How Wide is Too Wide?
A friend called yesterday, she and her dog had passed the North American Search and Rescue(NASAR) area search test. One of the comments she received was her grid had been too tight. If the subject had not been in the middle of the sector, she would not have completed the area in the allotted time. This frustrated her a little. The area had concentrated sections of very dense brush. In her opinion, she had to take narrow sweeps to make sure her dog had thoroughly searched the dense areas. She asked me the loaded question, "What is the right ...
Running With Your Canine
I hate to run. Plain and simple. If it wasn't a requirement for the search and rescue (SAR) team, I wouldn't do it, I'd lounge on the couch and gain weight. My sister is quite different. She loves to run, has done several marathons and even won her age bracket in the Marine Corp Marathon.(Thus I lovingly call her a female dog). Where we have common ground is we both run with our dogs. It started out as a safety issue. We ran before work on lonely trails that made us potential victims. Someone bent on violence is less likely to select ...
Vello and Wayne Earn BH
On Saturday, June 19, 2010 at the Prairie State Dog Club Trials Vello, handled by Wayne, turned in an excellent performance under SV judge Greg Estnest. The temperatures were in the upper 70's with a nice breeze and plenty of sunshine. The on and off lead heel exercises, long down and sit on a notion and down on a motion came off without a hitch. The recall was pretty to watch. Vello went on to the temperament test and led the way, being the first dog in all the exercises. Vello calmly ignore a crowd, joggers, cyclists and more than a few cars. As ...
Why BH?
The begleitenhund or BH is first and foremost a temperament test. Good nerve strength, even temperament dogs don't bite unless told to do so. The easiest way to sort out the dogs that don't have the temperament for search and rescue is to require the BH. The BH is open to all breeds of dogs and mixed breeds, provided the dog has an identifying ear tattoo or is micro chipped for positive identification. The test is similar to the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) but requires several additional elements and is stringently judged. Both tests require the dogs to be ...
Team Demonstrates SAR for 14,000 Boy Scouts
Members of German Shepherd Search and Rescue Dog Association were on hand when 14,000 Boy Scouts and their families visited Cantigny Park in DuPage County. The Scouts are members of the Three Fires Council and celebrated the 100th anniversary of Scouting. Four members of the team and their dogs demonstrated play drive, obedience, bark and recall re-find alerts, doggy base ball and finding the training aid hidden in one of 3 trash cans. The biggest pleasure came when the visitor got to interact with the dogs and pet them. The team answered hundreds of questions during the five demonstrations they performed ...
Belle Earn Schutzhund 1
I've met some nice people in schutzhund, but I have to say the folks at O.G. Edgerton Schutzhund Club were some of the nicest. Generally when you are the visitor at a club you go last in the rotation, but the folks at Edgerton realized I was driving almost 3 hours one way to train for the trial and always lit me go first so I could get back on the road home. The food at the trial was excellent and the weather perfect. I have to admit I had concerns about the weather which is reasonable when you talk ...
Lektor Goes 97 of 100 in Protection
At was a miserable day for a trial. At 7 AM when we started tracking the temperature had already hit 80 degrees and rising. There hadn't been a drop of rain in weeks. Top it off we had spent the last month enjoying the cool breezes of the Adirondack Mountains with highs in the 60's and 70's. It would be a long hard day for my dogs. Lektor did his typical drive through the tracking and obedience. We had one score left to earn him the right to claim "multiple schutzhund 3". Luck of the draw, Lektor had the honor of ...
How Wide is Too Wide?
Welcome to German Shepherd Search & Rescue Dog Association of Illinois. If you're new to GSSARDA-IL, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! A friend called yesterday, she and her dog had passed the North American Search and Rescue(NASAR) area search test. One of the comments she received was her grid had been too tight. If the subject had not been in the middle of the sector,... [Read more...]
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About Us
The first question is Who is "us"? We are owners and handlers of German Shepherd dogs willing to share our experiences to help others... Read more...
