Selecting the right dog is the most important part of rescue dog training. A rescue dog has to have copious amounts of energy, vast intelligence and a drive to seek out and find things. An ideal dog generally likes to play catch, retrieving fallen balls or sticks and returning them to its master. Hunting dogs, such as the Labrador Retriever, generally do well when undergoing rescue dog training.

Search and rescue dogs are used to seek out injured victims who need help. They can't always see the person needing rescued, and so they have to possess a keen sense of smell.

They also have to genuinely want to please their masters, as well as have the intelligence to follow commands competently.

It takes from six months to over a year to complete rescue dog training. However, this depends on the animal, as well as the amount of time you have to devote to training.

In order to train a rescue dog effectively, you need to devote time at least three times a week. The more time spent training, the faster the animal will learn.

Rescue dog training can begin at any age, but most dogs don’t begin training until they are about 6-8 months of age. This ensures that the dog is mature enough to follow commands and still young enough to have several years of service left to it.

Once you've selected the dog to train, the actual training begins. Rescue dog training, while time consuming, isn't that hard to do. Here we will look at the steps involved in training a search and rescue dog.

Familiarize the dog with people, different noises and different environments. A search and rescue dog needs to be able to function effectively in many different environments. They also need to be able to interact with people in a friendly, non-hostile manner.

Next the dog must be taught how to find someone. Go to a wide-open space, and get someone to hold the dog. First get the animal excited, and in plain sight, run 10-20 feet away and drop to the ground. Whoever is holding the dog, should give the animal a command to ‘find,’ before letting it go. When the dog runs to the owner, praise it.

Once the animal has mastered the basic command to 'find' someone, the next step is to make it harder. Increase the difficulty level by trying out different environments, terrains, running further from the animal and by remaining unseen. Make sure the rescue-dog-in-training has mastered each new difficulty level, before moving on to harder tasks.

While rescue dog training can be time consuming and frustrating at times, the feeling of accomplishment at the end is worth it. These dogs perform the ultimate service. You can feel satisfaction and pride in the knowledge that your hard work will be used to help and find lost survivors.

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