How to Train Your Dog to Search and Rescue

Hello Andrea, What is your specific question? I can answer here but I do not contact through email here. Thank you. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Justin, There are a few commands that are used across the board. Check out the article linked below. Most obedience commands used are the same ones taught in standard obedience classes like: Come, Stay, Sit, Down, Leave It, ect...Plus a few certain search commands. https://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/sar-dog4.htm Whether he can still perform at his age depends largely on his skills and physical fitness as a search dog. If his age negatively impacts his senses and endurance, then he may not be able to do it any longer. If he is still able in all the necessary areas then he likely could participate if you can find a team that is open to working with you guys. There is a lot of commitment and dedicated needed from the dog's handler as well. So if you decide to pursue search and rescue you will also need to be very dedicated and interested in it yourself. If you have the time, energy and commitment to do it, then there is a huge need for handler/dog teams. http://www.sardogsus.org/id87.html http://www.vsar.org/SARdog.html The websites linked above are also good places to email someone with questions, to direct you to the right contacts to begin. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Haelie, First, research how to teach a "Go Find" command. Once your dog understands go find in relation to certain people and certain things that you have practiced teaching her to go find by name, then have her sniff something related to that person or thing that she already knows how to find. Since she recognizes who she is supposed to be looking for, the scent should already be familiar to her. Work on this with just a couple of people or objects at first until she is really good at it. When she is really good at finding those couple of things by name after smelling them, then remove the name of whatever she is supposed to be finding, so that instead of "Go Find Jimmy" it's just "Go Find" and you give her the article of clothing to smell. At first she may need to be told what she is looking for if she gets stumped at times, tell her to "Go Find Jimmy" again if she can't seem to locate based on scent. Practice this until she can find Jimmy with just his scent and the "Go Find Command". Add in new scents, teaching each one the same way that you taught the first couple. She should be learning to "Go Find Jimmy", "Go Find my white shoes", "Go Find Freddy", "Go find cat", ect...until she knows many different things. Once she knows how to find them by name with the scent article, then stop saying the name and work on her simply sniffing the article and then finding it when told "Go Find". You will have to teach her to find dozens of different things by their specific names and scents, one at a time before she will probably learn to match a new scent to an unknown object. She will also probably need to smell the article several times while searching to help her remember what she is looking for. Some dogs have a great nose for this, some have to learn only individual items. German Shepherds do often have good noses so your dog may be able to do it. If nothing else he can learn to find many individual items for you. While teaching this make sure that the scent article matches the actual thing he is supposed to be looking for. For example, if he smells the laces of your white Nikki tennis shoes, only expect him to find that particular shoe and not simply any shoes - since he is looking for a certain scent not just shoes in general with this type of training. You can also look into how tracking dogs are trained to sniff out missing person's since the training concepts are similar - they are given an article of clothing, then follow a trail of scent to the unknown person. Your dog will need more encouragement to keep hunting however, because objects will not have a trail of scent. You will have to encourage him to search for the object room by room and encourage efforts slightly, and findings with higher rewards. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Stella, Starting training while a dog is still very young is actually ideal. It will take a lot of patience but your main goals are to teach your puppy the concept of something existing when it's out of sight (like you being in the room even if he can't see you), how to use his nose to find something, basic commands, and socialization around the things he will need to encounter later (people, dogs, outdoor objects like logs, critters, and different environments. The Right Track method and the Air Detection methods would be good to practice, the second method may be too hard right now. When you do the Air Detection method, start by simply playing an easy game of hide n seek - where you pup sees you go hide at first. Once he has learned the concept of the game, make it gradually harder - hiding when he isn't looking but sticking out, ect... Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Amber, I am not specifically affiliated with any one group I could recommend but if you truly feel based on your training experience that she is a good candidate and she has already had some great socialization, manners, and obedience work put into her, I would reach out to SARIUS and see if there is an individual there who knows of someone in need: http://www.sardogsus.org/ I would also follow groups on Instagram and Facebook with individuals who owner train their own dogs and see if there is an individual or group within driving distance of you interested in homing her for that work. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Ruben, The answer to your question depends a lot on the dog and on your local Search and Rescue group. Many times older dogs are considered still for Search and Rescue work and they can be trained. There are some skills that a dog must already have present by your dog's age, such as a balanced temperament, good with people and other dogs, confident in a variety of environments and terrain, a good nose, intelligent and eager to please, ect... Those types of skills are more based on the dog's inherit traits, socialization and the way they were raised. Often task specific type training can be taught to an older dog as long as that dog already has the other skills necessary to do the job - the ones that you likely won't be able to develop this late in the game if not already present. I suggest reaching out to your local Search and Rescue group and perhaps speak with those who lead the organization and see if they feel based on your description of your dog, whether your dog could be a good fit and be worth the time to train for you. There is certainly a need for good dogs if your dog might be a good fit so it would be worth looking into and asking! Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello! You can start by doing scent tracking training. If your trainer doesn't have the resources available to you, there are some really good references on Google about how to start with the basics of scent training. Follow the steps, in conjunction with your basic obedience classes. If your trainer knows someone in your area who can help you with this in person, that's the best option.

