Archive for July 19th, 2010
Canine Classifieds – Part 6
Help Wanted – Search and Rescue Dog
Dog want to be active and useful. They don’t want to be stuck in a kennel run or wire dog crate
all day. One of the ways many dogs can be useful and use their given instincts is in Search and Rescue.
The use of dogs in search and rescue (SAR) is a valuable component in responding to Law
Enforcement requests for missing people. Dedicated handlers and hard working, well-trained dogs are required in search efforts to be effective in their task.
From their training and experience, search and rescue dogs can be classified broadly as either air scenting dogs or trailing (and tracking) dogs. They also can be classified according to whether they “scent discriminate”, and under what conditions they can work. Scent discriminating dogs have proven their ability to alert only on the scent of an individual person, after being given a sample of that person’s scent. Non-scent discriminating dogs alert on or follow any scent of a given type, such as any human scent or any cadaver scent. SAR dogs can be trained specifically for rubble searches, for water searches, and for avalanche searches.