I have been reading the FEMA certifications on this website and I am going to go for that. They have really good dogs and high standards, similar to my own goals.

Yes, I would like to do disaster search training at some point, but our focus is on wilderness search. Some of the dogs do cadaver and water, but I'm working on wilderness trailing, to train for wilderness area search once certified in trailing. I would imagine the skills needed are transferable from wilderness to urban, though, so once I have a good foundation with the wilderness stuff, I'd love to find some good rubble piles to train in! I'd also like to do avalanche, since we do have a need for that in this part of the country.

I was and still may do SAR work with my GSD. I visited a local group who actually has a member in NY right now. Gary Hay and Freddie are certified in FEMA, which I had planned on doing. I had also wanted to do SchH and decided to pursue that first. Is it do late to switch to SAR after he's finished getting his title? He's three and will get his SchH III (we hope) Oct. 14th. Will his work in SchH transfer fairly easy? I know they do a "hold and bark" when they locate a victim, at least this groups dogs do. I saw them work and loved it. I had tips on how to begin my dog. I just didn't have enough "victims" to help. Any suggestions?

Karmen,
Your dog's age may be an issue, but you'd have to check w/the team you want to join. IMO, Sch tracking is a great foundation for any type of future scent work, but the reverse is hard to do. Some dogs are trained for a bark alert, some are not, again you would talk w/your team about that. Some still do a bringsel alert, some do a recall/refind, etc.

The place I visited starts the dogs out with finding it's owner. Is this how most SAR dogs are started? My dog and I have a super bond (not to brag) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> and he has scaled fences to get to me. Even though he has had some pressure in tracking in Schutzhund ( I know this can hinder the dog as Vince states under another topic) could he make it as a SAR? He does have the drive and the bond is there. All his foundation work in tracking was and still is all through drive.

Karmen,
Yes doing runaways and finding you is how SAR dogs start out, most dogs are more motivated to find their owners than anyone else, helps build up drive/excitement and helps them to understand the game.
We won't be able to tell via keyboard if your dog will be able to do SAR, your team leader is the one to ask about that. There is also the question of whether *you* can do SAR, the committment of time, $ and hard physical labor are pretty considerable. Let us know how training goes!

Come on Joy.LOL. From Karmen's posts I think she has more than the drive needed to acomplish anything. Know nothing about S&R so good luck is all that I can say.

Karmen,
You'll really want to be a part of a team, as it will help immensely to have experienced people help you get started and troubleshoot when you have problems (you WILL have problems, no matter how good your dog is).

Another good resource is the ARDA book that Ed sells. It covers the process step by step, and includes general information on how scent works, as well as first aid for your dog. But you should check with the team(s) that you consider joining to see what training methods they use, as you don't need to be the only one training a certain way. It's important to have unity in training methods, so you can help each other to your best ability.

Generally, they do tend to start dogs out finding their own handlers, but personally, I think that is less important than really getting the dog interested in the person doing the runaway. In my experience, which isn't much, it's pretty easy to do.

BTW, Karmen, do you have Ed's video on TTD with the RCMP? I've just ordered it, and I'm really hoping it's worth the 72 clams.....I know that the tracking I have been doing thus far is closer to TTD than FST anyway, but the testimonials convinced me. Any thoughts?

Just a couple of ideas for the people interested in S&R dogs for collapsed structures. I know nothing about this so this is only a suggestion. I know cameras have been used on S&R dogs. Have a look at a company called Supercircuits in Austin, TX. They have small cameras and transmitters and reciever units, you could have all the gear in a brief case, maybe a video card and see the image on a laptop. The cameras are tiny, the size of a cube of sugar some of them.
Plus have a transciever with a VOX mike on the dog so you can give the dog commands remotely, bark on command so you can maybe locate him in the wreckage, down stay while you talk to the cas, recall to the handler etc. and also communicate with the casualty if conscious. The gear would have to be mounted on a harness that would tear away if the dog got hung up on wreckage, make it go on with velcro. The dog could be trained to pull him self free if caught up.

I know Israel is using jack russels to go down into collapsed buildings as they are small enough to get into tight squeezes and have plenty of heart.I know jack russels will dig into a burrow to get a fox so I guess they'd dig a bit to find people. The dog could also do things like carry a mobile phone down to a cas or water/glucose in a sort of dog camel back held aginst his belly. For people who arent techincally minded they could contact some local amatuer radio opperators for help with getting the gear up and running, a lot of the supercircuits stuff is 'plug and play'.Maybe some of the dog S&R groups could form a partnership with a local ham radio club or group.
Just a few ideas that occoured to me, maybe you S&R guys are into it already.