Search And Rescue Dog Association

All of our training is under taken with praise and rewards for the dog.
Some are happy to work for their squeaky toy while others prefer food !

Before SARDA England will accept anyone wishing to train their dog to become a Search Dog, they must have been on the callout list of a recognised Mountain Rescue Team for a minimum of one year, and have a letter of support from their team. The reason for the one year rule is that we will only teach them how to train their dog, as they would have developed their Mountain Rescue skills within their team.

Our training starts with the Puppy Dogs.

The Puppy is first socialised with other dogs and people. They are then given some obedience & stock familiarisation training.

Then a 'Registration' & 'Stock Test'.

The dog is expected to show no interest in any stock, grazing on the hill.

In Stage 1:

They are taught the 'Find Sequence'.

This is when they find the Dogbodies and indicate to the handler that they have found.

The dogs indicate they have found by barking for the handler.

In Stage 2:

The handler is taught how to search areas with their dog. The areas start small and gradually get larger.

At this stage the handler will always know the location of the Dogbodies.

In Stage 3:

The handler is tasked to search small areas without knowing the location of the Dogbodies. Again the areas get larger as they progress. When they are competent with searching three hour areas they are then ready for assessment.

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