K9 Search and Rescue Troubleshooting: Practical Solutions To Common Search-Dog Training Problems (K9 Professional Training) - Softcover

Bulanda, Susan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1550597361 ISBN 13: 9781550597363

Verlag: Brush Education Inc, 2017

Inhaltsangabe

I found Susan's book to be comprehensive and well written, with clear descriptions. Her book is useful and educational for both novice and seasoned K9 handlers.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Susan Bulanda is recognized worldwide as an expert in animal behavior and K9 search and rescue who has formed and run two K9 SAR units. She is a founding member of the National Search Dog Alliance and a former vice president and dog chairperson of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. An award-winning author, Susan has written hundreds of articles and eight books.

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CHAPTER 1: FINDING A GOOD SAR DOG

The selection of a dog to use for SAR is the first step toward developing a successful SAR dog team. By the same token, the wrong dog (or handler) is a recipe for failure. There are three categories of SAR dogs that handlers attempt to train.

Type One: The Pet

When you decide to join a canine SAR team, you typically want to train your pet dog. Often, you entertain notions about you and your dog saving people and being heroes.

If this is you and you are sincere, and your dog is capable and willing, this combination can succeed. However, the first lesson you must learn is that to be a good SAR dog handler, you must first be trained as a rescue person. Then you can specialize in the K9 aspect of SAR. A SAR dog handler is a rescue person who specializes in the use of the K9. The K9 is only one tool a rescue person uses to find missing people, and not all missions require the use of a dog.

Understanding and accepting this key aspect of the SAR dog handler’s job is important because it influences your handler mindset, giving the dog a better chance to succeed. If you view SAR as just another activity for your dog, or a fun thing to do, you will inadvertently communicate that to your dog, which can affect the dog’s attitude toward the work. If you do not take SAR work seriously, your dog may not, either. Of course, the dog must enjoy the work and think it is fun. But your attitude toward SAR work should not be the same as when you are playing a game of fetch with your pet. When people have the “It’s all a game” attitude, the dog can interpret it to mean, “It is okay if I don’t feel like doing it today,” or the dog may feel it is acceptable to only do the parts he wants to do. The dog may even feel that if something better comes along, he will do that instead.

As any working dog handler with experience knows, dogs are in tune with the moods and attitudes of the handler, even to the point where they can feel the handler’s attitude through the leash. A dog can smell your mood, since our moods change our body chemistry just enough to give a scent signal to a dog. Think of the dog that knows when his owner is afraid and the change in the dog’s behavior as a result, or the reaction of the dog when the owner is happy and excited. It is not only the tone of your voice, your body language, and your facial expressions that communicate to the dog, but your scent as well.

Recent studies have shown that dogs have a special area in their brain to process human faces, which gives us another clue as to why dogs are sensitive to human social cues. Dogs are much more aware of what their handlers think, feel, and do than most people give them credit for. Ignorance of or ignoring this aspect of canine/human communication is often at the root of training problems.

From the beginning, therefore, you, the SAR dog handler, must take SAR seriously and leave all ego and romantic notions at home.

Type Two: The Adopted Dog

The second type of dog that handlers use is one they have adopted. While this is a noble idea and can work, it is risky because the adopted dog seldom comes to a new owner with a reliable history. People often lie when they surrender dogs because they believe someone else can fix the dogs’ problems, and they want to give the dogs every chance to have a normal life.

Some people believe that by giving up a dog for adoption, the problem will magically go away. Very few dogs are surrendered due to the illness, retirement, divorce, or death of their owners. Most are surrendered because they have behavior problems. Often the original owners of surrendered dogs have created the problems by the way they raised them or did or did not train them, or because they selected the wrong type of dog for their lifestyle and ability to cope with a dog, or simply because they got tired of the dogs. In all cases, the dogs have been short changed and did not get what they needed to succeed.

The people who own dogs with training and/or behavior issues who do not give up on their dogs will seek professional help for their dogs. If that does not work out, they will usually be honest about why they are surrendering them.

Most often a purebred dog that is available for adoption was not purchased from an ethical breeder but came from a commercial breeder or a puppy mill supplier via a pet shop, or from a backyard breeder. This is a reasonable assumption because an ethical breeder will have the puppy buyer sign a contract stating that if the dog does not work out, the dog will be returned to the breeder.

Shelters, of course, also offer mixed breed dogs for adoption. As for what mix a mixed breed is, shelter workers take a wild guess and are often wrong. In some cases, they will see a picture of a rare breed of dog and label the mixed breed as the rare breed or a mix of the rare breed. Most often this is wrong because the rare breeds seldom wind up in a shelter or are bred to a dog that is not the same breed.

DNA tests are a good way to determine what breeds a mix is made of but often are not 100 per cent accurate because there is no record of all the breeds available. However, behaviorists have found that doing DNA tests on mixed-breed or adopted dogs helps them to understand the genetics that influence the way the dogs perceive their world and react to their environment. This can help immensely with the training process.

A dog that has been rescued can work out. Some people have an instinctive ability to pick the dogs that will work. In some cases, the dog surrendered for adoption only needs a job to do, and SAR is a lifesaving experience for the dog.

Type Three: The Dog from a Breeder

The third type of dog is the one that you, the handler, purposely seek out from a breeder for SAR dog work. Perhaps you are a seasoned handler and have retired or are about to retire your first SAR dog. Often, if your first dog was good, you will look for the same breed or type of dog as the original. Some handlers in this situation go to a breeder to get a puppy to train while the first or current dog eases into retirement.

The typical SAR dog works for about five years in the field before retirement looms on the horizon. By the time the dog is seven or older, it is time to retire the dog or limit the size and duration of missions. Some breeds can work longer than others.

The smaller the dog, the longer he can work because his lifespan is longer. For example, the giant breeds, such as Newfoundland, Great Dane, and some large breeds such as the Doberman, live between eight and 10 years, while some medium-sized dogs live from 15 to 18 years and can work up to the age of 10 or 13. The short-lived dogs reach their prime of life shortly after maturity, while the longer-lived breeds have a longer prime of life.

Finding the right dog from the best breeder can be a challenge even if you go back to the breeder who produced your last or current SAR dog. After all, several generations will have passed since your last dog was purchased. The line the breeder currently has will not be the same as before. You may only hope the breeder has not changed breeding goals.

As well, it is possible that the trusted breeder is no longer producing puppies. In that case, you must find a new breeder. One way to start is to ask other handlers who have good dogs where they purchased their dogs. When you have found a good breeder, it is important to conduct an interview with the breeder to further ensure you will end up with a dog that will work.

First and foremost, when you find yourself in this situation, you should only consider a breeder who breeds dogs for work. If the breeder does not specialize in SAR dogs, you should at least ensure that the breeder...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Brush Education Inc
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2017
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1550597361
• ISBN 13: 9781550597363
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 112
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: preigu GmbH & Co. KG; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; Niedersachsen; 49078; Deutschland