# Article Critique on SAR dog training methods?



## Nancy Jocoy

I wrote this about 5 years ago for new team members and would like to clean it up. Would greatly appreciate any constructive input. 

The attempt was simply to identify and explain various schools of thought in training SAR dogs and not focus on any one method as being "best".... kind of an intro to the disucssions that come up at seminars or on dog boards.............it is rather long.......

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New K9 SAR handlers often start training their dog with methods found in a book or offered by someone on a search team. There are some challenges with both approaches. NOTE: For this article future references will be: K9 team=handler + dog, crew = group dispatched to an area during a search, and unit = search and rescue organization.

Techniques for training search dogs have evolved since many of the books were published. Also, the person assisting the new handler often has limited experience training dogs (other than their own) for search and rescue. 

The new handler may join internet discussion boards and attend seminars to learn more about training a search dog. There is a wealth of new and useful information in these resources but they can sometimes cause new problems. The handler starts trying "a little bit of this" and "a little bit of that" and confuses the dog. This can turn into a “smorgasbord” approach to dog training.

It would help the new handler to understand the different approaches before he or she heads off to that first (of many) seminars or starts seeking online help. People can be very aggressive about promoting their own ideas on dog training, so it pays to “look before you buy”. Remember that the internet has also created many new “experts” with little experience to back up their claims.

Any of the different methods can work if followed consistently. A fundamental rule of dog training is that a stressed or confused dog will revert to its earliest training. The first training methods lay a foundation that is hard to change. Modifying a dog's training program is a major decision that should not be made on a whim.

This document does not judge any method of training. The intent is to summarize the different "schools of thought" to help the new handler sift through the conflicting information he or she will receive. 

*DEPLOYMENT OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DOGS *

We can broadly generalize that scent hounds tend to trail, bird dogs tend to air scent, and herding dogs are more visual than the hunting dogs. But each dog is an individual, and how it is worked will depend on the capability of the individual dog and the skill of the handler in learning how to best work that dog. 

There is an amount of overlap between the various modes in which a dog follows scent – they do not categorize scent like we do; they just follow their nose. 

The handler’s job is to place the dog in a location where it is likely to find scent and to read its behaviors (trained and untrained) to determine what the dog is doing in order to locate the victim.

*Tracking Dogs* - Competition sport dogs are primarily trained in tracking. The tracking dog is following the ground disturbance (e.g., crushed vegetation, disturbed sediment, etc.) left by the subject as they walk through an area. They work footstep to footstep, sometimes at a fast pace. Tracking dogs do not need a scent article to follow a track. Law Enforcement (LE) dogs are also sometimes used as tracking dogs.

*Trailing Dogs* – (Sometimes also referred to as “tracking dogs”) - The trailing dog is following the scent trail, or distinctly human scent left by the victim as he or she passes through an area. This scent trail is thought to consist predominantly of groups of cells (rafts) that have sloughed off the body and release volatile compounds as they are decomposed by bacteria. The scent is unique for each different person. The trailing dog tends to follow those rafts that have been deposited on or near the ground (often quite a distance from the footfall path of the victim)

The trailing dog is typically deployed in an area where the subject is thought to have traveled (e.g., area around a house or car, on a trail, etc.). The search dog is usually given a scent article and cast to try to locate the trail taken by the subject. The trailing search dog must be scent discriminating as the area is usually heavily contaminated by the scent of other people by the time the dog is deployed. Some trailing dogs that work fresh trails can take the scent from the ground in an area known to have been passed by the subject and this is often the case with LE trailing dogs.

The trailing dog is usually worked with a harness and a long line but there is a school of thought that utilizes dogs trained to trail “off lead”. The concept of an off lead trailing dog is not universally accepted but is one that many people follow. 

Trailing dogs can also grid an area looking for a scent trail, but the more typical use is to cast them around high probability areas to locate and then follow the trail.

As you observe trailing dogs you will find a great deal of variability in how each dog works. This variability is due to differences in the dog and the training method. 

Many people believe that dogs are capable of simultaneously processing scent information from both the track and the scent trail to locate the missing person. There are often lively discussions about how close to the footfall path a true trailing dog should be expected to work. 

*Air Scent Dogs *-- The air scent dog follows the same human scent as the trailing dogs, but they are scanning for those rafts that are suspended in the air. These rafts can be carried great distances from the victim. Air scent dogs are typically deployed to search an area for a subject, where there is no known trail. 

