In the first step of training we try to engage the interest of the dog in a certain toy. We like to work with an article which the dog can shake like a prey, like a tennis ball in a long sock. A tennis ball without a sock is unsuitable for  that purpose.

With all sorts of prey and search performances a puppy can be brought to have a real passion for searching. However, to make it clear to the dog that he has to search for his hidden toy, we have to work with the dog in the right manner. An article laying somewhere without any movement will not be a hunting object for the dog; a moving object, however, is immediately a live event for the dog. For a dog, with its origins as a hunter, everything that moves fast will be recognized as prey and activate his hunting drive. When the toy disapears in high and thick grass and there is no track to this prey, then the search drive will be activated in the dog.

Search and prey playing

The dog will learn through this search and prey playing to use his sense of smell very intensively. Besides this, he can also work in the techniques of using air turbulence and odour traces, which are very important for his future work as a search and rescue dog. At the same time the handler has a great opportunity, while the dog works at searching and locating, to learn to understand the body language and alert behaviour of the dog.

If the dog is now interested in the article, we can combine this with different searches, for example, in the house. The toy will at first be hidden in a corner of the room under a little carpet. The dog sees the direction, but doesn’t exactly know where the article is hidden. Then he will be activated to search. He locates his toy very quickly and the handler, of course, should be very enthusiastic about it. The dog may play with this article, as it comes out of his natural way of life. With young, inexperienced dogs you see them shaking it, throwing it up high, carrying it around, etc. They experience the article as prey they have caught while hunting.

When the dog lets the article fall somewhere, the handler should immediately get the article moving again. The most favorable way is by throwing the ball in the sock low over the ground, by which the hunting drive complex will be motivated and activated. In this game the handler only has a supporting role; and he may not decide how the game is played. When the dog’s interest is built up, the prey-sharing takes place, and the handler will exchange the prey (ball in sock) for a dog biscuit. Then the handler keeps the toy.

These searches will become more difficult and at some point the dog doesn’t know where the article is hidden, for example, because he has to wait in another room. The searches can be done, of course, also in a garden, somewhere in a wood, a park or someplace like that. Always follow up locating the toy with comprehensive playing and prey-sharing. That way the dog becomes very strong in searching.

Passion for searching

By making use of his drives, we introduced the dog to the behaviour we required. He was not forced by us and we also didn’t help him. Both are very important, because the dog learns to search of its own free will. At the same time he discovers the finer points of search work by trial and error. Ultimately, it is important that this toy never be the goal of searching of the search and rescue dog. This article should never be hidden under the snow or under rubble without making a connection with human odour. It is only during search playing, as described above, that the dog can be allowed to search without human odour, since these searches are only intended to create a passion for searching in the dog. When the dog is realy crazy for the toy, we take the next step.

Question to Ruud Haak

What is a big mistake we can make in search and prey playing?

If we don’t pay attention to the drive behaviour of the dog, then our attempt to train might look like this: The prey-object is the ball in a long sock. When we for the first time hide that article without the dog looking, and we expect an untrained dog to search, then this dog would not know what he has to do. He will do everything except search. When we now attempt to bring the dog to the ball’s hiding place, maybe impatient by now, and tell the dog where the ball is, then a misunderstanding between handler and dog is clearly going to occur. Formerly the dog will already sometimes have heard our grumbling and always accompanied by something unpleasant. To the dog it looks like this: The handler is grumbling because of the ball. So, searching for the ball is not allowed!