Goerge disaster search
Our disaster search teams were deployed by Disaster management to George on the 6th May to assist in the search of workers trapped under the collapsed apartment building. Our dogs worked alongside the SAPS K9 search and rescue unit from Monday to Thursday, helping locate those still alive.
Outdoor X
The pointers in our unit flew to JHB with LIFT airlines to participate in the Outdoor X event with a stand and demos to showcase the volunteer k9s in SA. K9 Sage demonstrated how a wilderness dog finds and alerts on lost people in a wilderness environment while k9 Echo showed off his disaster hold and bark alert. Thanks go to Ground SAR, a volunteer organisation based in JHB who joined us for the event.
Outdoor X event
Expresso show
Our disaster search dogs and handlers were invited to be interviewed on the morning expresso show, our dogs seemed to love the limelight.
Teaching self-control in our dogs
Our dogs not only need to be trained in obedience and in searching for odour but they also need to have self-control as they have to work independently in often dangerous or stressful environments.
We use a method created by Susan Garrett to teach our dogs self-control”” vs “imposed control”. We want the dogs to think for themselves when we are not around or when they are working at a distance from us. A dog with self control has learned to have impulse control when in stimulating environments. Our dogs learn that good choices have good consequences.
Cool dog of the month
Harriet is an 11 month old German shepherd who joined K9SARA when she was 5 and a half months old. She is a quirky character and her absolute favourite game (after searching for people) is to chase her bowl around the house. A game of tug is what drives her to play the hide and seek game of looking for missing people. Her handler Fiona Mills says Harriet is full of energy and is only relaxed after a good game of searching.
