Renee--

That dog won't hunt. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> (Sorry, couldn't resist).

Great point, though. I wonder how many of our vaunted SAR mavens could even accurately describe the three phases of a Schutzhund trial (and yes, I KNOW there are quite a few exceptions out there). Too many SAR clubs these days seem to be an excuse for people to get out in the woods with their pet dogs and wear fancy camo gear. Yeah, man, whatever. Just hope nobody actually gets lost in their neck o' the woods...

Pete

You know.....this is very frustrating. I am just trying to explain from some of what I have heard as to where this feedback comes from........but the statement about running through the woods in camo with the pet dogs....do you KNOW what you have to go through to even get on a SAR team these days?

Typically, after your criminal background check, initiation of up to a year serving as a flanker and getting certifications (e.g., SAR TECH, Wilderness First Aid, Radio, etc.) hiding hours for other dog handlers and spending countless hours in the muck being eaten alive by mosquitos, taking off work and driving for several hours to a search only to turn around and go home because the search was called off but the victim is still out there, spending all your vacation time at training seminars, not seeing your family on weekends, spending several thousands a year in non reimbursed funds, and loving every minute of it, dont tell me about people in the woods in camo with their pets! Those people come, they try it, they wash out.

The dog is part of canine SAR but so are a WHOLE LOT of other things. Our team is much more excited about having a firefighter or EMT come on than a dog person as they know that person already probably has the primary thing needed, the desire to save lives and the willingness to work long tiring hours ....and is not just looking for something cool to do with their dogs. (not saying you are like that but I have seen a number of "dog" people who see SAR as another dog sport like Agility or schutzhund.

Sorry and the dogs dont find people? I know of quite a few finds in my neck of the woods, and those are just the ones I know personally -- do you think we should ask the families of those people what they think about the quality of these SAR dogs and the trainers who trained them and whether or not they know anything at all about dog training?

I got a bit heated there as you hit a nerve.

Schutzhund knowledge brings a real knowledge base to SAR folks, and is often not used due to ignorance and false perceptions your best ambassadors are the SAR people who do schutzhund.

The general public needs to have a better understanding of why schuzhund is a good thing not just a macho killer dog thing.

Insurance companies need to be convinced these dogs are an asset and not a liability.

People need to see how a trained schutzhund dog reacts to an old guy swinging a stick or a child running in fear. They think schutzhund = dog biting at raised arm or knocking down running person because that is what they see.

Tell me what I am supposed to tell this guy with the 10 inch gash on his stomach? Please, how am I going to convince him?

Ed Frawely wrote:

In Canada NO ONE can use a dog in a search unless it has been certified by a RCMP K9 handler. The dogs must pass a level one RCMP tracking certification. Only in some provinces is that true.

Ontario and Quebec have their own separate provincial police and the RCMP have little jurisdiction.

Ontario has recently adopted canine SAR standards but no dogs have been tested to date. I'm hoping that one dog on my team (I'm the Team Manager) will be able to test this fall. Quebec currently has no canine SAR standards and their GSAR standards are only just being developped.

Also, municipal forces may choose to utilize SAR dogs to their discretion. My team is frequently used by one of the municipal forces over in Quebec (we are located in Ontario near the Quebec border) Our in house testing is quite stringent and in the past 4 years we have only had 3 dogs at the mission ready level.

Natalie