Adventure Magazine

Training Roxy in Hawea - Images by Tony Dodds
Around two years ago I was team leading for a dog team on a
multiday operation and was in the fortunate position that the dogs
in this team found the missing person – alive. Something we had
hoped for but that was getting less likely at this point. I cannot
highlight enough that SAR is ALWAYS a team effort, and it takes
everyone to do their part to have a good outcome. But I would lie
if I would not say that the experience of being part of the actual
find has fundamentally affected me. That was the day I decided
to get a dog.
What kinds of dogs are used in mountain rescue
operations?There are different kinds of SAR work when it
comes to dogs. I am involved with wilderness search dogs. Now
these are the dogs that come into play if someone is lost, missing
or injured in the outdoors. Think trampers, hunters, walkers etc.
But also, despondent people or possibly a confused elderly
person. There are also Urban search dogs (USAR), which would
be used in an earthquake for example and avalanche dogs.
Within wilderness dogs, we have different ways we train these
dogs. Tracking dogs – those will follow the ground scent. It is
fascinating to watch a tracking dog follow scent on the ground
in the exact line someone has walked 24h or more after the
person has walked there. We also train area search dogs. These
are trained to detect the scent available in the air and follow it
to its source. This is particularly helpful for covering large areas
and when you don’t know where the person has last been.
The ultimate search dog is “dual operational”, which means
it is trained and certified in both. We don’t have many dualoperational
search dogs in NZ at the moment but we are hoping
that there will be more in the future.
How many dogs do you have? I own and train a 16-monthold
border collie-kelpie cross called Roxy. She is training to
be an area search dog. She can detect human scent on the
breeze, she will then follow the scent to its source and stay there
and bark until I arrive – usually huffing and puffing from a few
hundred meters of uphill running to catch up. You better be fit for
this!
How do you train these dogs to be effective for search
and rescue missions? LandSAR Searchdogs is a nonprofit
organisation sitting under the LandSAR umbrella. They assist
with access to trainers and organise training and assessment
camps through which a dog and handler team can become
operational. However, the brunt of the training is up to you as the
dog owner and handler. Searchdogs is a bit like a family – we all
want to see each other succeed and help each other out. Another
handler or trainer is only a phone call away and will help with
any training problems that come up. Searchdogs NZ runs four
training camps per year (two in the north and two in the South
Island). In between those, I frequently get together with other
handlers in your area to train together.
Ideally, you get a dog as a puppy, around 8 or 9 weeks old. In
the early stages, you can imprint human scent on the dog, and
it will learn a lot about the world. You want it to be confident with
noises, people, traffic, and anything it may come across while
out and about. The dogs learn basic commands like come, stay,
heel, sit etc. You and the dog need to learn to play well together
and establish a reward structure. The introduction of search work
happens gradually. You start very small, and the dog learns if it
follow human scent and shows a desired behaviour, it will get a
reward. For most dogs that will be play. Search work is one big
game for the dogs.
What challenges have you faced while training rescue dogs?
Ohhh where to begin? It is a very steep learning curve for a
new handler. Dogs are not robots, and things don’t always go to
plan. When they don’t, you have to work out where the problem
started and how best to fix it. Each dog and handler duo faces
their own challenges. Especially with a young dog that is still
learning it can be tempting to ask for too much too quickly. If you
don’t solidify a learned skillset and progress too fast the wheels
will fall off very fast. In order to become operational, you have to
pass assessments by the searchdog assessors and NZ police
dog assessors. Once operational, you have to re-certify every
year. The assessment consists of three parts – obedience, an
article search and a search task in your speciality (either tracking
or area search).
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