In this chapter
- Participating in search-and-rescue missions
- Acting as the eyes, ears, and hands for the disabled
- Keeping the peace
The German Shepherd is one of the most versatile breeds when
it comes to competing successfully in a variety of fields (see Chapter Showing
Off Your Dog).
Despite this fact, most GSDs never enter a competition and never win a ribbon.
They don’t have to. They’ve already won the biggest prize of all: their owner’s
hearts. Some GSDs do even more, however, and win the hearts of others whose
lives they touch or even save.
Early in their history, German Shepherds distinguished
themselves as military and police dogs — roles in which they continue today.
They have expanded their abilities to serve as bomb- and narcotics-detection
dogs and search-and-rescue dogs. Many GSDs have devoted their lives to helping
disabled people, proving themselves as capable guide dogs for the blind,
hearing dogs for the deaf, and all-purpose assistants for the physically
challenged. They also have served as comforters and friends to the sick or
lonely. No breed of dog has served so faithfully in so many roles.
This chapter tells you about these roles that German
Shepherds can play, and about how you and your dog can be heroes in your spare
time if you so desire.
Finding Lost Souls
Dogs have long been known for their ability to follow scent
trails and to locate hidden animals and people by scent. Although dogs have
been used to hunt for lost people for decades, only recently has a concerted
effort been made to produce educated search-and-rescue dog teams. National and
local canine search-and-rescue teams are available for local emergencies and
may also be prepared to fly across the country in cases of disaster. They may
search miles of wilderness for a lost child or tons of rubble for a buried
victim.
Whereas so many dog training activities seem to have little
relevance in society, search-and-rescue is the exception. Your long hours of
training just may save a life. Search-and-rescue dogs are the cream of the
crop. If your GSD is capable of competing in obedience, agility, and tracking
(see Chapter Showing
Off Your Dog), he has the basics of a search-and-rescue (SAR) dog. But an
SAR GSD is much more. These dogs must respond reliably to commands, negotiate
precarious footing, follow a trail and locate articles, and use air scenting to
pinpoint the location of a hidden person. Well-trained dogs can locate a person
from a quarter mile away, buried under snow or rubble, or even underwater.
German Shepherds remain the favored SAR dog breed to handle
this tall order. Their combination of hardiness, agility, endurance,
ruggedness, intelligence, scenting ability, and tractability make them ideal
for the job. An SAR dog is only half the team, however; handlers must also be
trained in search techniques, wilderness survival, first aid, and a variety of other
skills — not to mention being pretty hardy and rugged themselves. Developing an
SAR team requires many hours of committed work — hours made worthwhile by
grateful tears and saved lives.
For more information about getting yourself and your
Shepherd involved in search and rescue, look up the American Rescue Dog
Association at P.O. Box 151, Chester, NY 10918; or on the Internet at
www.ardainc.org. This site can link you up with the ARDA unit nearest you.
(Note that the dog on the group’s logo is a German Shepherd!) You can find
additional information about search and rescue at www.nasar.org,
the Web site of the National Association of Search and Rescue.
Warming Hearts with Cold Noses
Is the idea of trudging through the wilderness in search of
buried bodies a little too wild for you? You and your dog can still be
lifesavers. Therapy dogs visit hospitals, nursing homes, mental health centers,
prisons, and other facilities where they provide people with unconditional
love, motivation to communicate, entertainment, and something warm and cuddly
to hug.
Therapy dogs must be meticulously well-mannered and
well-groomed, but most of all, they must be friendly. If a person grabs them,
yells at them, or hugs them until they can’t breathe, they must be gentle and
unflappable. The person half of the team is just as important. The handler
needs to understand how to deal with people with a variety of disabilities.
If you’re interested in volunteering yourself and your dog,
local and national therapy dog groups can provide training and certification.
Therapy Dogs International (www.tdi-dog.org;
973-252-9800) is the oldest and largest organization certifying therapy dogs.
The Certified Therapy Dog letters are among the proudest
your dog can attain. German Shepherds, with their uncanny knack for
understanding human emotions, have warmed many hearts, dried many tears, and
opened many arms — proving themselves to be true therapists in fur coats.
Serving People Hand and Foot
The German Shepherd was one of the first breeds to provide
assistance to physically disabled people. This assistance can take the form of
pulling a person in a wheelchair, picking up dropped objects, getting objects
off of shelves that a person can’t reach, opening doors, and pushing a 911
button in case of emergency. Although shepherds are used for this purpose,
retrievers are somewhat more popular because of the extensive retrieving that
is often necessary. Shepherds are fine retrievers, but retrievers are great
retrievers!
Other service dogs specialize in sensing when a person is
about to have a seizure. Seizure alert
dogs alert the person who is about to have a seizure so that the person can
prepare and get to a safe area before the seizure occurs. Seizure response dogs
provide safety after a seizure has ensued, lying next to the person until it
has subsided. Exactly how these dogs become aware of an impending seizure even before
the person knows that one is coming on is unknown, but experts think that the
dog smells a change in body chemistry associated with changes in brain activity.
These dogs provide a measure of safety and confidence for their people.
Seizure dogs must know the difference between friend and
foe, allowing helpers to approach the victim while discouraging those with bad
intentions. For more information, contact Canine Partners for Life (www.k94life.org; 610-869-4902).
