Our Search and Rescue group classes at Highland Canine offer you the opportunity to harness your dogโs innate capabilities and utilize its incredible sense of smell. Irrespective of breed, age or size, virtually any dog has the potential to succeed in a search and rescue environment. Our Search and Rescue training classes offer an ideal combination of physical and mental stimulation for your dog.
There is a natural progression through our Search and Rescue classes, beginning with SAR I, moving to SAR II and then finishing with SAR III. Each program builds on the progress made in the previous class.
To find out when search and rescue dog training classes are being offered in your area, please look at our calendar.
In the first of our foundational search and rescue dog training classes, youโll learn the basics of odor theory and learn how dogs are able to find humans. Youโll understand the tools used in SAR handling and training, and begin to learn how to read your dogโs behavior.
In the early weeks of the class, youโll start with hot trails; as the class progresses, youโll move on to warm trails, building distance and duration. Along the way, youโll gain confidence as a handler and begin to unlock the truly amazing capabilities of your dog – youโll be amazed at how quickly they may be able to progress!
Our typical curriculum for the first of our search and rescue classes is as follows:
By the end of this class, dogs should be able to complete a 10-15 minute warm trail. Your dog will be ready to move on to SAR II!
In the second of our foundational search and rescue dog training classes, youโll build on the progress you made in SAR I.
You’ll pick up where you left off with warm trails,. As the class progresses, you’ll eventually move to cold trails and discover the importance of training in different conditions.ย
Our typical curriculum for the second of our search and rescue classes is as follows:
By the end of this class, dogs should be able to complete a 10-20 minute cold trail. Your dog will be ready to move on to SAR III!
After completing SAR I and SAR II, you and your dog will be able to move on to SAR III.
The goal of SAR III is to generalize your dog’s capabilities and become comfortable working in a variety of different settings.
In this class, you’ll visit a new location in your local area each week. covering a variety of search conditions – including (but not limited to):
You’ll also introduce your dog to cross-contamination, double finds and more extensive work on difficult surfaces such as asphalt.
By the end of SAR III, dogs should be able to consistently run 30+ minute aged cold trails which are at least 0.5 miles long with some turns. The dog will be able to work comfortably on different surfaces in contaminated environments.
Remember to check out our calendar to see when our SAR group classes are taking place in your area! You can also contact us for more information.
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