|
Tomás Irizarry
|
|
Winstar Nightwatch Kennel has begun
training its' working dogs in rope work. This technique is
utilized extensively during search and rescue. Here you see
A- Valcor, one of our highest trained dogs, Mr. Carlos Sud,
Rodolfo Nieves and Magdiel Ramos, preparing for a descent
from a bridge to the rural terrain.
The first search and rescue (SAR) dogs were trained in the
1960s. At that time there were a handful of trainers and
little knowledge on what was the best way to train a dog for
search work. Since then various organizations have been
developed, each of them establishing their requirements for
the SAR dog. Winstar Nightwatch Kennel is now a member of
the National Association for Search and Rescue. We utilize
their requirements as guidelines in the training of our SAR
dogs.
In summary, dog teams have a very special role in the world
of search and rescue. The dogs' ultra-sensitive hearing,
night vision, endurance and keen sense of smell have
continually proven to be invaluable in the effort to locate
missing persons. Because of their extraordinary abilities,
dogs are often able to reduce the time spent searching,
thereby increasing the chances that the missing persons will
be found alive. This is especially true when searching and
locating survivors of a collapsed building or subjects lost
in the wilderness. A search dog's success stems from the
fact that every human being has a smell -- not detectable by
human beings, but discernible by animals -- which is caused
by the constant stream of skin rafts and bacteria shed from
the human body.
How this scent is detected by the animals is dependent upon
the training they have had in trailing or air scenting
techniques. In both cases, the search dogs are able to
locate missing persons even if they are hidden from view.
Experts estimate that a single dog team can be as effective
as 20 to 30 trained human searchers in locating a missing
person in a given period of time.
Stay tuned for future reports on Search and Rescue.
|
|
|
|
|
