Search And Rescue Dogs/sniffer Dogs

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

A small dog would be good where the rubble is unstable. You wouldn't want something big making avalanches.

My dog is extremely good at finding things with her nose. Mostly her kibble, but also baseballs and socks and people (who are trying to hide).

I would think Beagles ought to be very good at it too.

I've heard of SAR dogs being taught to indicate found separately to not-found and to have one signal for found a live person and another for found a dead person. And I've read one story of an SAR coming back and giving a combined signal for found a live person and a dead person.

I've got mixed feelings about actually doing it. Would I want to send my dog to search an unstable collapsed building and potentially risk her life doing it? Saving someone would be great. Losing the evil hound would be traumatic. Losing the hound and a person because of a collapse - would be just awful. And I think I couldn't do it if I wasn't sure I could handle that.

Eucanuba dogs had some stuff about SAR dogs in NZ a couple of weeks ago. Channel 7 I think.

[ozjen]

This photo of a Japanese search and rescue worker and his dog in Christchurch got me thinking.

I know that certain breeds are typically used for search and rescue/sniffer detection duties because they're predisposed to be better at it. German or Belgian shepherds, Border Collies, Golden or Labrador retrievers for search and rescue. The Stanley Coren book "Why We Love the Dogs We Do" mentioned somewhere that actually any dog (including a poodle) could be used for detection work but some of the handlers didn't quite feel like it was in keeping with the image etc.

Some dogs might not be suitable for certain types of work because of physicality (too big/not agile enough/too delicate) etc but e.g. Kelpies are bred to be herding dogs and while some DO do search and rescue, there aren't that many and they're not really the "go to" breed for that sort of work. Is there any reason why dogs like Kelpies wouldn't be appropriate for SAR work or detection work? What about other breeds like Australian Shepherds, cattle dogs etc - medium-sized and agile and used to working with people.

Australian Shepherds are used in some countries for SAR work, as well as bomb detection and I believe they have been trained as Seeing eye dogs too.

Great to see a Chihuahua involved in SAR work I have often wandered why they don't use small dogs too as sometimes a small dog could access where a bigger dog couldn't go but I guess they also have to be able to move over big rubble too. I plan on training a Papillon for tracking this year and I know there are already some titled tracking Paps in Australia, I also train an Australian Shepherd in tracking.

[dogbesotted]

sandra777: thanks! Will definitely explore the issue further.

As for the original topic, I love seeing dogs at work. At the airport, I love seeing the police dogs with their handlers and the quarantine beagles and on television, it's so amazing watching the search and rescue dogs at work. They look just as conscientious and committed to the task at hand as their handlers - although I have read that that dogs also get 'upset/depressed' if they don't find people alive ..

I forget which episode of "Extraordinary Dogs" it was, but the rescuers were saying that a dog could sweep/clear a zone much, much faster than humans could and this was in an urban setting and also in a wilderness setting. I also found the distinction between tracking dogs and air scent dogs fascinating. Made me look at my own dogs and wonder how overwhelmingly we must smell to them given how sensitive their sense of smell is ...

love those airport beagles... thatis until one of teh little innocewnt sweethearts comes and sits beside youLOL.

A friend in the us who does SAR has pits.. says they are the very top of the list as their drive to keep going under applling conditions is astonishing. ( she and her dog worked 9/11 searches)

H

[koalathebear]

I was just looking at the original photo again - is that tape around the dog's legs?

[Staff'n'Toller]

I was just looking at the original photo again - is that tape around the dog's legs?

I don't think so, it looks like duct tape but actually on closer inspection it looks like fabric. It's probably just for joint protection.

