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FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SAR DOGS

There are different catagories for the need of a sar dog. First there is the wilderness search dog. this type of search would be if the person wandered away in a wilderness area. Dog team coordinaters utilize map and compass to identify the area,than the coordinater would assign each team of airscenting dogs to clear an area. The airscenting dog will use the aircurrents to search for the scent cone the person would leave.If there is no sign of human scent they are assigned a new area.

The next type of search dog is the WATER SEARCH. These are categorized as boating accidents, swimming mishaps, or hazordouse conditions. Human scent rises to the surface of the water. Dogs work from boats airscenting searching for the scent scource. Water work must be done with considerations for the direction of the current in order to pinpoint the location of the subject.

Next you have the URBAN search dog. This type of search requires the dog to follow a specific humans scent.They may have to work in a highly contaminated area with other human scents. Mantrailing dogs learn to follow a track with all the distractions of the city and the unusual surfaces, mainly concrete.

Next you have the DISASTER search. Any natural disaster can be hurricanes, floods,tornadoes, earthquakes, where a human could be trapped under debri. They also could be burried under rubble. Dogs work carefully to recover both alive or dead victims, to reunite or to bring closure to the families. These dogs work without vests or leashes so as not to get hung up on any of the rubble. They may be required to go thru tight tunnels of rubble to get to a human. This work is very stressful to some dogs and they need to have lots of live finds after if the search recovers lots of bodies. A lot of handlers will have people hide in another area just to get the spirit back up in their canine partner.

Although footsearchers are used widely, one search and rescue dog is as good as 10  trained footsearchers.

Each one of us has our own individual scent, dogs search for us by the cells lost from our body, not the smell of our sweat.

Whenever we work our dogs we keep logs of the track/area we worked, noting how the dog did and wich way the wind direction was. There are times that certain searches may require a team to go to court, well documented logs are very helpful when going to court.

Search and rescue is a lot of dedication, hard work, and all about reading your dog. There are many out there that have been in this for many years and have not a find to their name, as they work in a unit and a team. You are assigned a section to clear, and it is not always the hotspot. Many people get into this with the impression that their dog is going to make a find right away. All who participate in a search deserve the credit of the find, as it is a coordinated effort by all who participate.

Did you know that mixed breeds as well as purebreds are utilized? There are acceptions, the pug nosed dogs and small breeds are not recomended. The dogs chosen must be able to handle the climate and terrain and they must have a functional nose, working by scent and not sight.When choosing  a puppy to do this work many will go to shelters and adopt a dog about a year old with high drive and lots of energy. The dog that is chosen should show the desire to find a ball, they should show interest and not give up on finding the ball or toy, that shows drive.There are many other tests done to see that a dog is cut out for this work.

Search and Rescue is not a club. Not to be confused with AKC tracking or variable tracking events. You will be better off going to a group that is local to find out what is involved. Books to read are "ready" by Susan Bulanda. There are others out there to reference and also in my links pages are lists of SAR organizations that can give you an idea on conventions and seminars held throughout the year. Search and Rescue groups can always use people to hide for them, for people to volunteer their time to be the "victim" is valued by some teams. Divers also are needed to volunteer for water work in the summer for training dogs. Most groups are voluntary and need funds, everything equipment etc. comes out of their pockets.

Please note******************** this information on my whole site is purely written from my own experiences and not  copied from any source of any kind. Please note that any of the photos or information is mine and copyrighted, please do not steal any of it. If any graphic displayed does not have proper credit given PLEASE notify me and i will correct it immediatly.

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