The Working Bond

The Working Bond

You can see the connection when you watch a dog team that is in tune with each other working a problem. The handler and the dog are no longer separate entities but one working as a whole - the true meaning of teamwork. They are in it for the right reasons. They are doing this to help others, but that special bond between them grows all the while. At every training, that bond grows more unshakable, at every movement, they read one another. This working bond is not formed immediately mind you. Rather, it takes time. It also takes respect and trust. In the field handler and dog are equals, working together toward a common end: the find. They work in the harshest conditions – temperature, inclement weather, and terrain extremes. They work multiple times a week. They eat together, they sleep in the same room, and they share their lives with one another. Every second of their time together just strengthens that bond, that unconditional love. The dogs teach their handlers. The handlers teach their dogs. The handler-dog team teaches others. Everyone learns and everyone wins. They inspire one another to be better; they drive one another to work harder, longer, and faster. They do these things and more despite the possibility that even though they have undergone so much training that they may never be utilized. They answer the call at any time; they are the team that gets called out. They are the team that impressed the agency, local emergency management director, and the law enforcement officers. They are impressive because they work so well together. If they never get the call, they are content with that bond they share, they keep training, keep working on that bond and they grow past it. This handler and dog had difficulties, just like all other handlers and dogs do. They overcame it using their tenacity and respect for one another. They are the ones that you would want looking for your lost relative or friend. They do not play the political games, they do not speak badly of other search and rescue professionals, and they just do what they have trained to do all this time: find the lost subject.

K. Earnest and her 2 GSDs are members of the Southern Association of Search and Rescue. Please check them out at http://www.sasar.org/. You can also reach K. Earnest by email, just click on her name.

This article is being used on this site with permission from the author. No unauthorized reproduction of this article is allowed. Please obtain written permission from the author to use this article.

Home