Southern Maryland Search & Rescue Dogs, Inc.

Southern Maryland Search & Rescue Dogs, Inc.

PO Box 667 Hollywood MD USA 20636-0667

K-9 Evaluation Program

The handler and canine must attend 4 out of 5 training sessions.

During the Aggression Test, a behavior that is Dangerously Aggressive will be grounds for automatic disqualification. A behavior that shows a canine that is shy/afraid of people can also be grounds for disqualification. The ideal canine is one that is happy to be around people and not aggressive toward people or other canines.

Test procedures for Dog-Dog: The candidate dog will be lead up to a non-aggressive dog and contact will be allowed. The candidate dog will be evaluated on its actions around the other canine.

Test procedures for Dog-Human: The canine will be tied to a fence and the handler will walk out of its site. An evaluator will approach the dog, unhook it, and walk it back to the handler. The dog must not show aggression toward the evaluator.

Test procedures for Crowd Without Other Dogs: The handler will walk the canine through a crowd of people and it will be judged on its actions.

Test procedures for Crowd With Other Dogs: Same as Without Other Dogs above, only other dogs will be present within the crowd.

Test procedures for Overall Temperament: The candidate dog will be evaluated for overall temperament throughout all the other phases.

Play Drive: A canine that likes to retrieve his toy and the one that will continue to chase its toy until it drops is the ideal canine. These canines show a higher probability for success. An even better canine will retrieve just about any thing that is thrown out for it. It is paramount that the canine has an established reward system to achieve its ultimate goal. The toy is what the canine is working for. It is not that important that the canine brings the toy back, just that it is willing to go retrieve it (Play / Prey Drive).

Hunt Drive: This is the second key to the search game. A search dog has to have the desire to go out and find what you ask it to. A canine that will only chase a toy that it sees is not suitable for search and rescue, mainly because you will be asking the canine to locate an object/scent that it does not see run away.

Play/Prey Drive and Hunt Drive: These are two of the most important factors in determining a search dog's probability for success. A canine without these two traits is not suitable for search and rescue work.

Handler Runaway: This phase of the evaluation is not asking the canine to search, rather it is for the canine to understand that when given its search command, it is to go locate a human. A canine that does not go to the handler probably does not have a strong bond with the handler. The handler should focus on bonding with the canine, or if it's a puppy, may want to wait until it has matured some. If the canine does not want to find its handler, it is not going to want to find anyone else. Therefore, this canine is not a candidate for search and rescue at this time.

Any Signs Of Dangerous Dog-Human Aggression Will Be Grounds For Disqualification From Any Further Evaluations.

Any Digns Of Dangerous Dog-Dog Aggression Will Also Be Grounds For Disqualification From Any Further Evaluations.

Corrective Training Measures Can Be Attempted Before Disqualifications.