Hello Precious, It sounds like it's time to switch to intermediate methods, or work on phasing out treats. To phase out treats, first practice commands with treats not in view, then pull a treat from behind your back to offer - so pup is obeying without seeing the treat first even if they suspect you have one. Next, only reward pup with a treat every second, then third, then fourth command as pup improves, and/or only reward pup for obedience that was more skilled than their average - like praise pup when they come slowly but don't give a treat, but praise and give a treat when they come running right away, ect... Certain commands may need a little more follow through as well, such as following the Reel In method opposed to the Round Robin type method initially used to teach come below, or following the Pressure method instead of the Treat Luring method that's initially used to teach Down and Sit from the articles below. Come: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-whippet-to-recall Down: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-to-lay-down Sit: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-sit Also, be sure that you are gradually working pup up to harder and harder distractions - starting with a distraction free environment and very gradually progressing to more distracting environments as pup gets good in the current environment each time. This requires a lot of repetition and intentionally taking pup places to practice as they improve, to achieve a higher level of obedience that's needed for search and rescue work eventually. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello! I would start with basic obedience first. After a few months, you can probably start training him for search and rescue. I would definitely start the search and rescue training before 12 weeks of age.

Hi there! Here are some very beginner tips on training this skill. Start Early in the Morning To teach scenting a track, you need some treats and a grassy area, such as a baseball field or park. Although hot dogs are not the most nutritious food, I find they work best, and you won’t over stuff your dog’s belly. Begin early; many people start by 6 a.m. before anyone has walked on the grass. Create a Treat Track Have your dog sit or lie down and stay. Take a couple of inch-long pieces of hot dog and use your shoe to mash them into the grass. Make sure to crush the grass under the hot dogs, which will release a grass scent. Then, with the hot dog residue on the bottom of your shoe, walk a straight line away from your dog. Every six or ten feet, drop a piece of hot dog. Stop after about 20 feet and drop one of your gloves or one of your dog’s toys; your dog needs to find something at the end of the track. Drop another piece of hot dog on top of the item. Command Your Dog to Find the Treats Go back to your dog and release him from his stay, encouraging him to smell the ground where the hot dogs were. Tell your dog “Find it!” and let him sniff. If he begins to follow the track, praise him quietly by saying, “Good dog!” and let him lead the way. Don’t be too enthusiastic or you may distract the dog from his sniffing. Also, don’t try to lead him; let your dog figure it out. At this point, your dog is following several scents: the trail of hot dogs, which helps motivate him, the crushed grass where you mashed the hot dogs and the crushed grass where you later stepped. Your dog is also following your individual scent, which he knows well because he smells your scent every day. But now your dog is learning to combine the scents, to follow them and to find the item at the end of the track. Start Increasing the Length of the Track When your dog successfully completes this trick, make another one by taking 10 steps to the side. If your dog is excited and having fun, you can do three or four short tracks per training session. As your dog improves over several sessions, make the track longer, add curves and corners, and drop several items along the way, but put the hot dog only on the one you want him to find. When making tracks longer or adding curves, use small pegs, stakes or flags to mark the track so you can tell if your dog is off track. Air scenting requires your dog to find someone by sniffing the scents wafting through the air instead of following a track. Most search-and-rescue dogs have both skills; they can follow a track, but if people walking over the track spoil it, they can also use their air-scenting skills. Please let me know if you have any additional questions. Thank you for writing in.

Hello! Because you have tried the most obvious and usually correct method to solve this and are still having issues, I have an in depth article for you to read about this subject. Not knowing what other strategies you have tried or what routines you have going on, it's hard to give a straight answer. So this article should help you! https://caninehq.com/dog-pooping-in-middle-of-night/

Hello Megan, I would work on some commands that can help build independence, like a distance Down-Stay and Place command. You can also recruit another friend who is interested in dog training, or perhaps training their own search and rescue dog, and begin your training by teaching pup to search for you as you hide, starting in easy locations first. Pup can be taught the search commands with you as the thing to search, then switch the training where pup is finding another person they know, with you behind pup. Finally, progressing to people pup doesn't know once pup is interested in what they think of as a game. Generally, searching is viewed like a game to pup, with pup being rewarded during practice with something they love when they find who they are searching for. Place command: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s Down-Stay: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/train-your-labrador-to-lie-down-and-stay/ Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden