Looking for opinions on cross training detection dogs.

I am in the process of doing narcotic training and wonder if at a later date cadaver training (water rescue) could be done.

If the dog has the nerves and the drive there should be no reason you could not do it - just dont do any drug searches in funeral homes :-)

One of the dogs that was on the SAR team I was with, originally was a drug dog with the prison system. When that program was eliminated, the dog moved quite easily to cadaver work.
It's nothing more then imprinting a new scent, with a new command. IMHO!

As Ed stated, assuming the dog has the nerves and drives, it shouldn't be a problem. I would use a different command for each and more importantly, a different alert (in your case, I'd use an aggressive alert for dope and a passive alert for cadaver).

Just remember, the more things you train the dog to do, the more time you must spend keeping those learned skills sharp!

My understanding water search is NOT classic cadaver training and a separate discipline.

We have been doing an awful lot of this training since September with a mix of divers, pseudo, and cadaver material, and never TRAINED an indication but used what the dogs gave us naturally on the boat**. I understand your scent picture is usually not quite the same as typical human remains decomposition due to the more typical rapid time of deployment after the drowning.

Two dogs had been trained in cadaver and one only trailing who are going through this training. The divers are an incredible motivational factor and are also throwing off whole body scent. We will still use them ocassionaly to keep the dogs guessing.

We did multiple runs yesterday with a scent generator, decomp, and the bubbles real low below our level of visual percpetion. Were getting within 5 feet of source (after we marked the *find* the bubbles were turned up so we could see where they were and to reward the dog in scent.

For us, no command necessary for water as the only time the dogs get on a boat they are cued in to scan for that scent. We will be going to the TSARDA seminar for a week of water training in May as well.

**for some dogs this is a clear body language with back and front paws together on the bow - my dog is a stacatto barker - in the method we are using, the dog "Steers the boat" once they hit scent and you move head on into it at the end with the dog moving back along the gunnels as the final indication they have lost the scent and are still trying to follow it. I think this technique is really good for pinpointing the source due to the fact that the boat is a moving object.

You need an excellent driver to work the boat.

My mistake, Nancy. You are absolutely correct for Water Search. I misread the original post as just general Cadaver. In any case, a good dog should have no problem doing it.

That is what I have heard about multiple disciplines -- I DON"T know enough to know how much one dog CAN do, but it did not seem to be any harder for the non cadaver trained dog (mine) to pick up the discipline than the cadaver dogs and they clearly know what they are doing and arent confused about the other jobs. I am not going to try to push one dog past two jobs just becuase I need the focus for my own proficiency.

Big difference in that they can't use their feet to work the cone and detail to the scent source and really do have to learn how to steer the boat.

On our first training day my dog ran off the boat to get to the diver several times as she did not understand the whole water thing. Of course, a lot of search dogs do jump off the boat and work the scent that way but one day, some pretty bad waves that were playing havoc with the boat would be really tough for a dog to swim and not get exhausted ( I guess they were maybe as much as 1 foot trough to swell - enough for the jon boat to rise and crash down) -- nicer to stay ON the boat and let the motor do the work.

During a research project in the early 70's (I'm old) we selected 5 dogs for a multiple purpose study. Understand these dogs were never intended for actual use. The dogs were entered into a training program for; patrol, drug and explosives detection, mine, tunnel and tripwire detection. While all 5 dogs were capable of completing the training, only 1 of the 5 could maintain, what would be considered, certification standards. As one would imagine, the in-service training was a nightmare and would consume more time that it was worth. While there was some corolation to tracking/explosives detection and mine detection, there always seemed to be some confusion as to whether to follow the track or detect a tripwire. The mixing of drug and explosives detection wasn't a problem as far as proficiency was concerned. (keep in mind, research only, never used in the field). The patrol work didn't really interfer with any of the other disciplines. From a trainers standpoint, it was fun. Just not practical and more importanly, unsafe.

DFrost

I think one reason human remains detection and water search are disciplines open to trained volunteers is because there IS a limit to what a budget strapped police department CAN afford, their focus is drugs, explosives and criminals, and when cadaver dogs are needed to look for a shallow grave or scattered remains several handlers and dogs are more efficient.

IOW, I think the need for a cadaver dog is "once in awhile" rather than "every day" like the other disciplines.

I am sure they would rather "do it themselves" but don't always have the resources to do so. Makes it incumbent on anyone handling a cadaver dog to know the laws, maintain strict training logs and demonstration of proficiency since it is a discipline likely to wind up with a handler in court.

Are my observations valid that LE dogs MUST maintain proficiency in what is most critical to the activities and focus of the department and budgeting for multiple dogs / handlers for different roles is a major issue?

Too late to edit

I guess I was addressing your point that, in reality, I am gathering from limited exposure to LE that there IS a practial limit on what an individual dog is trained to do.