In the days and weeks after any large-scale disaster, many well-meaning people decide that they want to become search dog handlers. This is a natural reaction to a horrific event. Watching video every night of these heroic dogs going about the grim task of searching for people (or bodies) in the rubble of a destroyed building or town can’t help but be a moving experience for anyone who wants some way to help.
However, there are a lot of misconceptions about what SAR is like in the real world. Again, this is easy to do, since television and film are rarely good at realistically portraying the work.
Below is the gritty reality of the working K9-SAR handler. It is not intended to put anybody off or “weed anybody out.” It is here purely as information so anybody considering the work can decide if it’s something in which they really are willing to invest their time, their money and their effort. The work is physically and emotionally demanding, often dangerous (for the dog, the handler, and the flanker), and it’s almost always under very unpleasant conditions. Yet, it’s also extremely rewarding in its own way.
Psychological and Physical Challenges
When a search team is called out, someone is having the worst day of their life. A child or elder parent is missing, or a brother has drowned, or a sister has left a suicide note and walked into the woods. An uncle with a heart condition has gone hunting and not returned. A murder has taken place.
Meanwhile a family is pinning their hope on you and your dog and your teammates to bring their loved one back to them. They’re going to hang on your every word, and they’re going to try to wring every bit of meaning from your body language. The family, friends, and the media are going to follow you around and ask time and again what your dog is doing now and what it means. You have to politely, respectfully, and tactfully NOT TELL THEM. It’s not your job. You don’t necessarily know all the nuances of the situation. You report only to your supervisor in the Incident Command System.
At the same time, you’ve got to be upbeat and supportive of your dog as they go about their work. You’ve got to be aware of your own surroundings and safety, as well as that of your dog. You’ve got to be willing and able to go where your dog goes, whether that’s into a heavy thicket of briars, up a steep hill or into a deep ravine, or into a collapsed or burnt structure. You may have to knowingly send your dog into a potentially dangerous situation, and maybe follow him.
You’ve got to be willing and able to work for 12 hours or longer at a stretch, day or night, possibly for several days in a row. You will have to work in the rain, snow, heat, mud and floodwaters. You will have to work in seriously sketchy neighborhoods.
You’ve got to be able to deal with encountering a human body, possibly in an advanced state of decay or dismemberment. You’ve got to preserve the integrity of the crime scene until law enforcement gets to it. You may have to testify in court.
Of course, all of these scenarios almost never occur at the same time. But any subset almost always happen.
Time and Money
BSARD alumni Connie Reyes put it succinctly when she said “When you start training for K9 Search and Rescue, all of your hobbies go away.”
The truth is, you can still hang on to a hobby, but it isn’t easy. There is an enormous time commitment in training and working a SAR K9. In the very early stages of training their dog, most handlers will spend an hour or more a day (per dog) working simple problems, observing their dog’s body language and carriage, and forming a reliable alert. This is in addition to regular obedience training.
Once the team (K9 and handler) has passed beyond the basic training stages, they will still work a few hours each week setting up more difficult problems or fine-tuning their skills. If they are part of a larger team, they will probably spend one or more days each month training with the entire group. (BSARD usually trains as a complete unit two days a month, for about four to six hours each session).
Don’t forget the time you’ll spend reading, watching videos, or doing other research.
In addition to the time commitment, in most cases you’ll have to absorb at least some, if not all, of the cost associated with outfitting yourself and your dog. These may include:
- A good strong harness or search vest, maybe a high quality 10-foot or longer tracking lead, other safety equipment and a personal floatation jacket for your dog.
- Sturdy boots, a hard hat or helmet, gloves, goggles or safety glasses, a search vest or high-visibility clothing, and a personal floatation jacket for yourself.
- A radio, GPS receiver, compass, maps.
- Assorted dues and seminar fees.
- Books and videos and other training materials.
- Immunizations and other medical items for your dog and yourself above and beyond what you may normally receive.
Rewards
The good news is that the time you spend is often enjoyable and always interesting. You learn some amazing things, and you get to bond with your dog. There’s always the vicarious joy you experience when watching your dog as they perform out of sheer love of the work.
Obviously there’s a lot of reward when you can reunite a missing person with their family. Even in the sad cases you know you’re helping to bring some measure of peace to the family and friends.
If this all sounds like something you think you could enjoy, then by all means consider being a dog handler. If it seems like a bit more than you’re willing or able to take on, that’s perfectly OK too. As we said, this is “warts and all,” and it certainly isn’t for everybody. There are still many ways you can help us or the community that may be more up your alley:
- If you like being in the outdoors and don’t mind the training conditions, but for whatever reason aren’t interested in becoming a handler, you can help A LOT by volunteering as a flanker or a trail runner.
- If SAR doesn’t look like your “cup of tea,” but you have a dog and still want to help in the community, see about training them as a therapy dog and visit hospitals and nursing homes.
- Another good volunteer activity for the dog-lover is to spend some time helping out at a local Animal Shelter or Rescue Organization.