An Ideal Way to Use the Drives

With this training method for search and rescue dogs, the instinctive acts from the hunting drive complex are used in an ideal way. We can make use of these instincts in full:

• Searching for human odor beneath the rubble means the dog will locate the helper with the sock toy as a replacement prey. The excitement in the dog rises during the search.

• Locating the place where the helper is buried stimulates the dog to approach. The excitement in the dog is high.

• Scratching, digging out, and, sometimes, barking in annoyance happens when it takes a bit longer for the dog to reach its prey. The excitement in the dog is almost at its highest pitch.

• Finding the sock toy as a replacement prey from the helper is the climax of the search action. The dog’s excitement is at its peak. By picking up the sock toy, the dog begins to experience satisfaction and release.

• Carrying, shaking to death, walking around with, and finally bringing the sock toy to the handler are parts of the independent play stage. When the dog is left to play without pressure from the handler, there are no frustrations in the dog and the heightened excitement will dissipate slowly.

• Sharing the prey, by exchanging the replacement prey for some dog biscuits, is the last phase in the satisfaction of the search action. Performing all these phases without frustrating the dog means it will be motivated to do it again.

Because the handler allows the dog to follow its natural inclination, the dog will use all its stored drive energy, which includes satisfaction and release. Because this method connects to the dog’s natural abilities and primitive drives, it develops a strong passion for searching.

By using the replacement prey, we remove the risk that a search and rescue dog will search in the rubble for food—potentially a serious problem. The dog never receives food from the helper, so food won’t ever be the goal of the dog when searching. The goal of searching will always be the replacement prey (the sock toy) in connection with finding the human. The sock toy will be replaced with dog biscuits once the dog voluntarily brings the replacement prey to the handler. The direct goal of the search always has to be finding the human, and the indirect goal the replacement prey, in which the dog will find its satisfaction.

Of course, we fully understand that in a real disaster situation there would be no replacement prey. To solve that problem we apply the principle of conditioning in full. As an animal of habit, the dog always expects to get its replacement prey during training. As soon as the dog is used to that, we start the process of interruption: at irregular times, it can’t reach the victim, which represents a common situation in real searches. To prevent frustration during training, the handler hides the replacement prey in the victim’s scent clue once the dog has found it.

We believe that the training of a living creature can never be enforced by tightening rules. Rather than applying a rigid system, we have to find out what the animal likes. Training must be flexible but clearly focused on a certain goal. A dog has to search for a human lying on or under the surface and then locate and indicate this place to its handler. The method used to get the dog to that point has to fit the character of the dog. By trial and error, and in particular by working with the right drives, the dog has to learn to search.

For the dogs, the experience of finding dead people is different from finding living victims. The stimuli dogs receive when they locate a living person, because of the enthusiasm of the handler, the rescue teams, and spectators, is no longer there during the salvage of a dead person. Handlers will behave differently during a mission in which they find bodies of dead people (often heavily damaged), because their emotions are different.

Handlers using our training method look at their dogs in a different way and also handle their dogs differently. They no longer see their dog as an object to train but have learned that their dog is a full partner.

The biggest problem with the training of search and rescue dogs is always the handlers, who, shaped by their environment, first have to understand the difference between sport-dog training and search and rescue dog training, and then switch to a new way of thinking. When this happens, you can call handler and dog a very good team: two colleagues, each with their own specialty.

Some handlers spend hours on rubble training dogs to bark. However, sometimes they don’t make any progress, or the dog resists or completely refuses to search. Using such a method does not take the dog into account. Why don’t people choose the method that fits the dog, instead of trying to adapt the dog to the method?

Training that takes into account the dog’s own characteristics is in fact nothing more than a favorable way of making use of the hereditary characteristics of the dog. This has the clear advantage that the dog, in learning to search, locate, and alert for humans, does not experience feelings of unease and thus will always be a happy worker. Searching is learned and worked out with greater reliability. Besides, this way of training is more fun.

Many people ask: “When do we have to start training?” Our answer is, as early as possible, even with an eight-week-old puppy. Starting training early is interesting for the dog as well as for people, and yields good results. Besides, the attention and exercise the dog gets in the first search exercises will contribute to the total development of the dog. Early development in the relatively short life of the dog also ensures that dog and human can enjoy each other, and life, for a longer time.

