Search and Rescue Dog Association (Wales)
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Search and Rescue Dog Association (Wales) |
Trailing or Scent Discrimination
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SARDA Wales have been experimenting with Trailing Dogs over the past few years believing that to have an asset of a trailing dog would assist in finding the lost person sooner. Trailing involves the dog wearing a harness with the handler holding a long line and following behind. The dog follows the trail of the missing person using a combination of ground scent and the air scents either side. A scent article is needed e.g. hat or glove, so that the dog can discriminate the lost person scent from the scent of everyone else in the area. If there is a vehicle available and the Police can gain entry, the dog would be able to work by sniffing the Driver’s seat. This would be particularly useful when all we have to go on is a car in the Car Park e.g. Pen y Pass. The dog would be able to give a direction of travel, so halving the search area. Trailing is not very practical for Mountain Searches, unless the point last seen is the top of say Cnicht, where the dog may be able to provide a direction of travel for the ground troops. The Air Scenting Dogs will cover the area much quicker as they pick up on a concentration of any human scent, rather than a trail.
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Elsewhere using a Trailing dog could drastically reduce the time spent searching for Alzheimer’s patients and suicides, which seem too many of the Call Outs we are asked to attend. Having a trailing dog ready to respond with a handler who is a member of a Mountain Rescue team will only enhance SARDA Wales’s ability to find the lost person.
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Andy Dunn’s dog Buster had been ready to take his novice grade Mountain Search Dog assessment when it was discovered Buster had scoliosis of the spine. Buster had a great nose and to waste all that time and effort would have been a great pity, so SARDA Wales put it to Andy to see if he could change Buster to do trailing work. Sadly it proved too physical demanding for Buster, and he had to be retired, but not before valuable knowledge had been gleamed. Andy got another Black lab, Jack, and carried on the Trailing, progressing much faster as this was the only way that Jack had been trained, unlike Buster who had been trained In December 2005, Rolf and I passed the Advanced Level 2 Trail Assessment, and have been deployed alongside the Air Scenting Dogs on many jobs. In June 2003 Gwen Patmore started to train her six month old Chocolate Lab, Rolf, to trail. Whilst in Scotland for the SARDA Wales annual training week, Andy and Gwen put together the first Training Stages and requirements for Assessments. Sadly Andy had to retire Jack soon after as he has a rare windpipe problem which starves him of oxygen. This left Rolf and Gwen carrying the Trailing flag for SARDA Wales By May 2004 they had been graded at Stage Five, examined by Tom Middlemas, who himself trails with Bloodhounds, and came to examine our Lowland Dogs. Tom was very surprised and pleased to see what was going on in SARDA Wales. Tom helped us to finalize the Training Stages and Assessments. He also pointed Rolf and Gwen in the right direction for Novice Assessment, by giving a few short Training sessions. On December the 4th 2004, SARDA Wales held their first Novice Assessment for a Trail Dog, and I’m very proud to say that they passed. Rolf and Gwen are now available for Call Outs, and depending on the job will be deployed at the discretion of the Call Out Co-ordinator. In December 2006, Rolf and Gwen passed the Advanced Trail Assessment, and have been deployed alongside the Air Scenting Dogs on many jobs. |
| In February 2006 Iain Nicholson, previously with SARDA England, decided to see if Mij could convert from air scent work to Trailing, as he found she was getting ill whilst searching, which made it impossible to concentrate on the work. Mij took to trailing really well, and the team progressed well and passed their Novice Assessment in December 2006. |  |
Applications
õ Any PLS with access to scent article
õ Abandoned vehicle or traffic accident
õ Missing From Home or Hospital
õ Lost children
õ Urban / Populated areas
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Advantages of Scent Discrimination õ Direction of travel from PLS õ Scent of missing person in area or not õ Work in human scent contaminated areas õ Ability to work hazardous areas |
Disadvantages of Scent Discrimination õ Needs the availability of a scent article õ Dog only as good as scent article õ Dog gets mentally tired, quickly õ Less practical on hazardous mountain terrain |
For more information contact Trailing@sardawales.org.uk
