High-country workout for search dogs and handlers

DAVID HALLETT/The Press

KEEN TO WORK: Steve Sullivan, of Twizel, has a firm grip on his dog, Tash, who is keen to get started on a search exercise.

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Nearly 30 of the sharpest noses in New Zealand were put to the grindstone near Lewis Pass during the weekend.

Twenty-seven pairs of dogs and their handlers gathered for one of two South Island training camps for search and rescue dogs each year.

Operational dogs are reassessed annually. Camp organiser Kim Charles said seven new dogs had also been deemed good enough to go to an assessment camp in September.

Dogs and handlers participated in several exercises.

There are about 80 Land Search & Rescue (LandSAR) dogs in New Zealand. Charles said handlers needed a minimum two years experience before doing dog handling.

"The dog is really only 20 per cent of the equation. It's very much about the handlers having search and rescue skills as well," Charles said.

"You just need dogs which really have drive and are really motivated. It's no good them going to find someone and then realising there's a more interesting smell of a rabbit somewhere else.

"Some dogs are just designed to be pets."

- © Fairfax NZ News