Being a Guiding Light
Most guide dog facilities breed their own dogs, although a
few accept donated puppies that pass certain stringent criteria. Most
facilities rely on puppy raisers to provide a home environment, well-rounded
socialization, and basic obedience to youngsters. The puppies then go to school
for formal training when they’re 12 to 18 months of age. Relinquishing a puppy
you’ve grown to love is tough, but perhaps the most rewarding thing you will
ever do. At the school, the dogs receive intensive specialized training. Not
all dogs graduate, but those who do have full lives ahead of them.
A working guide dog is expected to take direction from his
handler; locate specified objects, such as curbs, doors, and steps; stop at
obstacles, changes in elevation, or dangerous traffic situations; and
reasonably ignore distractions during his work and even ignore commands from
his handler if they would result in danger to the handler. The dog gives his
visually impaired handler mobility, confidence, independence, and love — a true
friend in the dark. Figure 17-1 shows a GSD guide dog at work.
 |
| FIGURE 17-1: German Shepherd guide dogs provide their handlers with a greater degree of independence. |
|
A REAL BUDDY |
|
After the First World War, many German soldiers were left
blinded. Although dogs had been used for centuries to guide blind or visually
disabled people, the German government’s efforts following WWI were the first
concerted efforts to train guide dogs for the blind. The breed of choice, of
course, was the German Shepherd. When a GSD breeder learned of the program and reported on
it in an American newspaper, a blind American contacted her and asked if he
could go to Europe for training. Morris Frank and his German Shepherd, Buddy,
became the first American guide dog team. The pair returned to the United States to promote the
guide dog concept. Dorothy Eustis, the breeder who had trained Frank, came to
the United States and founded The Seeing Eye in 1929. Since then, thousands
of German Shepherds have provided eyes and a link to the world for their
people. You can find information about The Seeing Eye on the Web at www.seeingeye.org or by calling 973- 539-0922. |
Hearing for Those Who Can’t
Dogs can provide confidence for deaf or hearing-impaired
people. Although most dogs for the deaf are small dogs rescued from humane
organizations, German Shepherds can be trained to do the job. At the novice
level, dogs are trained to alert the person to a smoke alarm, the person’s name
being called, and an alarm clock. A slightly more highly trained dog (home
level) alerts the person to the doorbell, telephone, and oven timer. A
certified hearing dog responds to these sounds but is also extensively
socialized and obedience trained so that he is dependable in public as well as
at home.
For more information, contact Dogs for the Deaf at
541-826-9220 or on the Web at www.dogsforthedeaf.org.
Taking a Bite Out of Crime
German Shepherds have become identified so closely with
police work that many people know them only as police dogs. They remain among
the most popular all-around police dogs in the world, challenged only by the
Belgian Malinois.
The police dog, or K-9, has proved to be one of the most
valuable officers on the force. Who else can pursue (and catch) a fleeing
suspect, locate crime scene evidence, sniff out contraband, and control a
crowd? And a K-9 does this without ever drawing a weapon — except for those
glistening choppers.
In addition to their official duties, police dogs act as
ambassadors for the police department, adding a humanizing dimension to the
people halves of their teams. They get the attention of bad guys, too.
Criminals who wouldn’t think twice about challenging a human officer wouldn’t
think at all of challenging a canine one. Many K-9s have literally saved the
lives of their handlers; regrettably, many have given their own lives in the
effort. Despite the risks, the life of a K-9 is good. These dogs get to work
with their special people, part of a team on the lookout for adventure.
Most police dogs are trained for drug detection, and some
are also trained for explosives detection. Many are specialists used
exclusively for bomb detection at airports or for drug detection in building
and automobile searches. The Federal Aviation Association makes extensive use
of dogs, including German Shepherds. No machine has ever been found that can
compete with a dog’s sense of smell, and studies have shown the GSD to be among
the best scenters. Dogs have been used to find all sorts of contraband:
termites and other insect pests, gas leaks, and even cows in estrus — if it can
be smelled, a German Shepherd can smell it.
Nonetheless, only special dogs with special training make
the grade, and few, if any, police or contraband detection dogs come from the
ranks of hobby breeders. Instead, most come from kennels with intensive
breeding and training operations.
Guarding the People They Love
Dogs have a natural tendency to protect their own territory,
and in guard dogs this tendency is encouraged. German Shepherds are naturally
protective and courageous and have long been a favorite breed for guard duty.
They may accompany their handlers on patrol, run loose within the confines of a
secured area, or even perform their guard duties from the foot of a bed at
night. A GSD’s superior senses of smell and hearing, as well as his night
vision, make him adept at detecting the creepiest of creeps.
Even without training, most German Shepherds will deter
intruders simply by barking. Trained dogs, and even some untrained ones, will
detain an intruder by barking and grasping the person if the person tries to
escape. As a general rule, it’s unwise to have a guard dog trained to attack an
intruder because of the possibility of “innocent” intruders, such as children
or mentally unsound people.
Remember
Part of the purpose of Schutzhund training (see Chapter Showing Off Your Dog) is to produce a reliable protection dog. Training a dog to protect you is not something you should undertake halfheartedly or on your own. A German Shepherd is a dangerous weapon; one who is poorly trained in protection is a dangerous weapon that may be out of control. Good protection dogs are built on a foundation of love, trust, and basic obedience.
|
WORKING TITLES |
|
The SV gives GSDs with working abilities the following
titles:
|
by D. Caroline Coile, PhD
0 comments:
Post a Comment