Subscribe to the ethos of Search and Rescue
Dog's body for 6 months
Dog training knowledge and ability
Fit and active with good personal commitment
Team contributor
Take responsibility for your own dog
Do you think you already have a suitable dog?

Subscribe to the Ethos of Search and Rescue

You will be willing to expend your mental and physical energy, and financial resources to assist others as an unpaid volunteer.

Your personal circumstances must be such that you are able to respond to emergencies. Operational SARDA dog teams are on call round the clock, every day of the year.

You will be a cooperative but self-motivated person

You will need to accept that a call out may occur, and you may drive many miles to reach the incident location, only to find that your services are no longer needed, perhaps because the person has been located. You need to be able to accept this apparent waste of time without complaint, recognizing that you are team contributor and that the main thing is the rescue of the person

Dog's Body for 6 months

You are required to act as a dog's body for a minimum of six months prior to being accepted for training with your own dog.

The bodying period allows you to experience the way different dogs find you in relation to the wind and where you are hiding. This time is well spent while you decide whether or not being a Sarda dog handler is for you.

Dog training knowledge and ability

SAR dog handlers must enjoy working with dogs.

You will need to be capable of teaching a dog obedience and stock safety as well as socialization skills.

Your six months bodying period is a good time to fine tune your own dog training capabilities at home. If you need help with basic dog training and stock safety then you should seek that help from a professional dog trainer in your area. SARDA concentrates on training dogs for search and rescue, not basic obedience.

Fit and active with good personal commitment

You will need to be fit and active and prepared to be outdoors in all kinds of weather.
You won't be a 'quitter' but will have strong personal commitment.
Training a dog will take two - three years on several occasions each week, sometimes with other people, sometimes alone
Travelling is required to various training locations

It is very important that you persevere to put in the required time and effort into training your dog and also help others to train their dogs. Your bodying career is never over; everyone must be willing to body, even if your dog is qualified or you are temporarily 'dogless'.

Team Contributor

SARDA is a team of people who support one another in training and deploying dog teams. They cooperate in disseminating information on SARDA's services, and handlers continue to act as dog's bodies to help each other. The more dog teams SARDA can deploy, the greater their effectiveness in assisting the emergency services in locating missing people by searching more areas.

Thus there is no room in SARDA for a competitive spirit. Individuals in SARDA do not seek personal fame, prominence or financial gain.

Take Responsibility for Your Own Dog

SARDA handlers work with their own dogs, forming a close personal working bond with the dog. Their dogs are part of the family and the handler takes full responsibility for the dog's health, care and safety.

Do You Think You Already Have a Suitable Dog?

You may feel a bit impatient with the idea of bodying for 6 months. This time is well spent in understanding the training requirements for your dog, so make good use of it.

Meanwhile, you can work with your dog at home. Teach your dog:

basic obedience:
sit, come, stay, heel - not just at home, but in any location.  Both on, and off the lead.  Your dog must be able to do this in the presence of distractions, such as other dogs.
stock safety:
your dog must ignore livestock, neither chasing nor being afraid of sheep, cattle or horses
to ignore distractions:
your dog must not chase wild creatures, these would be a distraction from his work
social skills:
your dog must be friendly with all people (including babies, children and the elderly)
your dog must be relaxed with, but not distracted by, other dogs
to enjoy reward driven play:
play with your dog to motivate him to find you, using a playtoy or a food reward; if possible teach him to bark to gain his playtime reward.
agility
your dog needs to cross water, swim and negotiate obstacles such as walls and fences

Then, when you've completed your bodying period, your dog will be prepared to take his obedience and stock test, which he must past before being accepted for training with SARDA