Training that works by harnessing your dog’s instincts. Learn how to: Stimulate your dog’s natural hunting drive for effective SAR training. Start your dog’s training program with an easy, three-step process. Develop skills in a variety of search operations, including wilderness, avalanche and disaster scenarios. Dr. Resi Gerritsen and Ruud Haak have trained search and rescue dogs for more than 30 years and have taken part in rescue operations around the world. They serve as training directors and international judges for the International Red Cross Federation, the United Nations, the International Rescue Dog Organization and the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI). Based on their decades of study and experience, their innovative SAR training method is rooted in a firm, scientific understanding of K9 instincts. Step-by-step instructions, dozens of illustrations and photographs from the field establish a professional K9 SAR program to benefit both beginners and experts. Get a free ebook through the Shelfie app with the purchase of a print copy.

Professional search and rescue workers consider Susan Bulanda's Ready! Training the Search and Rescue Dog "the bible of Search and Rescue (SAR)," the most sought-after book of its kind detailing canine search and rescue. This second edition, expanded and revised with new color photography, provides readers with the necessary training methods for dogs in various SAR disciplines, including wilderness, evidence, cadaver, water, avalanche, and disaster searches. The author, an experienced SAR professional, details the goals, target skills, and potential problems at each training level of every SAR discipline.Ready! provides descriptions of every type of search, including specific training methods to accomplish each SAR discipline. Professional and volunteer SAR workers will profit from the Bulandas' expertise on training the dog to alert, managing the search mission, choosing and socializing a SAR dog, and how to train dogs for specific commands (such as bar, turn around, go to an object, check, slow, crawl through and others). Readers curious about the fascinating work of the SAR canine will enjoy the general chapters about the history of SAR, an explanation of how dogs use scent to locate people or objects, and the functions of the SAR dog.This highly specialized training manual offers precise direction for SAR workers for every possible kind of mission, identifying the goals, target skills, methods and problem solving for each type of search. Color photographs and line drawings help to elucidate difficult concepts explained in the text. A resources section and index conclude this 254-page volume.

An unconscious woman trapped beneath the rubble after an earthquake. A backcountry skier caught in an avalanche and buried under tons of snow. A young child lost in the wilderness. In such situations the margin for error is razor thin, and having a well-trained search and rescue dog at the scene can be the difference between life and death. Resi Gerritsen and Ruud Haak should know. They trained search and rescue dogs for decades and took part in many rescue operations, and from their experience they developed their own unique training methods. This book covers everything from basic training for search and rescue dogs to specific methods for each type of search operation, including wilderness searches and disaster scenarios. They also include information on search preparation, safety, disaster operations coordination, the scent capabilities of dogs, and the history of canine search and rescue.

In "Search and Rescue Dogs: Traning Methods," the ARDA teaches everyone what it takes to make a true canine hero. With emphasis on handler and unit training, the principles of obedience as well as handler readiness and equipment are explored. Of particular value is the detailed information on conditioning and first aid for search dogs. The chapters on organizing and carrying out a search will be of great interest to anyone who may wonder how a dog's mind works and to what extent it can be trained. "Search and Rescue Dogs," in the authoritative voice of ARDA, explores the ultimate experience of the interdependence of Man and Dog.

When you wander down a leafy path I can smell your invisible trail . . . This cozy story gently teaches children what to do if they lose their way, and reassures them that a search-and-rescue dog can find them wherever they are. And once a child is found, the dog will bring people to make sure that everyone gets home safe and sound. Full of interesting facts about search-and-rescue dogs and tips for young children in case they get lost, Margarita Engle's When You Wander is a fascinating peek into the world of these amazing dogs and the children they save.

A “haunting meditation on trust, hope and love” by a woman who adopts and trains a Golden Retriever puppy to become a search-and-rescue dog (People). In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, Susannah Charleson’s attention was caught by a newspaper photograph of a canine handler, his exhausted face buried in the fur of his search-and-rescue dog. Susannah, a dog lover and pilot with search experience herself, was so moved by the image that she decided to volunteer with a local canine team, plunging herself into an astonishing new world. While the team worked long hours for nonexistent pay and often heart-wrenching results, Charleson discovered the joy of working in partnership with a canine friend and the satisfaction of using their combined skills to help her fellow human beings. Once she qualified to train a dog of her own, Charleson adopted Puzzle—a smart, spirited Golden Retriever puppy who exhibited unique aptitudes as a working dog, but was a bit less interested in the role of compliant house pet. Scent of the Missing is the story of Charleson’s adventures with Puzzle as they search for a lost teen; an Alzheimer’s patient wandering in the cold; and signs of the crew amid the debris of the space shuttle Columbia disaster—all while unraveling the mystery of the bond between humans and dogs. “A riveting view of both the human animal bond and the training of search and rescue dogs. All dog lovers and people interested in training service dogs should read this book.” —Temple Grandin, author of Animals Make Us Human

All America is thrilled by Search and Rescue missions, especially when the well-trained dogs are brought in to save victims of earthquakes, hurricanes and man-made disasters. We watch with fascination and horror as these tales unfold across our TV sets. This is one of the few comprehensive books on the training of SAR dogs. It is a complete approach to training for this type of dog.