Interview with D.A.W.G.S | Umbrella Pets

(originally published June 29th, 2010)

As the summer gets underway, I wanted to discuss Pet Safety for with all the holiday parties, outdoor activities, and vacations, we all need to remember our pets and make sure they are safe.? So for those that like to hike, you want to know about this organization.? Everyone for that matter should know about them for they are all about pet and human safety!

So following the pet safety theme, I interviewed Chris Chorney, from Disaster And Wilderness Ground Searchers, Inc. (D.A.W.G.S.) which is a Connecticut based volunteer K-9 search and rescue organization.? This organization searches for missing people in the woods and will assist with disaster searches as well.? He provided some great information on what his organization does, as well as how we can keep our pets safe, especially when hiking in the woods.? I am fascinated with the training methodology of their dogs and how they search for missing humans.? I had the great opportunity to see them in action firsthand at a recent pet fair.? ?If you can see them in action, I highly recommend it.? D.A.W.G.S. attends many school functions, pet fairs, dog shows and other events, which is a wonderful place for you to see a demonstration of how the dogs search and how they are trained.

When asked what his title is in the organization, Chris stated? ?My role in the organization varies.? Pretty much ?whatever needs to be done? is my job title.? Organizationally, I?m currently vice-president of DAWGS.? Operationally, I?m certified as a field assistant and up until recently my working dog partner Jet and I had our advanced ?Level I? wilderness certification in place (I had to retire my partner Jet due to medical reasons). ?I?m also the team?s operations leader (search manager).? Generally at trainings, I do the same things the other members do such as help everyone work on their skills, set up exercises, and hide in the woods so the dogs have someone to find.

To provide a brief summary, here is some information that I pulled off the website regarding the organizations objectives and history.

?Disaster and Wilderness Ground Searchers, Inc. is a volunteer search unit dedicated to the training of search and rescue dogs, handlers and support personnel in order to provide professional and highly-skilled search and rescue teams in the event of emergency response events. The first priority of Disaster and Wilderness Ground Searchers, Inc. is to save lives.? D.A.W.G.S. was formed in 1997. After much training of dogs, handlers and our support personnel, we passed certification requirements and became operational in the Spring of 1998. Our primary search area is the state of Connecticut, although we are willing to assist disaster relief efforts and lost person searches wherever we are needed.?

Dogs and handlers that search for missing humans in the wilderness or during a disaster need to be performing the task at a 100% accuracy to be effective during the search.? The dogs need to have an excellent recall and understand commands perfectly.? They will need to stop when told, come when told and go back to a place when told to as well.? ?They will need to be trusted off leash and be trusted enough to come back immediately when needed.? Sometimes dogs will be so far from their handlers that the handlers do not know where they are, so they will have to be trusted.? Through positive reinforcement and rewards, the dogs love to do their job and will treat it as a game.? They look forward to playing the game!

During the training process, handlers work with their dogs on obedience, recall, search basics, advanced scenting and the ?refind?.? The refind is when the dog has found the missing human, they will need to go back to the handler to notify them that they have found their target and then lead the handler to the missing human?or refind them. The dogs will notify their handlers through sitting, barking, jumping or grabbing an item hanging from the handler?s belt.? Dogs are also trained to not focus their attention on people that are walking toward the handler or anyone that is riding a bicycle.
The organization works with the police, fire and other state, local and federal agencies in emergency situations as well but will not look for people that do not want to be found, such as criminals.? They will only search for people that want to be found.? The dogs are trained to let their handlers handle any situation where there may be tension, such as another aggressive dog or an altered human.? Instead of approaching the dog or human, they will go back to the handler so they can resolve the situation.
During our conversation, I asked Chris some questions and he provided me the following answers?

• How many dogs and volunteers do you have currently at the organization?

We?ve got about a dozen members and close to that many dogs.

• How far will you travel to help locate missing people?

