TRACKING, DISASTER TRAINING WITH A LITTLE SEARCH AND RESCUE TRAINING AS WELL....

Well this week has been very busy...first Quila and I were off to Red Deer on Wednesday for tracking with the "girls"...wasn't sure about the 62kmh winds...but what the heck , we might get wind in our test so lets go!!
Unfortunately Michelle and Ash were unable to make it  as they were tracking her phone...see her blog for that story, but the rest of us braved the wind. Her blog information is under my profile info.
Kristine, Lorrie and I set up short ( 250-300) tracks...not thinking our dogs could do much in the wind...but they proved us wrong...they did great. The corners were a little tricky but they all finished their tracks in good time with little to no difficulties...who knew!!

 Here she is well on her way...following the track....hard to tell how windy it was but it was really, really windy!!

 Here we are fiquaring out a corner...took a minute but she got it....look at the hair and you might get an idea of the wind

She found her glove,.....the wind had blown away her treat reward...good thing I had more in my pocket!!

                                          Lorrie and Zevha....     Really nice line...and working well

                                             Glove and reward found...with no problems

Teah and Kristine working rather nicely....look at that line ....is Kristine holding it so nicely ...or is that the wind!!
                        Teah was a star...she just ran that track like it was just anyother day...

After running our tracks the girls were kind enough to do a couple of hides for Quila...wasn't sure how this would go ....with the wind being so strong.
It was unbelievable to watch...the first hider was at nine oclock...I sent Quila out and she ran full tilt at 12 oclock....wasn't sure what she was doing...then as soon as she hit the scent cone she turn towards nine oclock and ran right to the hider....it was beautiful to watch. She did this for both hides....even though they were in totally different hiding spots.

Here is Lorrie rewarding Quila for finding her with a good game of tug..with her favorite toy...Lorrie made it for her....



Tracking all done now and so off to the trabin for a couple of days of rest before we head off again.
Saturday was spend with the first day of the three day Basic SAR course....it was interesting and I can't wait to do the other two days in the field.
Then it was off to Edmonton for Disaster training....this is our first opportunity to try this to see if Quila can do it....well she can and is quite willing to go over any material, no matter how high etc.

                         You can just see the dog on the left side working the rubble....

                         Here one of the dogs and handlers is on the top of the rubble working...

                      Here Quila has found a hider that was buried in plastic in a hill of wood chips...

                                                         Another dog working the site....

Quila waiting patiently for her turn...has her wet jacket on to keep her cool....

This is really good training as it allows us to see how the dogs are going to do if we have to actually work a disaster.
My organization does not do international disasters but we could get called to a collapsed building etc here.
With that in mind we need to train so that the handlers and dogs are ready.
We would never let our dogs go into any unstable or unsafe site.

Quila also had the opportunity to see what she would do with HR ( human remains)...not to make lightly of HR ...but she was pretty funny...she didn't know what to do and was a little scared but did not leave ...so that was good. HR is not body parts ....it is blood etc that the dogs can identify as HR.




Sunday it was off to Mornville for Search and Rescue training...
Now the first thing we did was Quila's last test...then we are off probation!! We were in the back of a truck with two other dogs and there handlers...off we go for a slow drive...on bumpy roads etc. We have to trade spots a couple of times and then when we get back the other dogs and there handlers get out...someone else lifts Quila down and then takes her away out of my sight. This is to see how she reacts to open vechiles, other dogs in close proximaty and if someone else looking after her etc. She loved the truck ride...wanted to do it all day, ( it was her first time in a truck), she didn't care if she had to share the space with other dogs and she was fine with another handler ....so we PASSED !!! Now onward with our training!!
I wish I had gotten a pic of us in the truck but I was so focused on the test that I just didn't even think about it...

We all did some article searches first...one with some HR material and one without.
Quila did really well with the one without and alerted quickly ...the one with HR she wasn't to sure what to do...first she smelled it, then tried to roll in it...that isn't allowed and she was corrected...then send her back in until she alerted on it. Overall she did good.
Then we did some people searches which is a on going process...she is getting better and better as we practise etc.
It was a very hot day and so tried to not over work the dogs...and make sure everyone ....humans and dogs were getting enough water.

Just a few of the dogs working various areas looking for articles in these photos...unfortunately hard to get ones of my dog while I am working her....These dogs are all at vaious stages of their training but all of these three go out on active searches.

So overall a great few days....I don't put much writting in but if you have any questions be sure to ask me in the comment area...I am more than willing to put more in if people are interested in more of the process etc.