Carol, that's fantastic. Sounds like he won the hardest "competition" there is.

I have nothing at all against competitions, but I think it's especially cool when a dog accomplishes the goal in a real world situation where the variables aren't controlled and the end result has a much stronger impact than a ribbon.

Kudos!

Thanks again all!!

Amber,
Your right. I train that way also. I tell my "victims" to just go somewhere and get "lost". No flags, no markers once I know the dog works and what body language they use to show "on" or "off" trail. All I know is a point last seen.

I love doing what I do and it all is worth it when you make a true find. That is why I believe wholeheartedly that training as real of life scenarios as you can get is so important.

Congratulations...great job !!!!

Excellent Carol! Congrats!

Hard core.

I'm in awe!! What a challenging but supremely rewarding job - and Max looks great!

Just curious, what kind of attitude does Max have once he's made the "find"? Does he just look back at you, is he excited, does he ever react protectively, in the case of a possible criminal or dangerous person? Sounds like you have plenty of good backup...

~Natalya

Congrats Carol and Max!! Real world working dogs! Fantastic.
I have a question, too. Does Max know when he's succeeded and turns "off" by himself or does he wait to see if there's more work to do? I just am wondering how much is nature and how much is nurture/training.

 Quote: natalya zahn

I'm in awe!! What a challenging but supremely rewarding job - and Max looks great!

Just curious, what kind of attitude does Max have once he's made the "find"? Does he just look back at you, is he excited, does he ever react protectively, in the case of a possible criminal or dangerous person? Sounds like you have plenty of good backup...

~Natalya

Mas is a different dog, when training he is very happy to see his victims and get his reward.
I have my "victims" reward him to keep victim loyalty high. With this said I also do what we call "variable schedule of reward" with my dogs. Most of the time the victim rewards, but when I train a scenario with a "unconcious" person or a "criminal" I reward the dog. Sometimes he does not get his food reward just praise. This way he never knows what he is going to get, so he works for the "surprise".
With this particular search, when I saw the man, I backed away pulling Max with me and telling him "good boy" in a quiet voice as to not agitate the suspect. Of course I got the "but he's right there..." look from Max. Once the Marshals had the man in custody is when I came alive with him and rubbed him up.
My flanker who carries a food reward then did a "runaway" for Max and when Max found him he got his food.

Max does not like people near me or his vehicle so I have no doubt that he would act protectively. People can be around us but not too close. Plus I am usually armed.
My back-up is great and we work really hard at working together as a team. I really like working with my firefighters and all the LE I have ever worked with has been awesome.

MIKE:
Max is always wanting to work. He really does not have an "off" switch. That is what I love about the hounds. We train with multiple victim scenarios.
I will trail and find my first one. Give him a short break and some water and then scent him with the second article and he will work that one.
We have done four as a maximium. I just make sure to keep him in shape and monitor his "vitals" due to risk of bloat and I do not want to exhaust him.

Ooops, I realized I only answered half of your question Nat....
When Max go near this guy he pulled really hard but was not happy and jovial about it as usual, which leads me to believe that he may be able to tell the difference between the lost and the criminal. He wanted to go into the guy, but as far as knowing what he would do....I did not give him the chance because you never know what a suspect will do to your dog if they do not want to be caught.

Thanks Carol! Sounds like an amazing process, and a real team effort.

You mentioned Max not really having an "off" switch - which is just like my boy, who is a Ridgeback (another big hound ). His senses are just always alert for the next best thing. You must have to work so hard in training to keep him focused on one lead, without his nose going off in other directions (guess that's the whole point!). I had read that most SAR dogs are castrated, to cut down on distractions of the reproductive sort - not sure if hounds are just that little bit more independant that this would make a big difference? Is there any preference in the field for one sex over another?

~Natalya