Special dog trained to help

Vader the huntaway-staffordshire cross is a rare breed - he's one of only three search and rescue dogs in Auckland. Reporter Hannah Norton finds out how valuable he is in a crisis.

When a house collapsed on a group of workers at Manurewa Marae in June this year Auckland's only two search and rescue dogs sprang into service.

One person had already died and another four were missing.

Initially the dogs checked the perimeter of the collapsed house then underneath it where people were believed to be trapped.

The dogs are trained to bark when they find people alive so when one of the dogs started whining it was a sign it had found another person dead.

Senior firefighter and Urban Search and Rescue search dog association president Brendon Irwin says the dogs are invaluable in locating trapped people.

"Humans shed up to 40,000 skin cells every minute and it is these tiny particles floating in the air that the dogs are trained to locate," he says.

But even with the recent addition of a third dog, more handlers and dogs are needed for the Auckland region.

The new addition is Vader and he's owned by Manukau ambulance officer and Karaka resident Nikki Smith.

Vader passed his assessment in October and Mrs Smith is urging more people to train their pets to be search and rescue dogs.

"There's only three dogs in Auckland and nine in the whole country. Imagine if we had a national disaster - we couldn't be everywhere at once."

She signed up Vader for search and rescue missions because he always "looked like he needed to be doing something".

"He is ball of energy and he's one of these dogs that if you throw a toy and he can't find it he'll keep looking for it."

So Mrs Smith took the three-year-old out with a friend involved in Land Search and Rescue - which is responsible for searching for people lost in natural environments like bush or snow - and he loved every second of it.

For practicality she opted to train Vader with Urban Search and Rescue as a "disaster search dog" for situations such as collapsed buildings after earthquakes, tornados, landslides and other natural and man-made disasters.

Search training starts with baby steps and leads to practice searches in vacant lots and rubble piles.

"When you start search work the person the dog is going to look for doesn't hide.

"They'll be standing right next to me and have his toy and then go and hide behind a tree. The toy is the focus so the dog's not using its nose to start with."

Eventually the person hides out of sight and the dog is forced to use its nose.

"If they detect human scent they know their toy is going to be there or that they are going to get a reward.

"Obviously if it's a real situation the person they are looking for doesn't have the reward so that's when he gets the reward from me."

The next step is to teach the dog to bark when it detects a human scent, she says.

"We had to encourage him to bark ... he used to mumble."

The dogs are trained for around eight hours a week with basic exercises practised at home and search training on Sundays.

"In that session we do things like heel work and emergency stops. Basically when we are out there we need to be able to make them stop where they are and that's a safety thing - particularly if we're on a site that's not very stable."

Mrs Smith's job as a full time ambulance officer complements Vader's role.

"Vader can find people and I can help them. I also used to be a vet nurse many years ago and so if any dogs on site get injured then I can help them too."

The search dog association works in partnership with the Fire Service and runs a training programme that takes around 18 months.

Has your dog got what it takes to become and reach and rescue dog? Dogs must be:

• Healthy, energetic and able to cope with the stress of being around many other dogs, handlers, rescue workers and the noise and confusion of a rescue site
• Between 18 months and three years old
• Non-aggressive and not classified as a menacing breed in the Dog Control Act.

For information email searchdogs@usar.org.nz.

- © Fairfax NZ News