K9 SAR Questions & Answers - Ask the Pros!

[HesterMofet]

Can you only train certain kinds of dogs for SAR? I have a miniature dachshund, but I've never seen one used for SAR. He's a year old. Would that be too old to start and should I start him with general scent training?

 

[sarx]

Can you only train certain kinds of dogs for SAR? I have a miniature dachshund, but I've never seen one used for SAR. He's a year old. Would that be too old to start and should I start him with general scent training?

Lots of breeds and mixes can be used, it's all a matter of their drive and their nose. The caveat to that is that some body types just don't hold up well to the distances (in miles), the temperatures (heat and cold) and other factors like that.

 

[HesterMofet]

Thanks for the answer sarx. I think I will see if he has any aptitude for nose work.

 

[JulesInVA]

What breeds of dogs are best suited for SAR? Are some breeds better than others at specific tasks?


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[Sillybilly]

Hopefully Oriah or sarx or any/all of you great K9 handlers will be gracious as usual and have enough time to answer a question for us wrt the Jeffrey Boucher case in Whitby, ON. I know you folks are always swamped, so will try to summarize, and hopefully it will be enough for you to formulate a general response.

JB went for an approx. 2 hour run around 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm, Sunday, January 12 2014, then is believed to have left for another run the next morning, January 13 2014 approx. 6:00 am. (possibly/likely a different route). Search dogs were brought in not later than Wednesday, January 15 2014 (possibly earlier).

Conditions:
Sunday, Temps 2.3C to 3.0C, precip. 0, snow accumulation 3cm
Monday, Temps 2.3C to 6.0C, precip .6 cm, snow accumulation 2cm

At this time, I don’t know whether there was sunshine or for how long during the daytime on the Monday.

Historical weather data for Whitby, ON (Jeffrey's runs were the night of Jan 12 2014 and the morning of Jan 13 2014):

http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climat...onID=4996&Month=1&Day=1&Year=2014&timeframe=2

Question: Given the relatively short timeframe between runs, how/could the search dogs discriminate between the 2 tracks in order to track on the more recent one?

Many thanks for any help you can give us !!!

sb

 

[sarx]

So, we are looking at approx. 10 hours apart... that is quite a bit if time really. It is not uncommon however for dogs that haven't trained in it to have issues whrn dealing with leaving from a residence of the person because if the sheer volume of overlayed trails.

 

[Sillybilly]

Thank you sarx. Appreciate your input.

 

[Trackergd]

SARX,

Can you post a sticky thread listing the details of the different types of SAR dogs?

This subject seems to come up in almost every case I get involved in. While I pretty much know the answers, I feel feel it appropriate to be posted by you folks involved in K9 SAR.

Rather than type it all out, you might want to copy and paste articles like this:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/mammals/sar-dog2.htm

And modify as needed. Please add some information on how temperature, auto exhaust and other types of contamination disrupt or degrade scent trails.

It would be much easier to direct folks to the sticky it rather than explain it "ad nauseum" in each and every search thread.

Thanks again!

 

[Bravo]

Question: What items/s are best as far as dogs picking up a scent? IIRC from another case it was stated "head" items were best (hat, pillow case etc) and shoes were least. Many thanks in advance :seeya:

 

[Arnie M]

Dedicated drug sniffing dogs wrong 66% of the time , right 44% of the time

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/..._1_drug-sniffing-dogs-alex-rothacker-drug-dog

 

[Arnie M]

.

(from the article) ..... One big concern is the lack of training requirements for the dogs the police use.

A student from Ohio State University who is doing research on the pair of Supreme Court cases about dog sniffing scheduled for argument on Wednesday reports that only two states have standards for dog certification. In Canada, only British Columbia does,

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...court_will_hear_argument_on_whether_they.html

 

[Rachel1]

I know this thread is old but still figured I would reach out anyway, I'm currently in training with a 3yr old GS and we're suddenly running into issues. She's absolutely fantastic with trailing, the best I've ever seen! But the downside is she's overly aggressive. I understand that an overly aggressive k9 has no place in SAR but I can't help but feel her talents would be otherwise wasted. I'll continue to try to modify the behavior issues but has anyone else run into this issue? It's frustrating because she's so talented and I'd hate to see her talents go to waste. I know that people will say more training is needed if the dog is showing any signs of aggression but how much is more? At what point do you fold?

 

[tomlok]

good advice, guys. Thank you!

 

[tomlok]

can help with the question. go into the game dobramine, and immediately hangs a bruezer, what should I do?