[Kiramon78]

I can tell you that the Australian Army Explosive Detection Dog section will look at any dog with a high ball drive - as this is what they use as reward. They have had a few working kelpies go through training, but as they tend to be 'gun shy'. I have seen many BC x's and ACD x's go through as well as a few koolies. In saying that, there have also been a staffy x, a mastiff x and newfie x. They tend to go for the medium breeds as they have to carry them at certain times, and don't go for smaller breeds as they need to be able to jump up onto certain things at heights that would be far too much for a little dog. They take them at 18mths to 2yrs of age.

[sandgrubber]

I don't think anyone's noted, urban SAR, as in looking for people in a disaster, is quite different from tracking or scenting (or scenting/tracking, as many dogs use both approaches). And a dog trained to find live people won't generally locate cadavers. There isn't a lot of urban SAR training for civilians in Australia . . . probably not in the police or army either.

I was told that the Australian army, in Vietnam, favoured kelpie X labradors, although they took many breeds. The cross generally gave high intelligence, less excitability than a kelpie, and more heat tolerance than a labbie.

[OSoSwift]

The tape -or whatever it is- looks like it is covering the carpal pad which I presume would be very easy for them to tear or cut if they slipped in rubble.

[SpotTheDog]

The tape -or whatever it is- looks like it is covering the carpal pad which I presume would be very easy for them to tear or cut if they slipped in rubble.

Yeah there's a lot to think about if you're going to commit your dog to SAR in conditions like the ChCh quake or 9/11. I read some of the handler accounts from 9/11 and it's quite harrowing.

There's the danger to the dog - broken glass and twisted metal, many SAR dogs are fitted wtih protective boots for their feet.

Then there's the depression. Some of the 9/11 handlers spoke of how their dogs became literally depressed with the work. Think about it - a SAR dog has to be really finely tuned in to their owner. It's highly stressful, highly upsetting work, and not just the owner but every single other human being working at the disaster site is stressed / full of adrenalin / agitated / upset. Put a highly intelligent, in-tune SAR dog in the middle of that environment and after a time it's not surprising that the dog would begin to feel very depressed.

I think it's a big commitment from a person - not just for themselves, but remember when you choose to put your dog in a stressful, dangerous environment you're making a choice for someone who can't choose for themselves, and there's a lot of responsibility goes with that.

/edit to add I believe there was no proof of long-term psychological effects on SAR dogs used in 9/11, so literally the dog can become upset when working but it will resolve itself if the dog is taken out of the working environment and back into a normal, loving family home for instance, but still. (Just goes on to prove they're more resilient than we are!)

Edited February 28, 2011 by SpotTheDog

[Robin]

1. Is 5.5yo too late to start SAR training?

2. Do you give your dog away if you think they have potential [like Cesar did] or do you train it and it lives with you?

NSW SES is recruiting USRD [urban Search and Rescue Dog], there is a age limit of between 6mth and 5yrs.

I would think that if the dog has the potential, and the owner is willing to put in the effort and time in training (him/herself) as well as the dog, that would be ideal. Not only is the dog much happier with the opportunity to work(play), also great for the owner, being able to contribute to the society. On the other hand if the owner could not cope with a highly driven dog, it would be best to have the dog adopted by someone with experience and able to utilise that potential.

That said, one has to be committed not only for the training and effort, as well as be prepared put him/herself and the dog's life/well-being on the line.

[Jumabaar]

I believe their are a fair few SAR Kelpies in europe!! Sweden for memory, and a few others where kelpies have become exceptionally popular They do exceptionally well.

[JoeK]

The best searching dogs I have worked with in the rugged outdoor is the German Shepherd having also very good air scenting ability. Sometimes a little bit big a dog for the inside the German Shepherd where other breeds sometimes more usable, no good for drug detection on people because too many people scared of them, no good sniffing people at the airport, Labrador much better choice for me for that work. We use often a smallish German Shepherd bitch of nice nerve and drive when she a bit small for training in protection, she very nice in the searching and the tighter area. I seen many good Spaniel in the drug detection working very nice and a few of the cross breeds, but any dog with good stable nerve and some drive seem to be training well in the work.

Joe