It is no news that the dog isn’t only a pet and that it can also help saving human lives in various catastrophes. But have you ever thought about what it means for dogs to become rescuers? You haven’t? Well, then it’s the right time to set off together on a short excursion into the life of search and rescue (SAR) dogs.
While you can read on the history of dog rescuers in one of the previous articles, the one today is going to focus in more detail on their training and on all that it relates to. For example, did you know that dog rescuers undergo a long training and that they are selected into the program not only according to their health state and breed, but mainly according to their desire to work, temperament and relationship with the trainer? However, most often, the dogs of the shepherd or hunting kind are chosen.
If a dog rescuer is supposed to perform their work well, they have to trust their handler unconditionally. From a very tender age, the dog has to be absolutely composed and it mustn’t show any fearfulness or aggressive behaviour. Such dog should therefore calmly stand sounds of shots, of a saw and the like, which normally scare the other dogs. Enormous demands are laid also on their physical shape. The size of the dog is also determining. The dog handler must count with the fact that they are going to lift the dog in the future, help them up or hand them over. Therefore, extremely large breeds are not suitable, same as the ones that are extremely small.
During the training, a SAR dog prepares even for extreme conditions. They are subjected to unexpected obstacles. These are represented by unusual situations that the dog may encounter. The dog can reach the top level “already” in two to four years. However, such training isn’t something one-off: on the contrary, training takes place for the entire life of the dog.
Even SAR dogs may specialize and pass numerous expert exams that test their readiness in various situations. Since they need different skills for every activity. Among the rescue disciplines belongs:
aerial search and rescue – the dog searches for lost persons in terrain, e.g. in the forest, it usually concerns children or elderly people;
disaster search – locations of buried people, in the Czech Republic most often in collapsed family houses after gas explosion, in collapsed buildings or various factory structures;
avalanche search – search of persons buried by an avalanche;
rescue from ice – help to the people who have fallen under ice;
drowning search – search for the drowned and rescue of the drowning – this is the youngest discipline during which the dog lies beside the handler on the bow of the boat and it searches using their scent on the surface of the water for the drowned;
and rescue tracking.
Experts estimate that one dog rescuer can cover the work of up to twenty people! Since they are able to explore wider areas mainly due to the fact that they have a much better developed scent, sight and hearing. This way, they are able to register even subtle signs of life. The high number of survivors is helped also by the fact that dogs are capable of working faster than humans.
The largest organisation that devotes itself to the training of search and rescue dogs in the Czech Republic is the Association of rescue brigades of dog handlers of the Czech Republic . The association is active abroad as well, where it helps e.g. after earthquakes of a larger scale.
I believe that these hard working dogs deserve genuine respect and acknowledgement. And I only wish you that you would never need their help. But if this has already happened to you or you witnessed such an event, I would be glad if you shared your experience with us.
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