The training of a young dog, however, should never be superficial. It can’t be limited to a few acts or games; it has to go more deeply. Proper training should stimulate all good and useful characteristics that lie dormant in the young dog. Our training method begins with the young dog and uses all sorts of search and prey games to make a happy searcher of the dog.

In the first phase of learning, the dog can be introduced to working out its drives on its sock toy. But do not tire the dog out, because a young dog does not always show that it is tired. Don’t play too long, and give the dog necessary rest. When you’re sure the dog has understood the game, give it a time-out.

It’s important that playing with the sock toy never be understood as a game of human making. The young dog has to develop its own way of playing. Don’t break up or change the game. Observe and wait until the dog involves you—its handler—in the game. At that moment, you can move the sock toy again. You can also work in the idea of bringing. In doing so you must not take the sock toy away from the dog, but the dog bringing the toy to you can be rewarded with a biscuit.

If a puppy or young dog does not have enough contact with other people or other dogs in its home environment, it must be taken at least once a week to places where there are a lot of people, such as a mall or a busy street where people shop. It is not necessary to do this too much or for too long. The dog has to get used to city traffic, and it has to have the chance to socialize with other well-socialized dogs. Puppy courses and other dog training sessions are ideal. The young dog will be in contact with other people and dogs and will also learn good obedience. Walking over difficult terrain can also be introduced, including, for example, walking over obstacles and going up and down staircases (not too often, of course). It is vital that you never try to teach the dog something against its will. For instance, walking over unpleasant or difficult terrain has to be done with care; the handler can go first to show the dog the easiest way to go.

An enthusiastic handler brought his eight-month-old dog to a weeklong course for search and rescue dogs. He purchased the dog especially to train him for search and rescue. The dog displayed happy, free behavior, and there seemed to be a good understanding between handler and dog. However, during the course, something went wrong.

The handler saw how the experienced dogs worked on the rubble, and he thought that he could reach that same level in a week’s time. Everybody had told him he had a good dog, so during the first two days he was taking his dog on the rubble during the breaks. There he pressured his young dog to go into dark cellars, pulled him over the rubble, and failed to take his young dog’s needs into account. After two days, everybody saw that nothing was left of this happy, free dog. Whenever the dog had the chance, he dodged his handler.

Because tactful advice had no effect, the instructors had to speak to this handler more firmly about what he was doing. Fortunately, the handler took the advice and worked the rest of the week to rebuild the bond with his dog and restore the dog’s confidence in him as a handler.

This pair has become an excellent team. However, had he continued his original approach, the handler would have lost any chance of using his dog for search and rescue.

When the dog to be trained is already an adult, it is important to see how its play and prey behavior is worked out and how strong a bond the dog has with its handler. If the dog’s prey behavior has become connected with a sense of frustration, or if it has not bonded well with its handler, the dog will be a lot more difficult to train than one with the optimal characteristics. In fact, we need only one characteristic: steadfastness. That is what we like most in a dog—no aggression or fear of people and other dogs, good endurance, strong hunting drives, and strong character, as shown by a lack of fear in different environments. In fact, steadfastness is not unusual, because it is a trait of every normal dog. Behavior that deviates from this norm is usually caused by people: breeders, handlers, trainers, and dog owners. We must compensate for everything that deviates the dog from its natural steadfastness through knowledge, smart training, and patience.

Figure 4.1 A search and rescue dog is normally required to work intensively for long periods during a mission.

As with the young dog, the adult dog follows certain phases of training. Its play and prey drive is, however, already more active, and because of that, the next phase of training can begin after a shorter period.

In our method, the learning process for search and rescue dogs follows these important steps:

First we get the dog to focus on the sock toy, and then we offer that toy in connection with a human. The dog then learns that detecting human odor in the search area means finding its sock toy. The dog likes to have the sock toy, so its alerts become clear. Here we summarize the steps, which are then described in detail in the chapters that follow.

Figure 4.2 Hunting is the dog’s strongest specialization, and hunting is searching.

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