# First SAR K-9



## John Masters (Mar 17, 2014)

I have animals in many shapes and sizes from great to small but dogs have always fascinated me. I have envied people who have search and rescue K-9's for years. So when the coveting began to evolve into a plot to steal one:twisted: I decided that I probably should just buy a suitable pup to train on my own, beginning the great search for a suitable k-9 partner. I wanted a dog that was capable of thinking on his own and confident in themselves. I decided I would like my search K-9 to be a Catahoula Cur. I am familiar with the breed and I have an affinity for them. Unfortunately finding a reputable breeder in the mountains of western NC proved to be difficult. Finally a partner was found and so Jäger entered my life. 
Jäger in now 5 months old and is 2 months or so into his training. The little pup that came in a crate lined with shredded paper is hard to remember when I am scrambling through the rhododendron hells to follow him on the track. I am quickly learning that he knows far more than I do about searching. I have forgotten this several times and he promptly reminds me with an exasperated look and a quick demonstration of where the victim is to remind me that I am foolish. 
I know I sound like a proud parent....well I am lol.


----------



## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

Well, stealing is a faster way to get a trained dog but not has much fun as raising your own. Even though I had 2 trained dogs at the time, I told one lady that if she turned her back, I was going to steal hers. Awesome dog but I digress......

I love the stare of your pup. Very intense and I'm guessing that when you see him turn that stare back at you and lock on....... he's found what you sent him after.

It sounds like you are doing mantrailing (?) or are you in airscent?


----------



## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

Hi. Replied to your thread in the bio section so won't repeat. Know some LE resources for you in WNC if you have not already found them. Also some civilian SAR.


----------



## John Masters (Mar 17, 2014)

We are starting him with trailing and will certify him there first then we will transition him to air scent. That seems to be the order that my group prefers to work them in. Jäger already will swap back and forth to as he works the scent to get to the victim. I try to keep him tracking as much as possible right now but if he suddenly pops his head and works towards the victim I let him work because in the long run that's what I want from him. He usually starts casting for the track on lead as we walk to the PLS so it seems like he is a tad more inclined to track, but he never passes up a good chance to work the wind. 

When Jäger is on scent or when he is getting close to his victim I can tell from 100 yds away because of his tail. He carries his tail in a more upright alert way when he hits scent and when he cets close his tail wags his whole back half. I am still building his recall and refind but it is getting better. He usually stares at me to say "hurry up dummy" when he has worked ahead of me and comes back to check in.


----------



## John Masters (Mar 17, 2014)

Thanks again Nancy I went ahead and posted in both to get my Bio out of the way and since I will mostly be posting and reading in this section for now I posted here too. I have heard great things about your group and I look forward to meeting and seeing for myself.


----------



## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

John Masters said:


> When Jäger is on scent or when he is getting close to his victim I can tell from 100 yds away because of his tail. He carries his tail in a more upright alert way when he hits scent and when he cets close his tail wags his whole back half. I am still building his recall and refind but it is getting better. He usually stares at me to say "hurry up dummy" when he has worked ahead of me and comes back to check in.


Don't worry about doing trailing first. I'm seeing more and more teams wanting that foundation work because I think it teaches handler skills, scent theory, and k9 behavior faster since you get to see the problem from start to finish. Nothing is missed because the dog is out of sight. My one suggestion that you stop looking at his tail..... yeah, I know, I know, it's what you see the most of when you're trailing but learn to read the whole dog. Ear carriage, head turns, and other things will tell more of the story long before you see a reaction with the dog's tail. This will help you when you make the transition to airscent when you aren't working a trail and only getting bits and pieces off the wind. 

Can't wait to meet you and Jäger at a seminar or search.


----------



## John Masters (Mar 17, 2014)

Yes I cant wait to go be mission ready with him. Thanks for the information about the body language. I should have been more elaborate about how he postures when on the track.


----------



## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

Sarah, you hit the nail on the head there. That first dog you learn so much about reading the body language. You learn a lot hiding for other dogs, too and flanking for other handlers.

Sometimes you can see things better with other dogs than your own.


----------



## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

Ah, ok! We don't get up that far normally. Richard and Avery used to be on NCSARDA before it kind of dissolved. Good folks. We should all train together. We have pretty much covered searches between Jackson and Gaston County with some mutual aid calls into other areas of WNC.

