BC Search Dog Association seasonal training begins in Osoyoos, B.C. | 24CA News
Dogs are identified for his or her distinctive talents and powerful noses, and search and rescue teams across the province are benefiting from that and refreshing the pup’s expertise forward of the summer season.
The BC Search Dog Association (BCSDA) is proving that canines are extra than simply man’s greatest good friend.
“Dogs are a great support for missing persons and our search and rescue programming BC. We use them for everything from wilderness search to tracking to avalanche rescue,” mentioned Roger Bean, vice-president of BCSDA.
This week, the pups and their handlers are getting of their seasonal coaching at Anarchist Mountain in Osoyoos.
The canines are utilized by dozens of search and rescue teams across the province. There are at the moment near 40 search canines working in B.C.
“They search in a different way than us humans do. We typically … will call out or look, where the dog about 80 per cent of the scents they take in through their nose. It’s just a different way of searching so it kind of makes us a multi-disciplinary team,” mentioned Bean.
Diana Krauss is likely one of the handlers on the mountain and is coaching along with her canine, Nikita. She’s been concerned with Osoyoos/Oliver Search and Rescue for 2 years, after being impressed by native members.
“When the local dog handler Mike Arychuk and his dog Kaya had validated … that just piqued my interest. I reached out to them and it’s been no stopping from there,” Krauss mentioned.
The pair has been engaged on Nikita’s scent detection and monitoring expertise, which Krauss says hasn’t been too difficult for her four-legged good friend.
“The dog I have, she’s very talented and has just taken to this like gangbusters,” she mentioned.
The coaching isn’t just for younger pups and new handlers, however these with all varieties of expertise to clean up their expertise.
“For the intermediate class, they’re the ones who progress beyond just kind of the game of looking for a person and they’re actually trying to operationalize it into search techniques. We have our validated handlers, what we call our advanced group, and that’s more peer-to-peer support and we’re just practicing new things,” Bean mentioned.
The group is grateful for the chance to coach with colleagues from throughout the province, and thank native landowners and the Anarchist Mountain Fire Department for letting them prepare on their properties.
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