# SAR training???



## Jake Slack (May 1, 2010)

I was wondering if anyone here has ever trained their Golden for Search and Rescue work? I was thinking specifically scent tracking. 

Another type of training I was thinking about was possibly accelerant detection, narcotics detection, or something along those lines.

What I need to know is can I train my 4 year old Golden to do any of these and if I can how do I start and what supplies would I need.

The cheaper the better!!!


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Competition/sport tracking can be a good option.

SAR and other detection work can take a long time to proceed through all the steps, and typically groups will not be working with dogs that age due to the fact that after 2-3 years of training, a 5 year old dog would be rapidly approaching a senior by the time he was finished.

Use google and/or any local contacts to get ahold of the closest SAR groups. Call/email and volunteer yourself for their training days. Help them out when you can, talk to them about your interests. For other types of scenting, they may know of appropriate contacts for you.

AKC has a good page on sport tracking and google/dogwise.com will give you lots of resources for this activity.


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

We've been looking into starting our 4 month old pup on accelerant detection, since my fiance is trained as a fire fighter and his dad is an arson investigator. I found a link where a guy gives a play by play as to how he trains his accelerant dogs. I'm not sure how reliable it is. It seems like it makes sense, but you would still have to test and get certified.

http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/arsonk9/arson.html


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## gerryg (Nov 14, 2008)

Jake Slack said:


> I was wondering if anyone here has ever trained their Golden for Search and Rescue work? I was thinking specifically scent tracking.
> 
> Another type of training I was thinking about was possibly accelerant detection, narcotics detection, or something along those lines.
> 
> ...


My golden and I are trained as a K9SAR team. The best way to answer all your questions is to pick up a copy of the book used for training by the American Rescue Dog Association. It covers both Air Scenting and Tracking and will give you an idea of the level of commitment in both time and cost.

It's a very rewarding journey you will take with your dog, but it will require considerable effort patience and a strong partnership. good luck, gerry


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## Jackson'sMom (Oct 13, 2007)

I have a friend who is very active in SAR work. She had a golden, but after that dog died at a young age (kidney problems), she switched to border collies. She trained one as a bomb detection dog but couldn't find any group to use her and her dog because she is a civilian. Her first SAR border collie died of old age, and she now has a border collie trained in search and rescue. I know that SAR work requires a huge commitment of time and money, but what the dog/handler teams do is remarkable.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

We used to do SAR with our German Shepherd several years ago. I'll tell you right now that it's VERY time consuming. It takes an extremely long time to get your dog at least halfway trained to do tracking. We did it for about 5 years. We finally had to give it up because we simply didn't have enough time to keep up with the trainings and meetings, which were always at least an hour away from where we lived. Also, our Shepherd was getting older and it was getting time for her to retire anyway. (She'll be 11 in 2 weeks.) It's a huge commitment. You need to make sure that you have time to attend all of the trainings, meetings, and any searches that you get called out on. The training is very intense. Its definitely not something you can just start doing right off. It can take a few years. I'm not trying to discourage you at all, but rather trying to make you aware of what's involved. It can be very rewarding.


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## Jake Slack (May 1, 2010)

I have read up on google about SAR training and things like that, and I DON'T want to become a professional as this is my first dog since I was a kid but I have also read a lot about keeping dogs mentally active and one of the articles I read was about tracking for SAR.

I thought if I could train my dog to find articles by tracking their scent then I could play some fun games with him in the regional forest near my house.

I just want to find something that will be fun and entertaining for both of us and more so that will make Jake happy.

Any suggestions on that would be appreciated.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

dogwise.com usually has a few scenting/tracking books on their clearance page.


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