Often, these dogs are sent with ground crews to the lower probability areas. Even if a find is not made, the presence or absence of clues (including scent) discovered by the crew provides valuable information for the search planners. Air scent dogs are worked in higher probability areas if trailing dogs are not available or have not had success. 

The air scent dog may either be scent discriminating (to locate an individual) or generic (to locate all people in the given area). This dog is often used by griddling a search sector at a right angle to the wind, but there are other ways to deploy an air scent dog by using known landscape/environmental features that can transport scent (e.g., streams, drainages, trees, ridges etc.)

*Cross Trained Dogs* –The cross trained dog has been trained in multiple disciplines.
Some handlers maintain that the dog cross trained in trailing and air scent is a better search dog because they will be scanning for both scent trail and air scent during a search. We do know that any trailing dog may air scent and any air scent dog may trail under the right conditions, but this argument maintains the cross trained dog will be more proficient, versatile, and can be deployed in either type of problem.

Other handlers believe that training a dog in trailing before air scent simply helps the handler learn to understand the dog’s body language better. In other words, it is more for the benefit of the handler than the dog. 

Most handlers believe the dog should be specialized as either a trailing or an air scent dog and work primarily in that specialty. The most common approach is to utilize either a trailing dog or an air scent dog and allow the dog to use its nose to locate the strongest scent regardless of whether it is airborne or on a scent trail.

*SPECIALIZED DISCIPLINES:*

*Disaster Dogs *– These are the dogs written about by the media and the ones who may have sparked your interest in Search and Rescue. The reality is that these units are highly specialized, must be available for lengthy deployments, and the work is dangerous. They are a valuable asset. They are basically non scent discriminating air scent dogs who air trained to find multiple victims and work in precarious situations. They are part of USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) and are overseen by the Federal Government or other governmental agencies.

*Human Remains Detection Dogs* – (also called cadaver dogs) - These dogs are specifically trained to locate human remains, shallow graves, bones, etc. The HRD handler is the one most likely to wind up in court as calls often involve crime scenes. Many dogs are cross trained in live find and finding recently deceased individuals. Working crime scenes for shallow graves and old bones is considered to be a specialized discipline and these dogs are typically used only for this purpose.

*Water Search Dogs* – The dogs work on a boat or from the shore to help locate drowning victims.

*Avalanche Dogs* – Dogs that are trained to locate buried avalanche victims. This is another variation of the air scent dog.


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## Nancy Jocoy

continued......

*STARTING A DOG *– There are several approaches to starting a dog in search training. This subject is, perhaps, the most controversial among members of the search and rescue community at large.

There is general agreement that it is easier for a dog trained in trailing to learn to work air scent problems than it is for a dog started with air scent training to learn trailing. 

Whether or not starting a dog in trailing enhances their ability to work as an air scent dog is still debated, but trailing is also a good way for a handler to learn to read their own dog as it is much easier to observe the subtle changes in body language while the dog is working scent from 20 feet than from 60. Starting a dog in trailing is a trend that is growing throughout the country.

*Trailing* – The dog is either started at the beginning of the trail or taken across the trail at right angles (and encouraged when it notices the trail). The dog is rewarded for noticing and following its nose to the victim who is at the end of the trail. There is great variation in how dogs are worked in trailing; the different approaches are somewhere on the continuum between tracking and “off lead” trailing. 

*Runaways *– The runaway method was originally developed for the training of air scent dogs but some proponents of the discipline labeled as “off lead trailing” also start the dogs with runaways.
	Opponents of the runaway method are concerned that runaways utilize visual prey drive and maintain that the dog needs to be working in olfactory hunt drive to sustain interest in longer problems i.e., the prey drive in a hunting animal is engaged at the final, not beginning phases of a hunt AFTER they have found the prey. These opponents maintain that, on a long search, a dog will be stressed and revert to the original “visual” training.
	Proponents of the runaway method sometimes argue that prey drive and hunt drive are the same and that problems associated with dogs shutting down during long searches are due to lack of adequate training time while the dog is not in an area containing scent (more time in negative areas)

*Imprinting through Hunt Drive* – This method places people in “containers” and rewards the dog for “noticing” the scent, then for following its nose to the scent, and is built on the concept the dog should be looking with its nose and not its eyes. This method is very similar to the method used by detection dog people (bomb, drugs, and cadaver) in introducing the scent to the dog. 


