SAR Dog Training and Certification

[Tanto]

My wife and I have been interested in this, we will have more time in the near future to devote toward dog SAR. If anyone could point us to some constructive information and training resources we'd appreciate it. We have recently signed up with the SARDUS forum & are contemplating joining as individuals.

 

[Hltoppr]

Dogs are a wonderful resource. You'll soon find that they are a lifestyle when used for rescue work. It's more of a committment than I'd ever be able to make, and I put 400+ hours into SAR each year.

-H-

 

[Tanto]

How do you balance the time? That is our biggest concern, we love dogs, the outdoors, and the feeling that comes from helping people. However, our family, my career, and each other come first. Otherwise, it seems like most other things you get out of it what you put into it.

Training a quality dog is time intensive. My labramutt is very good with obedience and retrieval. She's probably too old to train as a dog for this type of work. We know we can at least repeat what we have with a pup, but have always thought about something like this.

 

[RVR2RSQ]

SAR Dog

There is a huge commitment to the effort of getting a dog ready for certification. If you have no SAR dog handling experience, then the first thing you should do is look into joining a local SAR team. You will need their experience regardless of all the reading and potential training course you may be thinking of.
We have new team members on a 1 year probation, before they are able to begin training a dog. During this time you will learn all the requirements of field work (Look up NASAR SARTech2). We also require that all team members maintain at least a 70% attendance to trainings and demos. We train twice a week on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings. In my case our training is usually 45-60 minutes away.

It will take 1.5 - 2 years to get a dog ready for certification. This will begin after you have passed probation. We will not start a dog that is older than 2 and prefer to start with a Puppy.

Hopefully this will not put you off, it is an enjoyable experience, but you should know from the beginning what you are getting into.

Brian

 

[Tanto]

We figured it would be a three year initial training commitment. So your comments don't put us off, they do help us plan better.

Thanks,