Training In Action

"Training in Action" is actually a misnomer. One can't be training and taking photos at the same time. But occasionally we do public displays, and then I get the chance to take out my camera!

Our training schedule is varied. We do informal midweek training twice each week with local members, and this can cover things such as sendaways, directional control, runaways, and small searches. The idea is to keep the training varied and fun for both dogs and handlers.

Every second weekend, we have formal training. We tend to travel longer distances for this, and the entire team is usually involved. Formal training can take place on rubble piles (for USAR work), forests (for LandSAR work), over farms, inside derelict buildings or car yards, rugby stadiums, racetracks and even film sets. Again, we try to keep the work and the sites as varied as possible so that we and our dogs are prepared for anything.

We train to internationals standards set by the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) organisations in New Zealand.

We do a number of public displays each year for good causes. The displays help us to raise our public profile, raise funds, and show support for our sponsors. We also like to think displays go some way to helping balance the negative media coverage given to dogs in recent times.

In the displays we usually have dogs search for someone hidden in one of a collection of boxes, and demonstrate the dogs' agility, including having some of the dogs climbing and walking across open ladders. (Always a crowd pleaser!)






















Lisa and Lex show how to find people, and Jordy makes crossing the open ladders look easy.

Training is not always fun and games. The dangers of SAR training were made all too apparent when one of our team got hold of some bait when out training. You can read my tribute to Chicane here.

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