Search & Rescue Dogs

Hello,

I have recently joined a search and rescue team in the South Wales area, on the recall my dog is signalling by jumping up at me. I understand that this is fine as far as signalling is concerned however I would like to make this more concrete with the addition of a bark.. Everytime she is barking i am saying"speak" but on command there is no bark as of yet... Any ideas from experienced handlers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Louise

Hi Louise,
My current dog won't 'stop' barking , but with a previous dog ( golden retriever) we had the 'speak' command perfected very quickly simply by teasing the dog with her favourite toy ( eg ball ) , by not letting her have it, hiding it behind my back , in my pocket, etc. etc. She very quickly got so excited by this game that she would bark and bark! Immediately I got one bark she got the toy . Then introduce the command 'speak'....she quickly associated the two and 'speak' created a bark which got her the toy!
I also know of several people who have had the same success with the clicker.
Hope this may be of some help
Tony

Hi Louise

Welcome to the forum!!

First you need to ask yourself "Do I really need to get my dog to bark?". Why do I need a bark alert? I personally am not a great fan of forcing an alert, especially not a bark. [Standing by for attacks from other handlers for that comment! ]

If the jump up alert is working go with it!

If you still believe you need to go down this route, I have heard that Tony's method with food works too.

Although I don't see the point in it... Why do you need a bark, when she is signalling by jumping at you? My Border Collie hates barking and after a long time trying to make her signalling by barking when she found the misper, I now decided to train her by coming back to me and jumping at me when her search was successfull. From that moment on she was the happiest dog in the world - because she doesn't need to bark

Anyhow. To get a dog to bark, you first try to find out what she loves most: toys or food. If it is a toy, you make her really want it, make it exciting, shake it in front of her then hide it in your closed arms and look ecpectingly at her. Usually a dog would bark to get the toy. (The same for food) First you say well done and pass the toy to the dog after only one bark. Then you make the dog bark longer before you hand out the toy... My young Golden Retriever learned it very quick that way , but as I said, my Border Collie just hates it...

The reason why i wanted her to bark rather than jump was because if your out searching and your on an uneven surface ie unbalanced, and she jumps unexpectedly then she could possibly knock me off my feet, particularly the older and bigger she gets...

Thanks for all the advice, however i had tried the toy/ food game and tried to tease her but she just thinks if she sits and waits patiently ie being a "good girl" she will get the toy.

Yes i think that the jump will simply have to do...

Cheers

I have succesfully used a jump alert for over 6 years and have found it to be very effective - however my smart a** Collie found that it took too ong for him to get back to the MISPER doing the jump alert. He now turns on the spot on my feet and darts back again!

Hi Louise

Is your dog jumping up on the recall or is it when she is coming back for you to do a refind.

Joe.

She is going out, finding a body and then alerting me of a find by jumping up at me....

Risking being told off for reviving an old thread....

I see that every one talks about the refind... is this the standard in the UK?

We use both here in NZ but most use the stay and bark alert.

I am aware of the benefits of each but I'd be interested in your comments.

Meg and I are just moving onto this area.

Having a wife who invariably wears a cream or black wool coat. The jump is not acceptable to us. (told most people Meg hurt her paw coming down a ladder)

So we have been working on a bark alert, but it has to be close and she must look me in the eye to make sure the message is through. If she barks her alert too far off thinking she can save time then I ignore it and wait for her to come back.

From the information I have gleaned from other handlers. The alert must be obvious to the handler but also to the assessor if you are training