This past weekend I helped evaluate 5 SAR dogs with my brother-in-laws team. My job was to act as the victim and determine how the dog reacted to me. The dog in question a 14 month old male, worked the field quite nice and the handler did a great job working the dog.The problem started when the dog found me, He freaked out, no barking,hackles were up, and totally refused to come near me. The handler said the dog had just reciently started doing this. A bitch littermate, tested earlier in the evening, did fine, but her handlers comment later on was, "I'm a little supprised she didn't show some aggression (she licked my face). The handler of the bitch was the breeder of both dogs, and made the comment that the male didn't get good socialization early, and was working thru the problem.
I'm not going to change my thoughts on the male. I just wanted to get some opinions from those more expierenced than me with SAR. Does a dog, that works well in the field, makes a good find but freaks out when it finds the victim, have any business in SAR.
If he is just starting this at 14 months old, could it just be a bad expierence that can be worked out?

I find it strange that you are elvaluating a 14 month old dog for SAR. I always thought the training started around -6- months or earlier. This dog should have been used to being with and around strange people and any other distractions.

Then I'm not an expert for sure.

Bob how have you been? I'll send you a few photo's.

Butch
The group I work with starts with pups. Finding people is just a big game with them. I sure hope this dog works out because he and the handler show lots of promise. This problem just started.
Been wondering about you and your little gal. Winter sucks.

To a SAR dog, it's not the searching that counts, it's the FINDING. The dog should LOVE making the find above all else. The find is their motivation to search. It's the possibility of making the find that will keep a SAR dog working for hours under tough conditions. In my opinion, a dog that does not enjoy making the find will not make a good search dog. A dog that shows fear toward people is a liability. But, I am relatively inexperienced and have a lot to learn myself, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. Just wanted to throw it in there.

Bob,
I'm also wondering, what was your reaction when the dog first found you? I'm wondering if perhaps the dog got a reaction from you that he's not used to? Or perhaps the dog is only used to finding people he knows already? Ideally, once past the initial "runaway" stage, training should be set up so that the dog gets used to finding different people in different positions, responsive and unresponsive, on the ground, in a tree, etc. It really pays for the "subject" to pretend to be disoriented like a person with Alzheimer's or hypothermia might be. But a young inexperienced dog may be unsure the first time they find someone who is "different" from what they're used to.
Also, this comment "the male didn't get good socialization early, and was working thru the problem." really makes me wonder if the problem *really* just started, or if there have been some other things going on in the past. Sometimes people make excuses for their dogs, because they want so very much for their dog to work out.....it's very difficult to admit that your dog just isn't suited for the work, and sometimes people will resist admitting that to themselves, let alone anyone else.