Rescue Dogs: the History
by Andrey
Rozhkov
Already in
the previous century monks of the Sent Bernard monastery used
large dogs to find a man gone under the snow, who were
subsequently called Senbernars.
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St Bernard is
a Search and Rescue Dog
When
there was a blizzard on a mountain pass, they bond a little
barrel of rum to the dog's neck and let it search for the lost
people. When the dogs smelled a human under snow, it dug them
out with its huge paws, revived them with rum and then went to
call for help. It turned out that there is no better "tool" than
the dog's nose. There is a rescue dog in the life-saving
services of all the Alpine countries.
Senbernars are rarely used now, they have been changed by Belgian Shepherds:
they are fitter for mountain service. A young male dog at the
age of about two years gets special training during two-three
weeks. The training resembles a game. The guide trains the dog
not least than two hours three-four times a week. After a while
the dog can smell a human under a thicker layer of snow. The
guide's experience is also important. To restrict the search
time he can direct the dog exactly to the place where he
suspects a human. You must work fast, every minute counts. A
well-trained dog can smell a human under a two-meter snow layer.
You can never be as good at searching people without a dog,
because to search a territory of 100x100 m, a dog needs only 12
minutes, while the human rescuers - 4 hours.
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Belgian Malinois is an
Easy-trained Working Dog
Today,
Switzerland takes the first place according to the number of
trained and certified dogs. There are over 100 of them there.
Most of them are Drahthaars. Though there are also Shepherds,
Spaniels and Retrievers.
They prefer dogs, who feel good under the local climate
conditions. For now, there is no comparative scale of dog breeds
according to their ability to help the affected. But the most
important features for a rescue dog are controllability,
physical health (to be able to overcome obstacles), good sense
of smell.
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Golden Retrievers Save People's Life
Have a look at
our rescue dog harness here!