Our primary response area is Connecticut.? That said, we?ll travel where needed, our limitation in this regard is while we will call and offer our services if we are aware of an ongoing situation, we will only deploy to searches if requested from the agency in charge (usually, police, fire or state agency).? We deployed to a search in Maine and to New York after the attack.? We?ve also been put on standby for several hurricanes by other states.

• What kind of training are the dogs trained in during the certification process?

Air Scenting, Trailing, Tracking and Human Remains and Water Search

• • Tracking is a training method where the dog follows the human?s scent tracks footstep by footstep through disturbed earth.? This method follows the exact path the human has walked.? The dog follows the scent by initially smelling an uncontaminated article of the humans first.? This type of scent is considered scent specific.
    • Trailing is the training method where the dog follows the scent left on the ground at the time of the search.? The dog can trail this scent up to 2 days or longer depending on conditions.? They will trail the scent where it currently may be for it may have shifted due to wind.? The dog also needs an uncontaminated article of the humans to initially obtain the smell. This type of scent is also considered scent specific.
    • Air Scenting is the training method which allows the dogs to look for any human without knowing who they are looking for, so it is considered scent generic.? There does not need to be an initial scented item of the humans for the dog to begin the search. ?They search for humans in a specific area that the handler targets and will work in a back and forth ?grid? search pattern looking for the missing human.? The dogs are trained to look for altered or unconscious humans as well.? They will find and follow the scent trail until they find its source, the missing human.
    • Human Remains and Water Search are essentially a more narrowly focused version of air scenting.? It is still scent generic but the dogs are taught these techniques separately from the live find work.
• How are your dogs trained differently then other organizations that use dogs for searching for humans?

Our dogs are trained for a single purpose ? finding people.? This give us the advantage of putting all our training time into just that, resulting in dogs better trained for that one thing than a similar dog with the same number of training hours that does this plus another working dog skill or more.? As for training methodology, we use positive reinforcement for all our search training.? Our dogs love to work because it is a source of fun and excitement for them.? For the dogs, finding people is a wonderful game.

• How does this type of training benefit when searching for missing humans in the wilderness or during emergency situations?

Looking for people is hard, stressful work? for people.? As I said before, for the dogs its fun.? And because its fun, the dogs will work for hours upon hours (if properly conditioned) in all weather ? not because we make them, but because they want to, and as a result the dog works at 100% efficiency and 100% enthusiasm.? Now all dogs have their limits, both physically and mentally, and its our jobs as handlers to make sure the dogs doesn?t go beyond that point, so it stays ? for them ? a great game.

• Can you provide some examples of the search strategies and tactics that are used when searching for humans?

Statistically, groups of people will act in somewhat predictable ways when lost.? Small children, for example, tend to stop when tired and take a nap. ?Hunters will often try to ?find their way out?.? Search Managers need to be aware of these likelihoods when planning their overall search strategy.? Individual canine handlers, who are given discretion in how they plan out and search their assigned areas of 20 ? 160 acres, generally have it a bit less complicated.? They need to put their dog into the wind as much as possible while gridding the area in a manner that minimizes time while maximizing their chances for success.? Search the high points during the day and the drainages at night (where scent tends to flow).? There are some other criteria based on expected subject behavior, land features, weather and the specific working dog?s search style and abilities, as well.

• Is there a particular breed or type of dog that you typically use for this kind of work?

Not really.? We see lots of breeds doing well at search.? Generally, the very small and very large breeds don?t do as well because of the rigors of running through the woods so much.? The small dogs seem to get too worn out navigating the brush and briars and jumping over all the logs, and the giant breeds don?t seem to have the stamina.? ?We see a lot of mixed breeds as well as ?working?, ?sporting? and ?herding? dogs, to use AKC type categories.? The dogs that seem to have the best chance of making it thru our program have a strong prey drive, a strong ?need to please? drive, a strong play drive, focus and high energy.? They also need to be very socialized to other dogs and to people, and they have to be able to ignore deer, turkey, mountain bikers, atvs, squirrels, chipmunks, and snakes.? Did I mention they have to also pass an off leash obedience test before we allow them to certify as a search dog?