*TRAINING SCENT DISCRIMINATION*
There are two basic ways to train scent discrimination.

*Scent Discrimination Using Trailing* –The more typical method involves presenting a scent article and placing a dog on a trail over which two people have walked and then separated. Alternately the dog can be started on a trail over which another person crosses. The dog is rewarded for finding or going toward the correct person and gets no reward for locating the incorrect person or following their trail. 

*Scent Discrimination Using a Line Up* – This method is used in Holland for training police service dogs. It is not widely used in search and rescue training. It is similar to the AKC scent discrimination test for Utility dogs.

*REWARDING THE DOG *– The dog works for a “paycheck” or reward. For some dogs, particularly trailing dogs, the actual trail itself is so motivating that it serves to motivate the dog but most dogs need to have a “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow.

Dogs can be rewarded with food, toy play, or tug play or even praise (depending on the dog). You will encounter people who feel that a food driven dog is inferior to a toy driven dog, but others argue that food is the most primal drive of all and why dogs hunt in the first place.

*WHO rewards the dog? * There are two different schools of thought on that. 

*The victim rewards the dog *– Proponents of this approach, also known as the “Victim Loyalty” approach stress that the dog is much more motivated to find the victim who rewards them. In this approach, the dog is rewarded by the victim when the dog, victim and handler are all together. Proponents of the victim loyalty approach find that the fact that a real victim would not reward the dog inconsequential as real finds are so much less frequent than training finds that there is no risk the behavior will extinguish. Once again, we do what works for the DOG, and not for us!

*The handler rewards the dog *– Proponents of this approach stress the bond between the handler and the dog and they argue the point that in a “real” search the victim would probably not interact with the dog in such a manner.

*THE TRAINED INDICATION*

Dogs who work off lead often range out of sight of the handler. The off lead dog needs to be able to “tell” the handler they have located the victim. There are two different types of trained indications. 

*The Bark and Hold *– The dog stands at the victim and barks until the handler locates the dog by following the barks.

*The Recall-Refind* – This technique has multiple permutations. In this method the dog locates the victim and “tells” the handler they have found the victim then returns to the victim so the handler can follow. Often times the dog will go back and forth between the victim and the handler multiples times while the handler catches up with the dog. 
There are many ways the dog can tell the handler they have located the victim; they can jump on the handler, bark at them, tug an object on the handlers person, or carry an object back to the handler.

*No Trained Indication *– There are handlers who claim to read the dog’s body language so clearly that no trained indication is used, but that is a skill that really cannot be trained and one that is more subject to handler error than a trained indication.

*POSTSCRIPT*
Repetition and major unit involvement will be required to train your dog. You will need to ensure adequate variation in conditions such as temperature, humidity, terrain, age and distance of problem, etc.

While the handler will rely on a trained indication for the off lead dog, much of the handlers’ training (on lead and off lead) involves reading the body language of their dog and determining when the dog is working or not, on scent or not. This is, perhaps, the hardest part of search dog training for new handlers.

Training records are critical to demonstrating reliable performance, documentation of problems, and variety of training experiences. Training records may be considered as evidence in a court case so it is important they are kept accurate, complete, and up to date.

Performance on a “certification test” alone does not guarantee success. One time performance on a test is no guarantee of proficiency and reliability. Mediocre K9 teams have passed tests because they got lucky on test day and good K9 teams have failed because of some fluke. Even the best K9 team in the world may fail to locate a victim under the best circumstances. The importance of maintaining reliability and proficiency is to minimize the risk of failure.


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## Konnie Hein

Hi Nancy:
I think this is a good intro/overview. I especially like the part where you caution the newbie against combining various methods. You could/should probably write an entire book on this topic, going into more detail on various training methods.


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## David Frost

Nancy Jocoy said:


> continued......
> 
> *STARTING A DOG *– Training records are critical to demonstrating reliable performance, documentation of problems, and variety of training experiences. Training records may be considered as evidence in a court case so it is important they are kept accurate, complete, and up to date.
> 
> Performance on a “certification test” alone does not guarantee success. One time performance on a test is no guarantee of proficiency and reliability. Mediocre K9 teams have passed tests because they got lucky on test day and good K9 teams have failed because of some fluke. Even the best K9 team in the world may fail to locate a victim under the best circumstances. The importance of maintaining reliability and proficiency is to minimize the risk of failure.



Excellant article. My favorite part and something I've preached for many years is about the training records and the certification.

