Advice on GSD Long Coat working SAR-any experiences or tips? - Page 1

Hi, I recently got accepted (after a long process) as an applicant/trainee for a So. Cal. Mobile Patrol- SAR group. I plan to join the K9 team as soon as I become a full member in a year. In the meantime during my training, I'll start looking for a suitable dog. (my GSD I love to death and always will, but he's not suitable for SAR). I'm interested in training a female for SAR, and I've have always wanted a long coated GSD.  I will have time to look for, select, and train my K9. My question: Do any of you have experience working a coated dog in SAR? Assuming the dog (drive and temperament) can do the work. What are the disadvantages of a long coat? Are there any coated dogs working in SAR?  Can they work effectively in the heat? Rain? Will they need special grooming after a search in the rubble or thick brush?  If anyone has any advice or tips about this, I would be very grateful.  Thank you in advance. -- CSLC

 

I can't give you any tips about SAR, but I can tell you that there are long coated SAR dogs. My pup's mother is a long coated SAR dog in South Dakota. The owner has two other SAR dogs, also long coats.

Hi cslc,

I wouldn't do it.
We have several long coated dogs on our team. I can tell you from experience that both the dogs and handlers are miserable after doing a wilderness search that involves briars (usually found around lakes) or thorn bushes of any kind. In fact, after the last search (Lake) one of the dogs had to be shaved down completely, as his handler was not able to get the briars out of his coat. These dogs require a lot more care and attention to their coats than any of the stock coated GSD's or labs on the team. Also, keep in mind long coats take three times the time to dry if they get wet.  

Just my two cents worth.

Cheri

We have a female training for SAR. She actually has two littermates for sale, they are 6 months. Perfect timing to start! Contact jeff schettler regarding SAR. He is in SC. Google or FB. The breeder for our female - who rocks, is Alicia Jordan in TN. You can find her on google or FB or I can give you her #. Also, her husband owns midway k9. You can find her there. Parrish Evans of Spitzenhund kennels does SAR and now that I think of it, he might have dogs available. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice clc29. I was concerened about the grooming issue. I really always wanted a coated GSD for a while now, and thought I could make it work. As I get more into the training, I'll have a better idea of what kind of environments our team will be working in.  Since we're in So. Cal., we are mostly dessert, dry brush, coastal mountains, and urban areas, but we do have lakes.  
NA7- thanks for the the contact information. It is definitely useful for when I'm ready to find my K9 partner!

Does anyone else have advice or recommendations?  Thanks!

You're welcome! Best of luck and SAR is a great thing!

Due to overheating and maintenance I would pass for SAR on the long coats.  BOL Nan

I too am in the dessert country and my dogs go with me when I go riding. I see no difference in the two types at all.  For the long coats and grooming I spray them with a horse product called Show Sheen nothing will stick to them and the hair does not knot and mat.

I also spray the regular coats so the the Fox Tails fall off.  

Makes all of them shine and look pretty.

 

Cslc, I do own a coat for 7 years now after owning regular coats for decades.
Out of my personal experience I say that a regular coat is better suited for any kind of outside work.
A coat needs too long to dry, sticks and dirt become entangled much easier, they suffer from heat earlier.
I wouldn´t care about your own area only, at least in my country testified SAR teams are used everywhere, not only in Germany, but worldwide.
These teams do work for the Red Cross or Federal Agency of Technical Belief, the guys out of my area have been on the Philippines lately.
It´s a hard kind of training, and after spending months and years in this training, I wouldn´t like to be limited because of coat.
Right now I do know 2 longcoats working as SAR dogs, but their coats do need a lot of "extra work", something I wouldn´t want to do in the middle of a demolished area.
 

To keep burs and debris from collecting and causing pain, I'd suggest trimming her soft underbelly/arm pit hair and longer hairs in between her pads. It can be in a way that its not very noticeable.

Last year we got into some spear grass with a long coat and it was just horrible. It was caught in that softer coat and dug into her skin caused abscesses, swelling, pain and a 104 fever in just 24 hours! I found a groomer, we had to shave her from mid rib down and then we pulled about a hundred of the spears out of her. Most were located in her armpits and chest between her legs. Some were also located in her feathering on her front legs and in the soft hair to the inside of her hind legs.

The other dogs (stock coats) had one of two spears, but nothing like the coated one. From now on, we will do a pre-trim ever time we go camping!