GENERAL

Search and rescue K-9 activities can be fun, challenging and an avenue for out-of-doors, healthful exercise while developing a gratifying relationship between handler and canine. Most of all, the qualified search and rescue team is a critical service to the community.

Categories of search and rescue K-9 activities include air scenting (wilderness or area search), ground tracking, trailing, cadaver (for land and water), avalanche and disaster. Acronyms for the activity include; SAR and S&R.

Airscent usually refers to dogs that use airscenting techniques.  Airscent dogs will ignore ground scent and will follow and locate people by catching the "hot" scent of people on the wind, usually working off lead.  This technique is very effective for covering large areas quickly and are most successful when conditions are

Office of Emergency Management's Sangamon    

County, Illinois SAR unit formed their own SDA club.

good for airscenting.  Such dogs are trained to find a lost or injured person, alert the handler when a find is made, and then return the handler to the found person.  This is called a refind.

A trailing or tracking dog usually refers to search activities wherein the dog follows a ground based scent in order to find a person that walked a particular path which the dog follows.  Trailing/tracking dogs should be scent discriminatory and able to follow trails that are hours to weeks old.

NOTE: SDA is developing tracking titles wherein the "Master Track" will be appropriate for the SAR trailing/tracking dog.

Disaster work is a type of airscent work.  It combines the dog's ability to find a person with special training required to work in disaster conditions, including collapsed structures, mudslides, earthquake consequences, and floods.  Such dogs MUST be environmentally sound enough to work on unstable, slick and unnatural surfaces and be undisturbed by strange and unusual sounds. Directional control is vital. The quality of being secure on all surfaces is desirable for all types of SAR dogs. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a national program for disaster trained and certified dogs.

Many pure breeds or mixed breed dogs have aptitude for SAR. Although, and this is a generalization, some breeds are more adept at a particular SAR activity than others. The prospective handler should research this topic before making a decision on breed. The size and weight of the dog should be taken into consideration with the canine’s prospective use in mind. For example, a large dog cannot search small areas of entry; or, the weight of the dog may prevent the handler from having the ability to lift and carry the dog out of a search area if the canine is injured or must be carried or dropped into the search area. A well-rounded SAR unit should consider a “mix” of breeds to best utilize the particular strong points of each breed. Different breeds have different skills and levels of endurance. Each SAR dog MUST be of sound health and temperament, clearheaded when working, obedient, confident and have the drives necessary for the work it will be called upon to do. Essential drives include hunt and play drives. A strong food drive is helpful. The dog MUST be secure on all working surfaces it may be in contact with including slick and unstable surfaces.

It is usually preferable to raise your SAR canine from a puppy so as to develop the strongest bond, assess the dog for its future SAR responsibilities and to properly socialize the dog for its future uses. The prospective handler MUST be critical and truthful with himself/herself, putting close attachments aside, when assessing the dog’s prospects to become an SAR canine.

The handler MUST be willing to raise and care for, or have alternative plans in place for the dogs future, if the dog is not going to work out as a SAR canine. The handler MUST also have the financial means to; feed and care for the dogs health needs; to have the available equipment needed to train the canine and travel to the site of an occurrence (i.e.: working harnesses, long lines, and vests for the dogs, handlers need appropriate clothes for the weather and terrain, radios, flashlights with spare batteries, food if the search is likely to take days in remote terrain, a hard hat, a compass, a pack to carry items on the trail, and other items. A handler MUST be in good physical health to engage in any real life S&R situation. The handler MUST be willing and able to engage in regular SAR group training exercises in addition to daily “at home” training to keep the dog’s senses sharp and ready to go to work on a moments notice. In any SAR endeavor, if there is even the remote possibility for a “live find” the handler MUST have attained proficiency in first aid, CPR, map reading, establishment and use of a search grid, communication devises and the use of GPS devises. It is often important for handlers to be trained in crime scene and evidence preservation and chain-of-custody techniques.     

SERVICE DOGS OF AMERICA IS IN THE PROCESS OF CREATING SEARCH AND RESCUE TITLES FOR THE UNITED KENNEL CLUB. THE PROPOSED "DRAFT" RULES CAN BE REVIEWED AT: PROPOSED SAR EXERCISES

BEFORE SUCH TITLES ARE FINALIZED, WE INVITE YOUR COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

PLEASE SEND YOUR COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS TO: sdaqsar@yahoo.com