Training records are a road map. Your training standard tells you where you need to be. Properly documented the training record tells you where you are. Reviewing the training records not only tells you where, but how to get to your destination. Training records provide a history of proficiency, or the lack of it. Training records when reviewed allow the trainer to detect the less proficient areas. This enables valuable training time to be concentrated in the areas that need it the most. While I consider a certification an essential part, it is only that, a part. 

DFrost


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## Konnie Hein

Konnie Hein said:


> Hi Nancy:
> I think this is a good intro/overview. I especially like the part where you caution the newbie against combining various methods. You could/should probably write an entire book on this topic, going into more detail on various training methods.


Just wanted to add that I'll be waiting impatiently for said book to be in print 

Again, nice article.


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## Nancy Jocoy

Konnie Hein said:


> Just wanted to add that I'll be waiting impatiently for said book to be in print
> 
> Again, nice article.



LOL, we need to get some of the true experts out there to put together a really good book - 

I know enough to be dangerous! I know more than a newbie but am a firm believer in the Peter Principal. 

The biggest area we still have internal arguments and I see a lot elswhere is about trailing. I am no fan of runaways, but others are. I think dogs should start on trailing day one, others don't. Interested in Terry's disucssion and I need to go over and see how he STARTS his dogs trailing BUT what he does is different due his trails being fresher......it is where the trail gets old and broken up and the crushed vegetation odor may be used by the dog to bridge the gap etc......

As far as to whether dogs should "do it all" - to me single purpose dogs are the way to go.


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## Carol Boche

Nancy....permission to print this out and give it to my new handlers?


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## Jeff Gore

David Frost said:


> Training records are a road map. Your training standard tells you where you need to be. Properly documented the training record tells you where you are. Reviewing the training records not only tells you where, but how to get to your destination. Training records provide a history of proficiency, or the lack of it. Training records when reviewed allow the trainer to detect the less proficient areas. This enables valuable training time to be concentrated in the areas that need it the most. While I consider a certification an essential part, it is only that, a part.
> 
> DFrost


David is exactly right and as a general rule if its not recorded it did not happen. 

I believe you did an excellent job on your article. It might serve you to address handlers motivation for entering into SAR and the reasonable expectations once in it. What the SAR community expects them to do, unethical practices and how the SAR community will police itself if it can. Should you engage in police callouts and are they physicaly capable before they get a dog. I know this is off center of your article however I thought pointing at both ends of the lead might be fruitfull.


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## Nancy Jocoy

Carol Boche said:


> Nancy....permission to print this out and give it to my new handlers?


No problem - I can email you a formatted PDF version tonight if you would like


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## Carol Boche

That would be GREAT!!! Thank you very much!


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## Nancy Jocoy

Jeff Gore said:


> David is exactly right and as a general rule if its not recorded it did not happen.
> 
> I believe you did an excellent job on your article. It might serve you to address handlers motivation for entering into SAR and the reasonable expectations once in it. What the SAR community expects them to do, unethical practices and how the SAR community will police itself if it can. Should you engage in police callouts and are they physicaly capable before they get a dog. I know this is off center of your article however I thought pointing at both ends of the lead might be fruitfull.


LOL that is timely as we have been discussing that among the team officers ... time to make clear the level of expectations as new folks are learning it is a lot more involvement than they realized. Plan to read some of Vi's stuff on Daryl's website - a lot of good stuff there-and I think one of those touched on it. There used to be one "so you think you want to be a SAR handler" - I will dig for that because it had a lot of good info.


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## Daryl Ehret

Great article, it was helpful to me. My only critique: In the part of _Who rewards the dog?,_ I would reverse the order of your descriptions, and explain the handler rewarding before the victim rewarding. Since nothing is added to the briefer description, it would seem less redundant to present it first.

On that subject, I'm wondering what I would prefer. My dog plays a pretty intense game of tug, and only a victim with experience should probably even try. He even gets my fingers good once in a while. If I want the benefit of training with multiple and various persons to play the part of "victim", I'm guessing it would probably be best if I took the "handler gives the reward" approach. But, I would also agree there would be low risk of extinguishing the behavior, should the victim serve the reward instead.


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## Nancy Jocoy

Change made.......sending copy to Carol.

My personal preference is for the victim to reward the dog-but that can be scary with some dogs for people not used to an intense tug dog but then they need to learn to step up to the plate. I figure if I will roll around on the ground with a slobbering slimey bloodhound someone else can tug with my dog. I can't say I have seen it enough both ways though to have a real good argument for it.

