聽 聽 聽 聽 聽Have you ever had the fear of being lost in the wilderness, buried in an avalanche and scared out of your mind and wonder if anyone will ever find you鈥LIVE? If you know anything about a rescue dog, you can be assured that a K-9 Search and Rescue team gives you a better chance of being found.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Traci Anderson of Kipling is a dog owner who is hoping to start a K-9 Search and Rescue group with people from all over Saskatchewan who all have the same goal in mind. That鈥檚 to start a Chapter for SAR in Saskatchewan.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚n order to have a chapter for SAR in Saskatchewan we have to have at least 6 members,鈥� Anderson explains. 鈥淪ome of us had previously taken courses in training dogs but one of the requirements is all members have to have taken a seminar.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Anderson contacted Canadian Search & Disaster Dogs Association to lead a seminar in Kipling in order to get dog owners interested in establishing a Search and Rescue team in Saskatchewan.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Silvie Montier, Training Coordinator & IRO Certified International K-9 Team Leader, and two experienced Handlers led a seminar over this past weekend in Kipling with five members taking part in learning how to start the training of their dogs. Over the course of the two and a half days the leaders with the help of their certified dogs demonstrated the basic exercises to 鈥榮how them how it鈥檚 done鈥�.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 not just the dogs that need training. Their owners need to learn how to work with their dogs as well.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The handler has to learn and understand how to direct the dog in a search.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Suitable dogs tend to be a herder such as a border collie, a hunter such as a springer spaniel or retriever (Labs and Golden Retrievers), a worker dog such as German Shepherd or Malinois. So long as the dog has a good temperament and is a dog that loves to fetch or loves to tug, these are easier to train for a search dog and one that鈥檚 not shy or scared of people.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In order to act as professionals a handler/volunteer must train like professionals. They must be dedicated, reliable, disciplined, have freedom to be able to go.
How do you take a pet or a puppy to a working dog? Montier says 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about air scenting.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Part of the training involves teaching your dog three things:
- Nose work - to find the source of the scent
- Alert the owner they鈥檝e found something (barks)
- Searching - putting it all together.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 During the search training owners were taught to attach the dog to the toy/food or the reward, attach the toy to the victim and last but not least attach the dog to the victim.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 During the training you need to change your attitude and change your dog鈥檚 attitude.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Changing your mentality is the most difficult part of training a SAR dog.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淒uring the initial training you are a post!鈥� explains Montier 鈥淣o interfering with your dog. Your dog is not your pet; it鈥檚 your partner.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淵ou have to respect your dog and your dog will respect you,鈥� Montier comments. While working, you have to allow your dog to see the Victim as more important than you are.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Change your dog鈥檚 attitude. You want a willful dog, a dog who is a problem solver, an agile dog, a courageous dog, and an independent dog.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Training leads to testing. Under Canadian Search & Disaster Dogs Association, once a dog and its owner have completed the basics they will train for approximately two years. Then it鈥檚 time to test them to see if they鈥檙e both ready to be operational on the SAR team.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And it all starts here 鈥淪o they can live鈥︹��
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥ver all it was a great weekend with lots of learning, as well as laughter. It was a great opportunity for K-9 people to get together and do what they enjoy the most.....train,鈥� comments Anderson of her experience at this seminar.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t was the first chapter in our book, to a K-9 program in Saskatchewan. It鈥檚 a start, and we look forward to being able to move forward. We are in the process of planning some training weekends very soon, and looking forward to another great weekend of training and friendship!鈥� adds Anderson.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 If you are interested in becoming a member of this group or would like to know more information please give Traci Anderson a call at 471-1998.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The members of Canadian Search & Disaster Dog鈥檚 Association would like to thank the community of Kipling for their warm welcome and support in making this seminar possible.
