Best Results
They know what they are talking about. For many years this Dutch couple has been giving seminars for training search and rescue dogs, not only in the Netherlands and Austria, but also all over Europe and the United States. In that time, they have had many different breeds and mixed breeds in their seminars. “Every different breed, yes, every different dog requires a different approach to bring him to the best results.”
These best results have been reached by Gerritsen and Haak regularly in the past with their own dogs: In tough competitions they won the top spot at the World Championship for Rescue Dogs, and have several times been Hungarian and Austrian champions. Their colleagues in the Austrian Red Cross have also won places on the stage of honor. “But that can’t be the most important thing,” they quickly say to me, when I write that down. “Our dogs have to prove themselves on actual search missions. That is the most important, and only that counts!”
The search and rescue dogs of the Austrian Red Cross are among the best in the world. They have proven that during operations in their own and foreign countries, where they saved the lives of countless people or gave families their relatives back. In international competitions for search and rescue dogs, the Red Cross dog handlers have reached the top in the face of serious competition!
To show something of the training method, Speedy, their fourteen-month-old Malinois female, goes to work. Passionate and with the characteristics of a wonderfully relaxed young working dog, she shows why they gave her that name. She is working with a so-called bringsel that hangs on her collar, and she is allowed to pick it up when she finds a hidden person. On indication from her handler, she runs from the right to the left through the brushy wooded area. She works out the indications very attentively, and without delay she ranges nicely through the extensive area.
Then suddenly she gets a whiff of the hidden person. Very quickly, she runs to that person. There, she immediately takes the bringsel in her mouth and brings it to her handler, who takes it from her. And once again Speedy runs away, back to the hidden person. After a comprehensive reward, the search continues and, with unflagging zeal, the same performance takes place. At the end of this search action, when she has found all three hidden people, Speedy still has enough energy left to play. I am convinced!
Figure 8.17 We have to train regularly in varying circumstances to keep our dogs at the same high level of performance.
Their Secret
In the meantime, the chief joins us. “Isn’t that good?” he says. “So good, she is also working in avalanches and on rubble.” As if she wants to thank him for his nice words, Speedy comes to him and challenges him to play with her. She likes him, you can see that immediately. And she is right, because the ball in the sock is already flying through the air.
“In spite of her young age, she is already working at the level required of an operational dog,” he assures me. “We don’t want to make the mistake of going too fast. An actual mission would mentally be too far for Speedy, and that would be fatal for her training. She must enjoy her youth in full. We keep all our dogs young and playful as long as possible. This stimulates their willingness to search and work.”
Aside from Speedy, there are, of course, more young dogs in training. The Golden Retriever Bazil and two young Malinois, Karma and Igor, also demonstrate their work. They all show good work and they show too that they enjoy it. Karma also works with a bringsel, but when Igor reaches a victim, he begins to bark. My reaction to this shows on my amazed face. “Dogs that bark on their own are, of course, allowed to ‘speak’ at a hidden person.” Oh yes, that’s true. That is their secret: adjusting the method to the dog!
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