But I think the main point of a reward with a recall refind is the reward is for getting the handler back to the victim.


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## Jeff Gore

The deciding factor on who rewards the dog can be the type of reward, treat, tug, praise etc. and/or the experience of the trail layer. My trail layers are 95+ percent community service workers. I demo what I ask them to perform and most of the time they give a substandard level of reward I want the dog to have so i need to chime in on the praise anyway. The tug dogs can play rough and can intimidate the trail layer so hear comes the handler to the rescue. 

The treat dogs are sometimes not selective in their treat where your fingers or liver are equally tasty so hear comes the handler to the rescue again because the trail layer shuts down on you during the critical timing of praise. I cant afford to get my community service workers injured either. They are sure to claim dog bite on some of the treat dogs if it gets out of hand so to speak.

I have come to the reality that as long as the dog gets enough reward/praise to where the reward is always worth the task the dog is always more than happy to go to work. If my trail layer can make that happen that is my preference if not I will fill in the void and move on.


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## Nancy Jocoy

Jeff, you make good sense. It is very frustrating to have a so so victim. I am working HRD only now, but would get very frustrated when I would act like a crazy monkey for someone else's dog and they would turn around and be very blase' when rewarding my dog................


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## Daryl Ehret

And then, for an actual find, what if the real victim has a serious fear factor of dogs? Enough to act hostile toward the dog, and evoke an aggressive response because of it? Even if that weren't a possibility, what about your dog doing a bark and hold on a victim, and the victim perceiving it as aggression, and attacks the dog?

In my case, I think I'd prefer the dog lead me back to the victim, and I issue the reward. If he looked more like a cute cuddlebug type of dog, and wasn't unafraid of an invitation to fight, I probably wouldn't be as concerned. My dog's totally stable, but I wouldn't count on a rescue victim being in a stable state of mind, or having some dog-phobia to begin with.


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## Konnie Hein

Daryl,
I'm a huge proponent of the "refind" for wilderness SAR dogs. The wilderness team I was a member of years ago required a bark alert, which was OK for the flat-lands of northern Indiana, I suppose. However, due to exactly what you've described, as well as the hilly terrain here (a bark alert can bounce off the hills and make it difficult for you to locate your dog) renders a bark alert nearly obsolete.

As for who rewards the dog, we almost always have the helper/victim reward the dog in training. It makes the training so much easier. However, we do occasionally practice handler rewards, because that is what is required for certification and it is what occurs in real life. That's pretty much what the vast majority of USAR/disaster people I've trained with do. Think about it - other detection disciplines have spent a lot of time figuring out how to fool the dog into thinking the reward comes from the target odor. We're lucky in that our (meaning live-find handlers) target odor can deliver the reward without us getting involved. 

We're pretty darn careful about who we choose as victims too. Timing of the reward is pretty important in the early stages of our training. I tend to use a small group of skilled helpers for foundation training, and then branch out to use other folks as the timing of the reward becomes less critical.


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## Carol Boche

Thanks nancy!!!!


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## Sarah Atlas

Nancy,
Great Job..However, not to be discouraging but i suggest a piece written about the time it takes to do this (any dicipline) I get many calls from well meaning folks but do not realize the commitment. Time aways from home, time away from job (without pay) time to train, time aways from family, kids etc. I think that this should be said up front. As you know we spend an allot of time training new people only to have them drop out for reasons listed above.

just my 2 cents worth

sarah, 
Tango ,Kaylee and the new guy Buscar


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## Vi Shaffer

The article I wrote on "A Briefing on Basics for SAR Dog Handlers" covers the time, commitment, expense and other factors of SAR and it's meant to be given to perspective Handlers, as it "The Role of the Victim - in Training".

Jeff made a very good point on a dog accidently biting the "victim". There were posts about liability insurance for teams. However, if a dog bites someone -no matter the situation - big problems arise with your personal homeowners insurance as well. 

We had an incident a year-and-a-half ago where True our GSD (15 months at the time) was in a Tractor Supply with me in the checkout line. He was in a sit by my side. A woman walked straight up to him - rather quickly - put one hand on his muzzle and one hand on his neck then bent down like she was going to kiss him. True never left his sit position but thrust his head up to push her out of his face. His teeth hit her cheek and as she jerked back one tooth made a small puncture underneath her eye. True did not snap or bite...there were no opposing teeth marks. He was still in his sit position and looked confused as I hurried to her. 

