Search dogs were first introduced to UK Mountain Rescue in the 1950s. They had previously been used in the Alps for many years, especially for avalanche rescue. Hamish MacInnes of the Glencoe Team and ‘Guru’ of British Mountain Rescue successfully adapted their use for British rescue conditions. One significant difference was the move from German Shepherds to Border Collies as the predominant search dog breed.
The Search And Rescue Dog Association (SARDA) controls operations on a regional basis. Under SARDA guidance the training and assessment (grading) of search dogs is carefully regulated. It takes up to 3 years fully to train a dog to work in a rescue team, with an expected working life of 10 years. In the right conditions a fully trained dog is 10 or 12 times more effective than a human rescuer. Search dogs use their incredible sense of smell to pick up ‘air scent’: they can detect human scent from 500 metres in optimum conditions. These dogs are especially useful in forestry where human search is compromised by dense branches and undergrowth. The dog teams are also the first to be mobilised for night searches or in bad visibility. Handlers and their dogs usually work on their own and will often be the first to reach a casualty and it is therefore essential that the handlers have excellent first-aid skills.
SARDA could not operate without their ‘bodies’. Bodies are volunteer members who act as live casualties for the search dogs during training and assessment sessions. If you would like to become a SARDA body or want to find out more about SARDA, go to www.sardalakes.org.uk.
KSMRT Search Dogs and their Handlers
Dave (Benny) Benson with search dog Moudy (right) and Mea
Benny is also a member of SARDA (Lakes) and has been working with Moudy for 6 years. Moudy is a Lurcher, an unusual and effective breed for a search dog.
John O'Doherty with NUT
Johno is also Deputy Team Leader of Kirkby Stephen Mountain Rescue Team. He is a member of SARDA (England). Johno and NUT passed grading earlier this year. Johno also is a member of Teesdale Mountain Rescue Team.
David Watt with Flash and DynamiteDavid is also a member of SARDA(Lakes) and has over 20 years experience in training search dogs. Both Flash and Dynamite are graded search dogs. David has taken part in many search and rescue operations and is also interested in advanced dog work - buildings and rubble, water searching and has even attended to rail crashes and a Glasgow factory disaster.
