Search and Rescue Dogs

Dogs which perhaps conjure up the most vivid pictures in people's minds are those which have gained a reputation for rescuing people when disaster has struck. As time has moved on their duties have become more and more varied and an increasing number of breeds have been used for rescue work. All are deserving of merit.

The hospice of ST Bernard was founded in AD 962 and was served by monks of the order of St Augustine. It was the duty of these particular monks to give assistance to travelers in distress because at that time travelers between Switzerland and Italy were obliged to go on foot through the Great St Bernard Pass. The monks found that their dogs aided them in their search for lost travelers, as the dogs were able to detect victims buried beneath deep snow drifts. Some dogs actually carried out their toils alone and if they came across an exhausted traveler in the desolate mountain passes they would lie across him to impart warmth, barking and howling until assistance came.

The dogs of the Hospice in the early years were different from those we now associate with it today; they were short-haired, with an exceptionally broad chest and massive head. In the early years of the nineteenth century, the monks realized their stock was beginning to decline and so introduced new blood by cross-breeding with long-haired Newfoundland bitches.

From early puppy hood, St Bernard’s were trained by means of dummy figures used to instruct them in first aid. The dogs wore spiked collars to protect them against wolves and carried around their necks a small container holding food and stimulant. Many monks have believed that the St Bernard is endowed with the power to foresee ] danger and there arc many records of occasions when the dogs have prevented the monks from returning to the monastery by the normal route, only to find later that, had they done so, they would have been overwhelmed by an avalanche.

Mountain rescue dogs
Even today many mountain rescue organizations employ dogs to help them with their work because dogs can travel over terrain which is difficult for man, and certainly they can negotiate land over which it would be impossible for vehicles to travel. Added to this, the dogs' keen sense of smell is most useful in mountain rescue work and an ability to dig in snow is another great advantage.

The New found land
Another breed noted for its courageous work is the Newfoundland, a breed around which many touching stories revolve. Like the St Bernard, the Newfoundland seems to have a sense of impending danger and, because of the breed's stubborn perseverance, rarely relinquishes a task in hand.

This dog has always appeared to take a natural delight in saving humans from water and, on several occasions, the Newfoundland has been instrumental nig entire crews of ships: establishing a lifeline between a sinking ship and rescuers ashore. This has been in situations which have been so dangerous that no lifeboat could set out. But New found lands have not only saved humans, they have saved other lives too, including a touching story of a canary which was a great favorite with sailors on exercise in the Mediterranean. Seeing the tiny bird escape from its cage, a Newfoundland jumped into the sea, seized the bird in its mouth and swam back to the ship. The bird was scared but unharmed, just proving how delicately such a large dog can hold a small thing, even when swimming.

Police and security work
Search and rescue is now an important area of police and security services throughout the world and, as the benefits of such work have spread, so has the training and dissemination of information. In the last few years English trainers have been sent as far a field as South Korea so that both dogs and people can be trained in the best methods of putting dogs to good use when rescuing people from various places, including mountainous terrain.

Often such dogs work in a twofold manner, also being trained to search out drugs, arms, ammunition and explosives, so the employment of rescue dogs now encompasses a very much wider area than before. Hence rescue work has extended into other fields and sniffer dogs, as they are often called, are employed by army, navy and air forces in many countries, as well as by customs and excise departments, so they are frequently used at air and sea ports.

Many different breeds have been of service in this way so it seems perhaps unfair to single out just a few, but commonly used in recent years have been German Shepherd Dogs, Labrador Retrievers and other of the gundog breeds such as English Springer Spaniels, Flat-coated and Golden Retrievers, Irish Water Spaniels and German Short-haired Pointers. These and others have proved to be of invaluable service in their many ways.