We accompanied her to the ER and I called the PD to have them meet us there for a report. She admitted what she did to them and the doctor even commented to her about how foolish that was. We were not given a citation and were allowed to quarantine True at home. The young woman got three stitches. The doctor could have done it with only one stitch but since it was on her cheek he wanted to make sure she wouldn't have a scar.

As I said, she admitted what she did and there were witnesses. Never-the-less a few months later we received a letter from an attorney. He said they would "settle" for $25.000! I turned it over to our Insurance and provided them with tons of information, names of witnesses, copies of reports, etc. They did their own investigation and _determined we were not at fault_! However, their standard practice was to pay on medical bills up to $500 regardless. The amount they paid for her was $124.00 Over and done...? Not by a long shot. Two months later our insurance was due for renewal and because of that incident they denied us renewal of our policy! We spent weeks trying to obtain other homeowners coverage only to find that so many companies ban GSDs. In fact the list of banned breeds is ridiculous! 

True is s not a viscous dog in any way but now we are really concerned and are so cautious. It's so sad because he is a magnificent dog! This brings me to the point Jeff made. The "what if" your dog grabbed for his toy (from the "victim") and accidently broken skin? It happened to me years ago with a USAR dog. Playing victim, I didn't give him his ball fast enough so he grabbed it. It wasn't any big deal to me but how would someone else respond? And, if the dog is used to getting the reward from the "victim" - what happens on a real search when the real Victim doesn't have the reward? What will the dog do - pounce on the victim? Bark at the victim, etc? I too prefer a refind and to reward my dog myself.

Okay... this was a long post but here is another article about the role of the Flanker. I just did another copy and paste. Again, as in the other articles, it's based on actual events. God Bless

 
*FLANKER RESPONSIBILITIES*​*By Vi Shaffer*​
​​*The Flanker is an extra set of eyes and ears and also provides additional safety for the dog team.*
*The Flanker can be a person who has training as describe below or it can be another dog handler.*
*All dog handlers should be willing to perform the duties of Flanker. Any dog handler who thinks they are “above” assisting in this manner is not thinking of the success of the mission. *

*The Flanker SHOULD**:*

*Realize the Handler is ultimately responsible for conducting the search in a given area.*

Stay in close proximity to the Handler. Each Handler has their own preference as to how close they like their Flanker. This is always at the Handler’s discretion but 
should be in vocal communication range of the dog team. 

Watch for hazards in the area and notify the Handler. Types of hazards include but are not limited to: snakes, low branches, traffic, downed fences, ditches, varmint holes, wells, dangerous debris and toxic substances, etc. Listen for hazardous sounds as well. e.g. sounds of a rattlesnake, gator, approaching loose dog… Don’t assume the handler has heard what you hear. 

Be knowledgeable of proper communications protocol and handle communication to Base Command.

Knowledgeable of reading a map and compass to determine accurate position or for keeping the team on a definite compass heading for completion of a specific grid pattern.

 Monitor locations to ensure Handler and dog stay within boundaries (sector).

 Make notations on map of alerts and locations of evidence as the Handler dictates. 

 Assist Handler in awareness of wind direction changes.

Assist in keeping track of dog’s rest periods/water breaks.

 Carry extra water and supplies as necessary.

 Watch for clues such as footprints, grass trails, broken branches, cigarette butts, 
 candy/gum wrappers, clothing, etc. 

Observe dog for any body language changes the Handler may not have observed.

Have training in basic first aid and CPR.

*The Flanker SHOULD NOT:* 

Give the dog commands – unless dog is in danger and Handler is not aware..

 Interfere with the dog’s working pattern

 Wander off or lose sight of the Handler

 Get in front of the dog or be so close to the dog that you get in its way.

Constantly talk or criticize the dog, Handler, situation, etc.

 Tell the Handler how they should work their dog.

 Make idle chatter on the radio or to the Handler.

 NEVER talk to the media – that is the job of the Agency you are serving. 

*This information may be added to or amended by the author only.*


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## Nancy Jocoy

Sarah Atlas said:


> Nancy,
> Great Job..However, not to be discouraging but i suggest a piece written about the time it takes to do this (any dicipline) I get many calls from well meaning folks but do not realize the commitment.


Sarah, There are many articles we share [with permission and with credit] with our team members from other writers. 

