May 19, 2011

I have a young GSD that I would like to train in S&R and evidence recovery. What tapes would you recommend?

Full Question:
First I would like to say how useful your web page has been for me. I wish I would have found it long before I purchased my pup.

I currently have a 3 1/2 month old German Shepherd Dog, I bought from a friend of a friend (I know that may have been bad now). She a full blooded all black, and is calm for the most part unless she is at home around the kids, then she just loves to play.

I would like to train her in Tracking and Search and Rescue. I have done a lot of research on the topic and bought a couple of books. I plan on using her for search and rescue work for the fire dept. along with possible water related emergencies (If Possible), also if it is possible she would be used with the Police Dept. for evidence tracking and/or suspect travel (not the apprehension of a suspect). I would like to know which of your videos will be most useful to me in the training of my dog.

Again Great Page, and thank you for any assistance you can give me.

Asst. Chief Jay
Porter Fire & Dive Rescue
Ed
Ed Ed's Answer:
If you want to do S&R you should read the articles I have written on Tracking Through Drive (TTD) You can read about this on my web site in the list of training articles.

I have done 3 training videos with the RCMP – you will want these. But you don’t do TTD with a dog until it is 12 months old. Young dogs get the foundation for tracking through foot step tracking (FST). Young dogs should not get too much exercise (TTD) its hard on their hips. They also cannot concentrate long enough to work in TTD.

I strongly recommend that you get involved with the foundation videos that I have done with Bernhard Flinks from Germany (he is a K9 handler there). You will use the DRIVE you work with in this tape in your training throughout the life of the dog.

The TTD tapes to learn from are:

Training a Police (S&R) Tracking Dog – Level One – Video 205. This video was filmed in Canada with the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). In my opinion they are some of the best tracking dog instructors in the world. S&R trainers in Canada cannot be called out until they have passed a level one certification by the RCMP. This training tape shows how dogs are trained to this level.

Track Laying for a Police Tracking Dog - Video 207. How to lay a good training track is critical in training tracking dogs. This tape goes into a great deal of detail on track laying. There is an art to laying a good training track. This tape shows how the experts do it. If you are new to S&R or police tracking, or if you are constantly having to retrain track layers, this tape can save you a lot of time and energy.

Training the Police Tracking Dog – level two and three – Video 208. This tape deals with Urban and Suburban tracking. It was done with the RCMP in Canada and is now used to help train new their K9 handlers. I would recommend that you go to my web site and read the training articles I have written on Tracking Through Drive (TTD). You can find them in the list of articles.

Good luck in your training. If you set the foundation correctly the later work is easy.

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