I do NOT envy you that terrain up there!


----------



## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

John Masters said:


> I should have been more elaborate about how he postures when on the track.


I would also practice trying to explain what you are seeing to someone else or just talk to yourself. It's harder than it sounds but it also helps you learn faster. Sometimes the dog won't give you the "trained response" for a variety of reasons but the body language is all there. You need to be able to explain what you are seeing in such a way that a non-dog person can see it too. 

Just ran on a missing ALZ patient a couple of weeks and my flanker was a LEO right out of the academy. As I jog along I explain to the officer what the dog is doing. It's kinda neat to have the officer catch on and see what I'm seeing. When we got back, I overheard him tell his SGT that he had learned so much. I don't think he realized there was more trailing than just trotting behind the dog.


----------



## John Masters (Mar 17, 2014)

I ran behind one of my teammates (I was working) on a search several weeks ago. I agree its sometimes easier to see the whole picture when your watching someone elses dog work.


----------



## John Masters (Mar 17, 2014)

And Nancy it just makes us tougher lol.


----------



## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

I have had several LE now tell us to put the details of your dog's body languages in the training records for reference as in "your dog did not give its trained indication what makes you think it was on odor".......

Also put in all those times your dog is socialized around people showing appropriate behavior around everyone.

Well those were some things NOT on the things I remember a lot of SAR folks talking about putting on logs.


----------



## John Masters (Mar 17, 2014)

That actually is something I have not thought about =D> and will have to start doing.


----------



## mel boschwitz (Apr 23, 2010)

Sarah mentioned the same thing when we were discussing one of my dog's reactions to working a 150+yr old grave last yr. He gave every natural secondary reaction he always gives, but not the final trained reaction. In that situation part of the issue was a training one. But we discussed how it could still be considered a viable alert due to his having all of the natural secondary alerts, which I log.

There's a fine line between too much info and just right. But I know from personal experience that when I write an arrest report, no one complains about all of the details I put in. As a result, I don't go to court much. And if I do I usually win.


----------



## John Masters (Mar 17, 2014)

I try to treat my log sheets as I would a statement for a Felony packet for the DA's office.


----------



## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

To much information is as bad as to little. I don't throw the whole kitchen sink into mine but note what I consider to be pertainent. And what you log will change as the years go on and you find quicker, faster, easier methods to get the same job done. I remember when I used to put in barametric pressure but didn't find it relevent so d/c'd that. I used to log all the weather data but now only log the extremes or if a factor in the training. I used to long hand write everything but started using abbreviations from the medical, pharmacy, and MWD worlds. I tried the computer programs and the check-the-boxes method but kept going back to my blank hard-bound journal books to log the training. 

The last time a defense attorney wanted a copy of my records, they went a bit glassy-eyed as I piled the log books up on the table. They thought it would be just a stack of papers they could quickly zip through a copy machine, instead it took them 3 days.


----------



## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

By the same token, we have had real world finds by taking note of wind direction and head pops. I actually want to build it into "if you take a waypoint that indicates a COB by the dog, log the wind direction and at that point in time" 

My logs are simpler than they were and rely on a narrative section. I use general checkboxes and don't take weather data other than hot, cold, warm, sunny, rainy, etc. I dont do maps either for cadaver so much as general terrain and size of area.


----------



## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

Nancy Jocoy said:


> By the same token, we have had real world finds by taking note of wind direction and head pops. I actually want to build it into "if you take a waypoint that indicates a COB by the dog, log the wind direction and at that point in time"
> 
> My logs are simpler than they were and rely on a narrative section. I use general checkboxes and don't take weather data other than hot, cold, warm, sunny, rainy, etc. I dont do maps either for cadaver so much as general terrain and size of area.


You're right, Nancy. Once you see those waypoints on a topo it's amazing how quickly it becomes obvious. I will say that for the first couple of years when I was logging all the weather data - humidity was the most obvious factor. That's where I learned that if my dogs develop a white pasty mouth - the humidity is below 65-60%


----------



## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

We have had a few where we did not make the find but handed off notes (HRD, when it was live we kept working) saying "search here next" that resulted in the find being made.


----------

