Search And Rescue Dog Training Techniques

Search and rescue dog training can be incredibly important. Dogs can take search and rescue up as a profession and then there are owners who just want their dogs to learn this as an extra skill. Search and rescue dog training techniques can certainly be more challenging to teach your dog than more basic skills. There are a few search and rescue dog training tips that work especially well and which you can feel comfortable starting off with.


The ideal search and rescue dog is one that is even-tempered, able to stay calm even in stressful situations, obedient and adaptable. They need to be even-tempered and learn how to stay calm even in the most stressful situations. Especially if they're taking on this job professionally, when they have people yelling and screaming at them to go find someone in a winter storm they need to know not to let their nerves and anxiety get the best of them. Or you could choose to have them work on all areas of search and rescue.


To become an air scent dog dogs must learn how to track people down just by sniffing the air. Then there are trailing dogs which track on land, water dogs that work along the shore and in water, and also cadaver dogs which find the remains of human bodies in different locations. Because this is such a common problem, companies are almost always in need of avalanche search and rescue dogs. As you're holding the dog you want to give the dog a command such as "find" and then let them go.


The dog should be completely calm as you're holding them, until you tell them to "find" or "get it" and let them go. This can be especially challenging when you're using treats because at first most dogs are going to chow it down before you can stop them. Another helpful search and rescue dog training technique is to take a sock or other undergarment and let the dog smell it. Then you want to get the dog out of the area, quickly hide the object twenty or more feet away and cover it with grass or snow, let the dog loose and see how fast they find it.


You can also make it a bit more challenging and bury the object under a pile of grass or snow and see how long it takes the dog to retrieve it. See how long it takes them to find the object and if you've trained them properly you should see them sniff around and strategically head towards the right area. Especially if you plan on getting the dog into this field professionally, their skills need to be concrete. You can also hire a professional trainer if you want the best results.