Vandal's first water training for SAR - Page 2

Very nice boy,  it looks and sounds like your trainer just wanted to see you dumped into the water.. hehe  very sneaky.. 

Vandal looks like he is totally at ease and comfortable in the water,  I am sure that if he couldnt handle a situation like you put him in, he would not be the dog for you.  I agree with Abhay 100%.  There are going to be times in his life he faces situations he is unfamiliar with and he will have to adjust, or he wont work.  That was a perfect time to place him in the unknown,  he was totally safe and what more fun than a dunk in the water.

Good luck with him,  and keep the pictures coming..  I miss SAR..  I should dig thru my old pictures..

KIM

Thanks to all.  We had a lot of fun.

Malshep- It's made by Ruffwear.  His is a size large and he has a good deal of room to grow into it.  We have a local person we go to for them but I'm sure you can find them online.

Dawgs

That vest is all well and good, but where's the nose plug, ear plugs, air tank, flippers and snorkel?

HAHA! Well where's your sunblock??

Thank you Dawgs for the info , I will look  it  up on-line.   I think I saw their web site when I was hunting a lycra suit.

Glad you had fun playing in the boat but how did this relate to water search training?  Sounds like you were just having fun playing on a boat.

We try to have a boat big enough for the dogs to move around on so they get the idea they can steer the boat and move back on the boat when we go over source. I would probably have waited until the dog clearly knew what to do on a jon boat then figure out how to work on alternate craft.

We also never take the dogs on boat for fun and games - the boat means one thing -

Interesting about the life jacket - we work our dogs nekkid [or with a snug flat ring collar so we can pull them back in the boat if need be].  We wear life jackets. We don't really work open water like the ocean.

What is the problem here? You never take a dog to play in a boat? Are your dogs that one dimensional that they can't figure out when to work and when to play? What a shame. This'll really blow your mind-sometimes we all meet at the lake with the dogs and do nothing but....gasp....play!!!!!   And strangely enough, our dogs still find bodies in the water.

We work the dogs off of boats and kayaks both. If you don't then that's a shame. You're missing out on a valuable tool.

I never said the dog was working. Read the post, Nancy.

well dawg,  I guess everybody knows whats good for your dog but you.. Im sorry but i always thought  GS  were supposed to be exposed to everything...does it matter if you have fun while your doing it.........

The title of the post was "first water training for SAR" - perhaps that is the reason K9SAR and I had the responses we did. I am glad you had fun and said so.

No, to me work is my dogs play. He finds things and has a great time playing when he does.  We do not "play" with our team dogs.  Work is their play. When my dog sees a boat there is only one thing on his mind. When they go to a search playing with other dogs is the last thing they would think about - they have to work alongside of the other dogs not play with them, so they must be socialized and obedient.  Is that one-dimensional? I think a lot of folks do the same thing. I have seen teams where dogs regularly participated in dog-park type play and don't think it worked out as well during search work.

The kayak is an interesting idea - particualry since I would like to have a recreational canoe - perhaps there are ways it could be a tool - I think if we had water too small for a jon boat or a bass tender we would work it shoreline - a good question though.  How do you work an area in a Kayak? I assume streams only. Go downstream and look for a head snap? You would not be able to power back upstream would you?  I am seroius there, honest.  How do you work your pattern with a kayak, I am used to the dog being able to move around on the boat.

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