We do have one on our web page that is up for revision that goes a little bit into the commitment required and we have talked about beefing it up. But Vi's article is good.

Vi, I had a similar experience 23 years ago. [in my case an old man was walking and hit my dog in the mouth as he swung is arm and it tore the skin on top of his hand-no evidence of bite and he even swore up and down it was a freak accident and the dog did not bite him.] While I did have to "quarantine" my legally vaccinated dog for 10 days, the insurance company [Farm Bureau] was no problem and even renewed me with no rate increase. Times have surely changed for dog owners. 

I am also 100% for recall refind for the reasons already metioned as well. I know some teams require a bark hold but I can't figure it WHY for a wilderness dog. Makes sense on a rubble pile.


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## Vi Shaffer

Nancy Jocoy said:


> We do have one on our web page that is up for revision that goes a little bit into the commitment required and we have talked about beefing it up. But Vi's article is good.
> 
> While I did have to "quarantine" my legally vaccinated dog for 10 days, the insurance company [Farm Bureau] was no problem and even renewed me with no rate increase. Times have surely changed for dog owners. .


 
Thanks Nancy! I just had the opportunity to read your article and it's very good! I'd love to read more from others too. I had typed a reply but for some reason I was logged out and it couldn't be posted. So here goes again...

First of all, as has been mentioned, I feel every potential dog Handler (and all disciplines of SAR) should be asked why they want to become involved. And, if they want to do HRD, to be asked "Why?" I had read a post on some list by a person who wanted to do HRD because it was "easy". Another one wanted to do it because their dog wasn't able to handle the rigors of other disciplines. 


A few questions:

Does your team require a probationary period and if so for how long and what are the requirements?
Does your team require a written for verbal test before a probationary member becomes a member?
Does your team require a member to train in other areas of SAR before they can start training a dog?


Nancy - who is your insurance with now? We checked with Farm Bureau but they ban GSDs now. I tried to pull up
The AKC info on the various companies and the breeds they ban but it doesn’t seem to be on their website and longer.
God Bless


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## Connie Sutherland

Vi Shaffer said:


> I had typed a reply but for some reason I was logged out and it couldn't be posted. So here goes again...


Any time a session expires mid-writing and you try to post your message but receive a timed-out screen, back-page to your message, copy it, log back in, and paste the copied text into a new message box. No re-typing needed.

There are several other options, too, such as logging back in on a new browser screen and then returning to the one with your post, but the above is the one I usually use.


And back to our regular programming .....


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## Vi Shaffer

Connie Sutherland said:


> Any time a session expires mid-writing and you try to post your message but receive a timed-out screen, back-page to your message, copy it, log back in, and paste the copied text into a new message box. No re-typing needed.
> 
> There are several other options, too, such as logging back in on a new browser screen and then returning to the one with your post, but the above is the one I usually use.
> 
> 
> And back to our regular programming .....


 
Thanks Connie! That's what I started to do.:smile:
God Bless


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## Nancy Jocoy

Vi, I currently have insurance with Travelers but I had it with State Farm. I was upfront about my dogs with both and did not have a problem with either; they are GSDs.

Our team is struggling with some of these issues. We have a probationary period of 3 months during which the dog cannot come - the only exception being K9/LE who can train with us anytime.

We have had conversations, though about the need to more firmly assess the motivations of the prospects and also to be more agressive about NOT "giving a dog a chance" if it does not test out as suitable.

We are having one day a month of dogless training where we work on command set up / radios /map skills / scent theory / etc. So a lot of that is concurrent with dog training. We don't require all the non-dog training up front. However, we DO tell people that when space comes open for new dogs, existing members take priority so it pays to be on the roster. 

An handler must have experience in another discipline before they can train in HRD - we have three handlers focusing on that.


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## Vi Shaffer

Yes... we checked with State Farm. A friend has an agency but they couldn't take us because of the "bite". They don't care to hear any of the circumstances why something happens they just look at the end result. 

By the reply in your post it sounds like you have a limit on the number of dogs on your team. Is that right? God Bless


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## Nancy Jocoy

Vi Shaffer said:


> By the reply in your post it sounds like you have a limit on the number of dogs on your team. Is that right? God Bless


Yes, it is not a specific numeric limit but we can't have more dogs and handlers than we can support with good training.......lessons learned the hard way though......we have also set deadlines for meeting training objectives....also a lesson learned the hard way. ....... I am sure we will learn many many many more things the "hard way"


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