It’s all fun and games

Details

Published on Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Neepawa Vet Clinic hosts Search and Rescue demo

Photos by Cassandra Wehrhahn

Gypsy, nicknamed “Gyp”, and dog trainer Kent were ready for their closeup at the Neepawa Vet Clinic.

By Cassandra Wehrhahn

Neepawa Banner & Press

Visitors to the Neepawa Vet Clinic during the 11-2 p.m. open house got a bit of a treat on Oct. 5 in the form of a search and rescue demo, provided by visiting dog trainer Kent and rescue dog Gypsy.

Gypsy is five years old, and has been training with Kent, who got started with an ex Brandon City Police member who taught him, for roughly three years. The Neepawa guest spoke to the Banner & Press, dishing out the details on Gypsy’s current status and how exactly search and rescue training works.

The training

All search and rescue dogs receive the same training as police dogs. Gypsy began this training by completing what is known as a “double line pass”, which is created by a person walking a three foot track one way then back, and essentially tests to see if the dog undergoing training will use their nose. The distance following the initial test is then increased. Any dog undergoing training must be able to track on a line for 1,000 meters to pass the Manitoba certification.

“At this point Gypsy can track on a long line [which is attached to her harness], or she can track off leash, where I can release her in the bush or open fields,” Kent relayed. “She wears a GPS collar that works within a nine mile radius so I know where she is.”

All training is formulated around a game, and Gypsy’s game is her toy. Whether she is looking for a lost person in a real world scenario, or she’s in training, it’s always the toy she’s looking for.

“When the toy is found, it’s a game that she’s found it,” said Kent. “That’s what they do it all for.”

After a dog has found the missing person, they are trained to sit with that person and bark to alert the handlers, who may be far away if the dog was released for an off-line search. Aside from alerting the dog’s handlers, the barking [in tandem with the GPS] provides them with a location.

Gypsy returns her toy after a successsful demo search. The red toy was invisible in the snow.

How Search and Rescue is deployed

Like in any other emergency situation, in the event of a missing person [be it a child, adult, or elderly] Kent says the first number you should dial is 911.

“For a dog team and Search and Rescue to be deployed in Manitoba, if a person is missing, the first phone call to make is to 911. The RCMP or your local police have Search and Rescue teams and when they need assistance they will contact the office of the Fire Commissioner who then calls in the Provincial Search and Rescue volunteers,” Kent explained. “As volunteers, we don’t get paid to do it, it’s all our own time, and that’s what Gypsy and I are for.”

Following the interview, Kent and Gypsy demonstrated a search. Due to the amount of early October snow, a real person was not used, but her toy was a handy stand-in.

To simulate a real search, Gypsy was first kept inside so she could not see where the toy was thrown. After the toy was promptly lobbed out into the powdery white blanket, Gypsy was then called out with the key phrase “find it” starting her search. Nose to the ground, the eager search and rescue dog soon located the toy’s “scent cone” and successfully retrieved it.

Busting a myth

Contrary to popular belief, the highly trained canines cannot simply sniff one of the missing person’s belongings and then go find them. This strategy, commonly portrayed in media, is simply a Hollywood myth. For a search to be successful, it is important that the area has been frequented as little as possible since the disappearance.