Smuggling the Replacement Prey

In the beginning of its training, the dog always reaches the helper, where it gets the sock toy as a replacement prey. Later, once the dog is fully introduced to this process, it will only have full access to the victim every now and then. Because of the great depths at which victims can be found beneath the rubble, and the extensive work of salvaging, we play a little trick on the dog: after the dog has alerted very clearly on a location during training, its handler will push the dog carefully aside so that the dog can’t see what the handler is doing. Now the handler lays the dog’s sock toy under a few stones in the place where the dog alerted, without the dog seeing. In this way the handler smuggles the toy into the scent cone of the victim and then gives the dog the opportunity to search again and get to the sock toy.

The handler must always know that the dog’s alert is correct before smuggling in the sock toy. Because the handler doesn’t know the location, the instructor should confirm the correct alert to the handler, after which the handler can hide the sock toy in the odor trace and let the dog search that spot again.

When step 2 is repeated often, the dog learns that it will always find its sock toy at a victim. The final goal of the training is worked out in the third step: connecting the search field and a human with the dog’s sock toy. In this step, the surroundings and the missing or buried people also become decisive stimuli in the hunting drive. This is the result: the view of certain surroundings (rubble, woods, snow) will elicit a strong search passion in the search and rescue dog.

In each training session, the handler has to have a clear idea of every part of the search action and then help the dog progress in accordance with its character. A search action does not start just with removing the dog’s collar and a correct heel position; it touches the dog much more deeply.

Let’s go back in time: The hunting behavior of the dog is, in principle, still the same as that of its forebears. Only one dog will lead the pack’s hunt by following the prey’s track. When close to the prey, that dog gives up the lead and releases the pack for hunting.

What can we learn from this pack hunting behavior in terms of searching with our dogs? There is a regular system: leading the hunt and releasing the dog to hunt. If we practice this system in a search with our dogs, then as handlers we are the leaders of the hunt, and that’s why the dog looks to us for the release to hunt. Before starting the hunt, it is important to briefly stimulate the dog’s hunting drive. Often it is enough for the dog to see the surroundings (rubble, woods, or snow). If that is not enough, then you can try to put the dog in the right search mood by talking to it about the coming search action. As a last possibility, you can briefly show the dog its sock toy.

The dog has to stay briefly in this state of tension until, mostly by eye contact, it tries to get the release to hunt. Go with the dog a few paces toward the search field and release the dog with a clear throwing movement of your arm and hand and the command “Seek.” After you have released the dog to search, the dog has to start to work with the search pattern it was taught. For the wilderness search, that is a looping grid pattern from left to right; on rubble, the dog must also systematically search the indicated area. Dogs have an excellent ability to smell. They must constantly decide between the human odor we want them to search out beneath the debris and all other background odors, which also contain human odors. After that, they have to point out the scent clue, the place with the highest odor concentration.

Handlers have to learn to understand the dog’s characteristic way of searching and not disturb the dog with unnecessary commands. Handlers also lead by searching with their own eyes and ears, keeping in mind where the dog has searched and where it hasn’t. Handlers who want their dog to search a certain place a bit better (a so-called fine search) don’t have to use another command—it is mostly enough for them to stay in place and make waving movements with their arms to show the direction. It works also if the handler sniffs deeply at the spot a few times, as if the handler wants to pick up the odor better. The dog sees its handler as a searching colleague. Its curiosity will be stimulated immediately, and it will search that place more intensively.

Handlers who issue commands and say their dog’s name all the time are interrupting the search or, at least, disturbing the harmony of the search. Ideally, handlers should use only one command, “Seek,” as they release the dog to hunt. Simple, ordinary talking with the dog, if it is used to that, does not interrupt the search.

Take care in how you follow your dog during the search. The dog, of course, goes in front when searching. If you walk too closely behind the dog, it might think it is no longer released to hunt. The dog will then become passive, which you might misinterpret as not searching or refusing to work. If you then encourage the dog to search with some pressure and step closer, it initiates a vicious circle of negative influences on the search.

The dog often tells us the right distance we should be: each time we are too far away, it will turn its head, look at us, and then search further when we take a step in its direction.

In order for a search and rescue dog to hold up under the strain of missions lasting several days, such as after a major earthquake or during a search action in highly inaccessible terrain, the training has to be optimal from the beginning and the dog should experience no frustrations. Frustration arises when the dog is not treated the right way, or when it can’t work out its drives—for example, if a searching dog, after it has found the victim, does not have the opportunity to reach the end phase of the hunt.

Of course, sporadic frustrations will do less damage to a more experienced dog than to a dog in training. For learning dogs, frustrations can be disastrous. But even for more experienced dogs, frustrations can lead to a decrease in capabilities and also a change in behavior.

If we really want the dog to reach its full potential, its training must always be oriented toward its own character and peculiarities. A uniform mechanical training method, like the often-used bark on command when the dog finds the helper, can never be optimal and causes frustration for handler and dog. However, if we work by stimulating a particular drive, then the dog knows immediately what to do. When it has found the victim, it will always make a furious effort to reach the person. When that becomes difficult, it will try by digging, biting, or scratching to clear the debris. When that doesn’t work quickly enough, the dog will become annoyed and might bark because of that.

Figure 7.2 Once it has found a victim, a dog will scratch at the debris. If progress is slow, it will get annoyed and start barking.

During an actual search mission, it is absolutely essential to obtain the dog’s direction-showing alerts. For work in snow or rubble, it is important that the sense of urgency to reach the victim be optimized. Only when the dog has given a clear alert will we know where the salvage of the victim has to begin. However, the place the dog indicates is only the scent clue and is not necessarily the place where the victim is buried. Because of the planks, beams, and concrete slabs piled on top of the victim, odor can be redirected and can come out of the rubble at some distance from the victim. That’s why the search and rescue dog has to stay close by during the salvage to alert rescuers to the direction of the victim more than once in the same scent cone. This requires that the dog feel a powerful sense of urgency to reach the victim.

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