Doug Goodman

I was helping the team out at a recruiting event, and it got me thinking about all the questions we usually get regarding Search and Rescue work, and especially the dogs.  I thought "if I answer this question this much, it's got to make a great blog post!"  Such is the fountain of inspiration.  So think of this as a SAR FAQ.  (And, as always, keep in mind that I am just one SAR volunteer expressing his opinions, and that the views expressed here are not necessarily the views of my SAR team, NASAR, sign with the notary public, etc.)

1.  What do the dogs search for?

A:  SAR teams differ from team to team, but there are three basic types of SAR dogs:  1.  Trailing dogs.  (Trailing dogs are your classic "jailbreak" dogs.  If you remember ever seeing a show where the warden gives his bloodhound the smell of the prisoner, and then the bloohound follows the escaped prisoner until he trees him, then you know what a working trailing dog looks like.)  2.  Area search dogs.  These dogs are trained to search for any living person in an area.  Think of dogs at disaster sites where the goal is to find buried people (living).  3.  Cadaver dogs, or by the more PC term, Human Remains Dogs.  These dogs are what I train.  They search for dead bodies.

2.  Do your dogs search for other dogs?

A:  We get this question a lot.  Unfortunately, the answer is no.  Most SAR dogs are trained only to find humans.  In fact, non-human scent is often used to try to throw the dog off the trail.

3.  Will your dogs help me find somebody who owes me money?

A.  Ummm...no.  But I have been asked that question.

4.  What makes a good SAR dog?  How do I know if my dog can be a SAR dog?

A:  This is not an easy question to answer.  There are a lot of qualifications that SAR teams need in their dogs, and a good nose is just one of them.  The two biggest things I see are socialization and drive.  On my team, I have heard this saying, and I like it:  "We can teach a dog to search, but we can't force a dog to work."  If the dog prefers to sit on the couch, then it would make a great pet, but not necessarily a working dog.  But if the dog has a strong prey-drive, if it loves to chase balls and go out on walks, and especially if you think "man, this dog needs a job," then the pup is probably motivated enough to work in SAR. 

On the other hand, if the dog doesn't like other animals or people, it probably won't work well in SAR.  SAR dogs have to associate with other pooches, and on a search they will definitely have to work with people in the area.  If the dog has strong anti-social tendencies, SAR work may not be the best thing for the pup.  And besides, if your dog hates people/animals, do you really want to put him in that situation?

5.  Okay, but which breed is best?  Are herding/working dogs better than say, toys?

A:  I have said before that a Pomeranian probably still smells scent better than a human, so from that regard, I personally wouldn't have a problem.  Breed is not the issue.  It all goes back to attitude and drive.  If you have a labrador retriever, but it doesn't want to search for anything, it probably won't like being a SAR dog.  And if you have a chihuahua that loves chasing balls and needs a job, well, I say try it!  Hey, if nothing else, consider this:  little dogs can get into places big dogs can't.

6.  How long does it take to train a dog in search and rescue?

A:  I have two answers to this one.  First, every dog is different.  I trained Mojo for 3-4 years before he was accepted by the team as a trained HRD.  On the other hand, Princess had been training for less than a year and already had surpassed Mojo.  So again, it varies from dog to dog.  Generally, though, expect about 2 years to train a SAR dog. 

The second answer is this:  Even with Mojo, it only took him a few months before he "got it."  The dogs pick up on the game pretty quick.  Humans, though -- we take a lot longer to train.  I am still learning to be a good canine handler. 

7.  Where do you get your dogs?  Will you train my dog?

A:  SAR dogs are pets.  They belong to the owners who bring them out on weekends to train them.  I have never heard differently.  And while we will be more than happy to show you how to train your dog, the training relies on the dog owner. 

8.  Ok, I think I have a dog that can do the work.  What kind of time committment am I getting in to?  How much training will I do?

Teams vary, but SARQuest trains once a week, usually on a weekend morning.  Each session is usually 4 hours long.  However, when getting started, expect to train your dog 2-3 times a week in addition to the weekend SAR training.  Keep in mind that these individual training sessions do not have to be long.  I try to keep them under 15 minutes when I first work with the dogs. 

9.  What breed is Mojo?  (Not SAR-related, but I still get it.)

A.  His mom was a blue heeler.  His dad was a white labrador/golden retriever mix. 

There you go.  Nine questions I constantly get (and don't mind answering).  If you can think of any others, let me know, and I will be happy to answer.