressed.
* Curiosity : he must find and point out the objects, which are clues for the path that the searched person has followed, and only those.
* Flair of course, but all dogs have it , and it is possible to stimulate it through some exercises. THe dog must be able to sometimes track (to follow a trail), sometimes to quarter (to search for clues), depending on the different grounds and places.
* Memory : the dog must memorize a scent and find it through an infinite quantity of other smells, and this in the country or in the forest as well as on roads or between houses. ANd this he will do after 1 to 6 hours after the passing through of the lost person.
* Autonomy : the dog works up to 10 meters in front of his leader and a dog who keeps an impeccable heel position could hardly work in search.
* The dog must be able to decide : for example, the dog coming to a crossing must himself decide which way to take after a scent investigation of the different possibilities.
Perseverance too, because often he will have to hold the trail for more than one hour.
THe leader must also knnow :
* Above all, to trust his dog.
* To be watchful and aware of his behaviour, to know how to "read" an attitude, a head movement.
* " To be the shadow of his dog", not to interfere with his actions while ensuring his safety (crossing a road, cars coming), as well as to limit talking.
* TO encourage him by our attitude, to show him that we are interested without losing patience.
* To show perseverance too, first of all by a regular and progressive training, and espacially in competitions and even more so in real-life situations.
* To know how to analyse the reasons of a failure, often the fault of the leader, and to question oneself.
THe handlers of dogs practicing this discipline know that the importance lies in the fact that theses are search tests and not competitions.
we do not talk about competitors but of participants or postulants.
It is friendship and a passion for dogs which join people without a competive spirit.
THe word "trail" has been replaced by "search run".
Users now are sure that only a dog having complete initiative can succeed in a search.
No mechanization is possible, and it is certainly the most interesting point of this discipline where many breeds meet together on the different trials.
we can only be humble when we practise this discipline, because nothing is ever acquired.
Text V.SUBTIL
ASSOCIATION AMB
ASSOCIATION LOI 1901 N°1307 SIRET 51838291600014 APE 9499Z CC/AD/66105
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