• How long does the training of one dog take?

It takes about 2 years to produce a fully certified wilderness search dog (and its handler)

• How would one donate to your organization?

The IRS has determined D.A.W.G.S. to be “exempt from Federal Income Tax under section 501 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in section 501 (c).” ?In other words,?we are a 501 (c) 3 Non Profit Organization. As such, any contributions to D.A.W.G.S. are tax deductible.

Our mailing address is DAWGS
PO Box 1894
Hartford, CT 06144

You can also go to http://www.dawgs.org/donations.html for more information, including how your donated money is spent.

• Are there any tips you can offer my audience to be safer with their pets over the summer, especially when traveling to new areas, hiking or swimming?

Certainly, pet owners should have in their car the basic information they might need in a medical emergency.? I keep a copy of Jet?s rabies certificate, proof of his town license, and the local 24/7 emergency veterinary hospital?s name and number in an envelope in my truck.? Last thing I need to worry about in an emergency is remembering a date or a number.? I?ve also micro chipped my dog.? If anything were to happen, eventually an Animal Control Officer or vet would check and I would be notified. ?Beyond that, it?s season specific.? In the winter, blankets and towels get packed in case the dog gets wet.? In the summer, towels still get packed but now it?s because I?ll let the dog get wet so he can cool down.? I always take water with me, ESPECIALLY if out of state, in which case I?ll take 1/2 to 1 gallon per day of ?home? water (so his stomach stays calm).? And winter or summer, it?s never a good idea to leave a pet in a vehicle while you go inside.? Its gets too hot too fast in the summer (yes, even with the windows cracked), and a closed up car may stop the wind but it lets the cold right through in the winter.

Wherever we go with our pets, we need to prepare for our pets safety.? Chris suggested that if you are one to hike in the wilderness (or travel a lot in general with your pet), in addition to the above tips, you should take a basic pet first aid class, also keep a first aid kit on hand, know the number of the local emergency vet?s office in the area where you are hiking (in case of emergency), and carry Benadryl (in case of insect bites or bee stings). ?Also, a first aid kit for pets should be on hand in case of emergencies.? Please check out this Pet First Aid Kit which is great for home or during traveling.

This Pet First Aid Kit is veterinarian recommended and equipped for all animals (domestic and exotic) and contains items that could help your pet in times of an emergency and is great for home or travel. ?The Kit Includes: 2- Sting Relief Wipes, 2- First Aid Burn Creams, 1- Pet First Aid Guide, 1- Forceps, 1- Gauze, 2″ Non-Stick, 1- Gloves, 1- Scissors, 2- Gauze Pads, 1-2″ x 2″ Tape, 1-Trauma Bandage, 1- Water Drinking, 1- Eye Wash, 5- Alcohol Wound Wipes.? The Kit is 5.5″ x 6.3″ x 2″

D.A.W.G.S also offers a program providing information on what to do when you are lost in the woods, modeled after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Hug-A-Tree program.? The D.A.W.G.S Lost in the Woods program is part of the presentations given at schools, group events and fairs.? The program is a great way to ?plant the seed? of what to do when someone is lost in the woods.? They show what needs to happen from both the kid?s point of view as well as the parents.??This is a great program for those active families that travel and hike.? Both kid?s and parents alike need to know what to do if ever lost in the woods. For more information, please visit the Hug-A-Tree program.? Chris describes the program below?

?We explain what we do, how we do it, we cover the hug-a-tree material at an age appropriate level, then we do a demo and let the kids meet the dogs.? The trading cards we have of the dogs have info on the backs on what to do if you get lost as well.??

I thank Chris very much for taking the time to answer my questions and providing such great info about D.A.W.G.S. ?Thank you to all the volunteers and staff as well for everything you do.? If you have any questions for Chris or would like to help out this great organization, please visit their website at http://www.dawgs.org/index.html or contact Chris directly at cchorney@snet.net.