What is difference between tracking and SAR?

[Alicia]

Can a dog do both? Does one lay the foundation for the other or are they completely separate?

How do I tell if our pup is a good candidate for tracking? He is 12 weeks old.

Thank you from a complete newbie.

[Legend14]

Tracking and SAR are primarily the same. Tracking is basically working without a scent article and the dog picks up the strongest human odor and follows it. Most police dogs do tracking.

Most SAR dogs do trailing, where they have a scent article and the dog is trained to search for that specific scent and follow it.

Your pup is a little young to start training but you can try throwing his favorite toy into some tall weeds and see how determined he is to find it. Lots of praise when he finds it.

Until he gets a little older, try reading as much as you can about it.
Some good books are:

Ready! The Training of the Search and Rescue Dog by Susan Bulanda (she has a new edition out)

Search And Rescue Dogs: Training Methods by American Rescue Dog Association

Fundamentals of Search and Rescue by Donald C. Cooper

Article: Reading any Trailing or Tracking Dog by Kevin Kocher and Robin Monroe (You should be able to find this on the internet)

Good luck on your SAR endeavors.

[BlackPuppy]

AKC tracking uses a scent article, though most people don't use it until their dog is lost. Then you can give them a wiff. Otherwise, the dog is so excited that it's hard for the human to grab it at the start of the track.

Also, you can start an 8 week old puppy tracking. It's the best time! And boy are they good at that age before they get messed up with obedience.

[Legend14]

Search and Rescue dogs are working dogs and when starting them at such a young age you run the risk of your dog burning out on you. Most Search and Rescue dogs work for seven plus years but for now let him be a puppy. Take him to as many place as you can think of to experience new sights, terrains, textures, sounds and smells. Be careful not to scare him but let him learn that exploring is fun. Be careful also during puppy fear stages. 5 or 6 months old is a good time to start.

[Amaruq]

Originally Posted By: Legend14Search and Rescue dogs are working dogs and when starting them at such a young age you run the risk of your dog burning out on you. Most Search and Rescue dogs work for seven plus years but for now let him be a puppy. Take him to as many place as you can think of to experience new sights, terrains, textures, sounds and smells. Be careful not to scare him but let him learn that exploring is fun. Be careful also during puppy fear stages. 5 or 6 months old is a good time to start.

All of my dogs started SAR training between 8 and 12 weeks and none of them burned out. As long as the training is kept fun and motivational a good dog should not burn out.

For the OP are you planning on getting involved with a local Search and Rescue team or are you planning to train for titles?

Yes, dogs CAN do both but if you plan to do both you should start with the footprint (title) tracking first as it is easier to transition a dog from (title) tracking to trailing (real life). There are several differences but a good dog is capable of doing both if each is trained individually.

[kleinenHain]

I agree with amarug.

I've been training SAR and tracking for years and I start all my pups off as soon as I get them ( 8 to 9 weeks) or sooner if of my breeding.

I make everything a fun filled game and they never get burned out.

I also do both Tracking for titles and SAR at the same time.

[pupresq]

If you're interested in actually doing SAR (on a team), I'd recommend contacting your local group(s) and finding out if you can come out and observe ASAP. Decide if this is something you're really interested in - it's a huge commitment. Also decide if you think you want to do air scenting or tracking, because they're trained differently. A majority of the dogs on my team were air scenting dogs. Also, there are different schools of thought on the best way to start your dog, so going out and seeing how the team you'd be interested in commonly does it, might be helpful.

[Alicia]

Thank you for all the info!

We have a local Shutzhund group but I didn't know whether or not our county had a SAR group until this past week. I'm in Clay County where little Somer Thompson was snatched on her way home from school. Saw the teams out working the following day.

I used to belong to a SAR group back home (out west). Not a dog team, but part of a tracking team that helped search the woods for lost individuals. I really enjoyed and thought about how much more fun it would be with a dog.

This new pup really loves to follow his nose. More than any dog I've ever owned. I'd like to see where it takes him.

Our blind cattle dog always finds her toys in the tall grass. She LOVES playing fetch and uses her nose (and hearing) to find her toy constantly. It was heartbreaking when she first began to lose her vision and I was afraid she would not be able to play her favorite game anymore but she has adapted beautifully. She could never be a search dog, though, because she isn't comfortable being blind in an unfamiliar area. She knows every inch of our 36 acre farm and does quite well.

[BlackPuppy]

Originally Posted By: Ranch DogShe knows every inch of our 36 acre farm and does quite well.

Wow! That's amazing!

Oh, and have fun tracking!

[Alicia]

Those little cattle dogs are clever. I do have to tell guests to park in a specific spot because, in her excitement, she has run into a parked car before. If we change anything major in the house or on the farm, I just call her over and 'show' it to her. Then, she's good.