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Before we get started, I found this bit of information that may be helpful if not Vital to the beginner!

This bit was taken from an excerpt of an article called
"TRAINING THE SAR DOG PROPERLY": Lives are at stake, by John Grima

    The following guidelines may be used to pick a qualified trainer:

    1. Your trainer should have MANY YEARS experience training all breeds of dogs for all types of profiles, not just search dogs but obedience, protection, agility, hunting, herding, and even parlor tricks. Sooner or later a problem will arise and many times I have relied on another method of training from an unrelated field to see the dog through. They should also have a paper trail of titles to support their claims such as Companion Dog (C.D. C.D.X. U.D.), Shutzhund ( I II III) Agility Dog (A.D) etc...

    2. Your trainer should have knowledge of ALL breeds, their history, purpose and limitations such as coat, endurance, and physical characteristics. They should be able to advise you against, say..training an Old English Sheepdog for cadaver work in the deserts of Texas in summer, or a Bull Mastiff for open searches in Alberta in winter!

    3. Your trainer should have ACTUAL experience in search and rescue so they may relate to your actual scenarios based on real life find experiences, including how lost or wanted persons react and the behavioral patterns you may find useful. The trainer should be able to qualify as an expert witness in a court of law. In the Cadaver search field, there is a good chance a located body was the result of criminal intent, therefore a knowledge of rules of evidence is imperative.

    4. ASK for references from agencies and call them and talk specifics about the trainer and the services he has supplied them!

        Here are some other things to consider before joining a group!
        (These are some very good points to think about before you get involved)

        Some things to look for....

        DEMOCRACY
        Are the members involved in decision making, or does a poobah call the shots?

        HEIRARCHY:
        At a search, and when making decisions about certifications, the democracy should dissolve into a clear, position-based heirarchy that all understand and conform to.
        DEPTH:
        Are many members highly competent, thoughtful, self-directed? Or is this a guru and his followers?
        FOCUS:
        Is this a SAR unit, or an organization that also fields attack dogs, trains pointers, certifies beagles as massage therapists? Are the members focused on SAR, or does it take a back seat to either dog sports or other kinds of emergency services?
        RIGOR:
        All units will present you with an impressive looking set of standards, some of them just xeroxed from some other team's standards? (see democracy-are the poobahs dogs rubberstamped and everybody else held to an impossible standard?) How to tell? Watch finished dogs work, and compare them to what you have read!
        TONE:
        Is the personality of the unit something you can live with? Some teams are alost paramilitary in character, others much more loosey-goosey, that doesn't make one better than the other in the field, but different personalities will thriwve in different environments.
        COMMITTMENT:
        Is the team devoted to developing new members, or are you pretty much on your own? Some teams think that it is up to the individual to train by himself and meet the standards however he can. (They don't say this, but you can tell by how often they train together, and by the fact that team members work their problems alone, without bringing along either/both more experienced and less experienced handlers on their problems.)
        SAFETY:
        Are viscious, unstable or fighting dogs allowed? Leave. It's not safe for you or your dog there, and who needs it anyway. Any question you think of is an appropriate question to ask!


        When I parted from my group, I thought I was the one with the problem, (not really) but after reading this article, I can see it's a fairly common problem.

        Index
        There is a lot reading here, but I wish I had prior knowledge of everything I am telling you here before I started working with my FIRST SAR group. It would have saved some anxiety, and frustration.

        Photos
        Where to get started
        Search and Rescue Dogs
        Tracking and Trailing
        Area Search
        Disaster Search
        Cadaver Search
        Narcotics & Evidence Dogs
        Trailing vs. Air Scenting

        Special acknowledgments to John Grima.
        Cindy Tittle Moore.
        Heather Houlahan w/Allegheny Mtn. Rescue Group.
        Hatch Graham w/California Rescue Dog Association

        Had I never found the written information provided by these individuals, I would still be lost.

        All the information that is listed here is in no way affiliated with any organization or group. These opinions are based on personal experiences as a beginner in the SAR community. The information listed here was taken from authors whos' names I've mentioned above, and is factual information that I feel would have helped me begin better.

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