Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

Hi guys . im a wannabe dog handler now i have to wait another couple of years to even apply for a dog unit as our force has a 5 year minimum service requirment.
Now i have a 6 month old german shepherd called "Abi"
and was wondering if you could recommend a good training book to teach me the basics of scent tracking and human tracking so i could use her as a search and rescue dog.
its an area that i want to get into and having a trained search and rescue dog on my File would be a great help in achieving my goal.
any help in this area would be greatly appreciated. cheers

opti

I can suggest checking with groups in your area to see if there is a Search and Rescue organization already. If there is, you can apply and they'll help you train your dog and in return you bring you and your dog to help when you can, if they get called.

There is also a sport for dogs, training is all part of it, tracking, bit and hold, etc. Schitzen (spelling) is a club that will train you and your dog, if it's heavily ball driven to be as good as some departmental dogs, minus the narc training.

schutzhund is the word you're looking for.

literally translates into "working dog" if i recall correctly.

check it out.


http://www.germanshepherddog.com/

schutzhund is the word you're looking for.

literally translates into "working dog" if i recall correctly.

check it out.


http://www.germanshepherddog.com/


sorry translation of schutzhund is protectiondog

it's a originaly a program designed to test the suitability for breeding of GSD's


Greetings


Johan

Get "Tracking Dog" by Glen Johnson. Great Book. Check out the Leerburg site for some good videos as well.

You want to start your dog in foot step tracking and you can do than now, on your own.

In my opinion, the best book out there is called "Ready!" I don't remember the publisher, and I will try to get that information for you tomorrow. My copy is at our station, but it's a great book. Teaches scent, how it flows and moves, etc. Teaches refind, and gives you good information from the basics to advanced. I would also recommend getting in contact with teams in your area and working with them. In my opinion, Sch dogs don't always make good SAR dogs. The training is completely different.

There are a bunch of disciplines as well. If you have a GSD, then I would think you're best off training the dog for air scent. You can do scent discrimination or non, cadaver or live, wilderness or disaster etc. You have to pick what's right for you and go from there.

oh wait, here we go. Here is a link

Ready! (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0944875416/qid=1119154057/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-8853620-3235938?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

Hey SARDOG, why ya been a stranger lately? Nice to have you back on the boards.

Thanks. I appreciate that. I have been gone a lot this summer doing family stuff. we just got back from Disney World a few days ago after spending 9 days there. I'd say 4-5 days is about all one sane person can handle LOL

In my opinion, the best book out there is called "Ready!" I don't remember the publisher, and I will try to get that information for you tomorrow. My copy is at our station, but it's a great book. Teaches scent, how it flows and moves, etc. Teaches refind, and gives you good information from the basics to advanced. I would also recommend getting in contact with teams in your area and working with them. In my opinion, Sch dogs don't always make good SAR dogs. The training is completely different.

There are a bunch of disciplines as well. If you have a GSD, then I would think you're best off training the dog for air scent. You can do scent discrimination or non, cadaver or live, wilderness or disaster etc. You have to pick what's right for you and go from there.

oh wait, here we go. Here is a link

Ready! (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0944875416/qid=1119154057/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-8853620-3235938?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)



Yes i aggree the "Ready" book is a great start for new handlers :cool:

You have recieved some great advice so far. I would like to add mine.

book: SEARCH AND RESCUE DOGS by American Rescue Dog association

www.nasar.org National Association for search and rescue This site has all the info you will need.:D

www.sarcontacts.org.

That should keep you happy for a while. When you get board,get back to me.:cool: