294 11% incidents were attributed to Inexperience ‘ ’
Gone are the days when almost all search and rescue dogs were Border collies. Today’s dogs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with different breeds bringing different temperaments, aptitudes and skills to their work with mountain rescue.
John Coombs, a dog handler and member of Edale MRT, has worked with a variety of breeds over more than 20 years. ‘I’ve had two collies, Spider and Flash,’ he says, ‘two German Shepherds, Bonnie and Biscuit, and then, more recently, English Shepherds, Shola and my current dog-in-training, Dottie. ‘There’s a lot we don’t know about how the different breeds react to rescue situations and how they do what they do but it’s always fascinating watching them develop.’ Border collies have been bred for the hills and deal with mountainous terrain really well. Their key advantages are drive, curiosity, energy and the desire to please. ‘It makes a big difference if the dog is happy to be independent of the handler as then you can concentrate on keeping yourself on your route and safe,’ says John. ‘Spider once found a volunteer body during a training exercise while I was having my lunch — he just went off and did the job himself! Border collies also have amazing charm and charisma — Spider and Flash were a great draw when the team was out fundraising.’ A browse of the search dog websites will also show Labradors, Retrievers, Spaniels and other gun dog breeds. ‘These have good instincts but they need to be healthy and not too big,’ says John. ‘Spaniels are very energetic and can be a bit obsessive but their work with police and border control shows that they’re great on a scent. It’s probably true to say that a lot of SARDA handlers are a bit obsessive too!’ Pointers and Lurchers are proving to be good for air scenting and can be trained for avalanche situations with some, including Biscuit, John’s German
Shepherd, even working in water rescue situations to find casualties underwater. ‘German Shepherds can be a bit disturbing in their ability to sense people in trouble,’ says John. ‘I know that they were used to find casualties in No Man’s Land during the First World War and I wonder if this has almost bred into them that sixth sense.’ That focusing of a dog’s natural abilities is one thing that makes training and working with a search dog such a satisfying part of mountain rescue. ‘I’ve learnt to observe each individual dog and then develop them from what I see,’ says John, ‘and I think any handler will learn from their dogs too’.
Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England is one of several search dog organisations which operate across England and Wales. These comprise SARDA Wales , SARDA South Wales , Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dog association and NSARDA (which represents associations in the UK, Isle of Man and Eire). Both air-scenting and trailing dogs are used to search for many different types of missing people, through every sort of terrain and weather conditions.
Opposite, main photo: Watching and waiting: John Coombs with Search Dog Flash, one of his Border collies. Inset: Dave ‘Benny’ Benson with Search Dog Brock, his Lurcher. Above left: John with Flash. Above right: Search Dog B iscuit, the German Shepherd. Photos courtesy of John Coombs and Dave Benson.
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