My Night With the Mason-Dixon Rescue Dogs
Last night my husband and I went to a Boy Scout camp about an hour and a half from Baltimore and helped train German Shepherds for search and rescue.
The organization needed people to hide in the empty building on the campgrounds and in the woods, and then (hopefully) the dogs would catch our scent and find us. Among the group there were two beginner dogs, and 4 experienced dogs. Their goal with the beginner dogs is to instill in them the drive to find people. They accomplish this by making the dogs very fond of their toys, and increase this fondness by giving the dogs VERY limited playtime during the day. As time goes on, these dogs want their toys so badly, and eventually learn that the reward for finding people is playtime. This gives them the necessary drive to do their job.
The first victim - my husband!My husband hid in a closet in an empty building and Bear, a huge, plush coat black German Shepherd, was sent to find him. He caught his scent right away and trotted through the woods with all of us trailing behind him. She wasn't uncertain at all and let us straight to the building, looked through it, and then let his handler know that DH was inside the closet. He did this by lightly tugging on a rope that her handler had tied to her belt loop. He was rewarded for his good work by a round of toy playing.
The second victim - me (and one other person b/c I'm terrified of the dark).
We hiked through the woods, and after 10 minutes, found a small trailer. Since it was locked, we went around to the back and sat on a stoop. We waited quietly, and soon heard Cleo (the dog) and the rest of the crew clomping through the woods. Cleo came within a few feet of us, but then got distracted by some deer poop. She chowed down, and completely forgot what she was supposed to be doing! Her handler reminded her, and it appeared that she'd found us, but instead she had AGAIN become interested in another pile of deer droppings, that was less then ONE FOOT from us! She was so interested in this (yuck) delicousy that she did not notice us sitting right next to her! The bad girl was reprimanded, and punished by not getting a playtime. (This really pissed her off!)
I had a great time with the dogs. It was an interesting and fun experience, and if you ever have the time, it's a great activity.
The organization needed people to hide in the empty building on the campgrounds and in the woods, and then (hopefully) the dogs would catch our scent and find us. Among the group there were two beginner dogs, and 4 experienced dogs. Their goal with the beginner dogs is to instill in them the drive to find people. They accomplish this by making the dogs very fond of their toys, and increase this fondness by giving the dogs VERY limited playtime during the day. As time goes on, these dogs want their toys so badly, and eventually learn that the reward for finding people is playtime. This gives them the necessary drive to do their job.
The first victim - my husband!My husband hid in a closet in an empty building and Bear, a huge, plush coat black German Shepherd, was sent to find him. He caught his scent right away and trotted through the woods with all of us trailing behind him. She wasn't uncertain at all and let us straight to the building, looked through it, and then let his handler know that DH was inside the closet. He did this by lightly tugging on a rope that her handler had tied to her belt loop. He was rewarded for his good work by a round of toy playing.
The second victim - me (and one other person b/c I'm terrified of the dark).
We hiked through the woods, and after 10 minutes, found a small trailer. Since it was locked, we went around to the back and sat on a stoop. We waited quietly, and soon heard Cleo (the dog) and the rest of the crew clomping through the woods. Cleo came within a few feet of us, but then got distracted by some deer poop. She chowed down, and completely forgot what she was supposed to be doing! Her handler reminded her, and it appeared that she'd found us, but instead she had AGAIN become interested in another pile of deer droppings, that was less then ONE FOOT from us! She was so interested in this (yuck) delicousy that she did not notice us sitting right next to her! The bad girl was reprimanded, and punished by not getting a playtime. (This really pissed her off!)
I had a great time with the dogs. It was an interesting and fun experience, and if you ever have the time, it's a great activity.
posted by Mir @ 8:54 AM
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