BSARD holds our dogs and personnel to high standards, and we continually seek to improve our canines’ skills as well as our own.
We train as a complete unit twice every month in all weather conditions (except active lightning or if road conditions make it too dangerous to attend) and on as many varieties of terrain as we can find in our working area. This includes rural forest and fields, hills and valleys, streams, lakes, urban, suburban, and collapsed and/or burned structure settings. We train under as many diverse conditions as possible.
We also often bring in widely-respected and experienced instructors to provide focused workshops and fresh outlooks on our various disciplines..
In addition to the regular team training and periodic BSARD workshops, individual team members and their canine partners often participate in other workshops and seminars around the country on a variety of topics focused on expanding our knowledge of Search and Rescue. This is in addition to the training they (and their K9 partners) do on their own.
We train in many disciplines critical to a good canine search operation. This training includes, but is not limited to:
K9s
- Obedience and Canine Good Citizenship.
- Scent-specific Mantrailing.
- Scent-specific and General Area Search (sometimes referred to as “Wilderness Search”).
- Human Remains Detection (HRD) on Land, including elevated and/or buried.
- Underwater Human Remains Detection (from shore and/or boat).
- Human Remains Detection at Crime Scene.
- Urban Mantrailing.
- Building Mantrailing or Area Search.
- Collapsed/Burned Structure Search.
- Human-handled Article Search and Identification.
Handlers and Staff
- NIMS Command and Control Protocols. IS-100, IS-200, ICS-300, IS-700, IS-800 and IS-809.
- Search Management Planning and Operations.
- Ground Search Techniques.
- GPS-based Orienteering.
- Map and Compass Orienteering.
- Communications Protocols.
- Human First Aid, CPR and Automatic External Defibrillator (AED).
- Canine First Aid.
- Crime Scene Preservation.
- Hazmat Awareness and Protection from Blood-borne Pathogens.
Team Training Sessions
A typical training session may have a simulation scenario that is previously set up and worked as if it were an active deployment. In addition to the simulation, dogs and handlers work specific exercises designed to enhance and broaden their experience. Training sessions end with a self-critique debriefing and feed-forward meeting. Many sessions are preceded or followed by supplemental training in first aid (for people and dogs), compass and map reading, GPS usage, search protocols, first aid for dogs and wilderness survival. Guest speakers and groups are sometimes brought in.
As a general rule, each year BSARD will bring in one or more expert instructors to conduct a multi-day immersive training workshop. We will find a camp or similar facility where we can practice during the day and hold classroom discussions in the evening. In addition to the excellent training opportunities and differing points of view of the outside instructor, we’ve also found it to be a fantastic team building exercise, fostering further trust and cooperation among our members.
Where we Train
BSARD trains at several sites around southwestern Ohio, and we try hard not to use the same site more than a couple of times a year. If you would like to attend a BSARD training session, contact us via email at genmgr@buckeyesardogs.org.