Informative Articles

This article is dedicated to a Doberman who died in October 1996, Boss vom Donautal, SchH II, CD, AD, TD, T-3, VC, D-CD, ATT, CGC and SAR-dog partner of Rick Ferado, Renton, WA, Field Qualified for Wilderness Search with GSSD of Washington State.

©1999 Sue Hall Ch Wittrock's Cascadian Tiger CD TD BH WAC TT CGC SAR-dog

Only a handful of Dobermans work as search and rescue dogs in the United States and Canada combined. Although the breed's many attributes make it a formidable participant in search efforts, the Doberman's role as a search and rescue dog is not widely known. Most SAR-dog handlers are reticent about promoting their life-saving activities, but I know that there is tremendous support for their efforts and I've taken this opportunity to help you understand SAR-dog work and the important role our superb breed plays.

In addition to its value as a house dog, devoted companion and protector, Dobermans excel at a wide variety of tasks. The versatility of our breed is easy to demonstrate—witness the success of Doberman in all-breed competition, notably at Westminster; the high scoring Doberman in obedience rings around the country; those competing on Schutzhund fields worldwide. Not so long ago Dobermans served in the North Pacific as war dogs and saved the lives of thousands of soldiers. Joanna Walker's Pilot Dogs program trains Dobermans to guide the visually impaired. In addition to all of these tasks, the Doberman is an effective search and rescue dog. All of the qualities for which we value the breed make them well suited as SAR dogs—energetic, watchful, determined, alert, fearless, loyal and obedient. Accurately described as the "Cadillac of dogs" in Joanna Walker's book, The New Doberman Pinscher, our breed is a superior SAR-dog partner.

By now you may be asking, just what does a Search and Rescue dog do?
Let me explain—in a nutshell, search and rescue (SAR) dogs are motivated to locate human scent that moves around on air currents, and to follow that scent to its source—the victim. I use the word "motivated" because we don't train a dog to use its nose—it already knows how to do that—we just motivate the dog to use it, and to use it on command.

©2000 Michelle Limoges A rubble pile in Holland

SAR dogs are employed in a variety of emergency circumstances, such as urban and wilderness settings to locate missing persons, in situations following a disaster such as earthquake or hurricane, and following avalanche or drowning incidents. SAR dogs are also used for cadaver search and evidence search.

In a wilderness search where a person is missing in a general area with no known particular "place last seen," the search area is commonly divided up into sectors and then each sector is covered by working the dog back and forth across the area, and into the wind, if that's at all possible. This is the ideal situation but often this simple approach isn't workable and that's where the experience and resourcefulness of the dog/handler team become very important. Should a situation exist where a person's track could be located, of course tracking skills are employed.

The dog and its handler work as a team; the dog has the nose and the human contributes tactical guidance. Another thing to remember is that in many cases, the dog/handler team do not find the victim. In these cases, there is one thing we can be pretty sure of and that is that the victim is likely not in the area searched! This information in itself is very important to search managers.

©1998 Michelle Limoges Water search demo, Alberta

Contrary to a popular myth, dogs can in fact detect human scent quite well through water. During a water search, the dog and handler work from a boat or from the shore, again using the wind to their advantage if possible.

The work of the SAR dogs on disaster sites is likely the best known because of the media coverage it receives. Many lives have been saved by the efforts of these dogs and their handlers. It's a gruelling and exacting task spanning long hours and performed under extremely difficult conditions.

©2000 Michelle Limoges In Holland, locating her victim

Disaster search techniques and skills are quite different in many ways from wilderness searches. The dog still has the same objective and the search is conducted sector by sector, but the process is slower and in smaller spaces—the footing and conditions can be treacherous and the dog must adapt well to these situations. The dog must respond immediately to direction from its handler since conditions can deteriorate quickly on a disaster site. The dog must be trained to indicate the discovery of human scent by barking, or at least scratching and whining, as close to the location of the person as possible. The dogs can, and do, efficiently indicate persons buried many feet down under debris even in situations where a fire has taken place or where chemicals are present. The dogs indicate both living and deceased persons; their indications are different for each.

The training of SAR dogs is a lengthy process initially (normally about two years), followed by a life-long commitment to build and maintain a level of confidence and experience necessary to keep the SAR team "mission-ready." The dog's skill level and motivation must be very high and the handler must be proficient in a number of areas, such as map and compass reading, rappel, radio communication, wilderness survival, emergency site management, basic rescue skills, search management and First Aid/CPR for both humans and canines.

©1994 Michelle Limoges At 12 weeks old, puppies are already tracking a few yards!

A suitable SAR Doberman candidate has well-developed drives at a young age. By drives, I simply mean that the puppy wants to play, to chase a ball, a stick, or a toy with remarkable concentration and energy and does this to please both itself and the handler.

SAR dogs do their job because they love the game and never tire of it. Keeping the dog's interest on the cutting edge is the job of the trainer/handler. You may hear handlers talk about 'reading' the dog's alert—both natural and trained. This is the key to successful SAR dog handling and coincidentally the most difficult aspect of the training. The dogs don't always make the so-called 'bomb-proof' alert, however the Doberman's determination assists the handler in helping the dog locate the object of its search. In my experience with my current dog, her determination is paramount to our success—if I don't get it the first time, she'll show me time and again.

How does the Doberman measure up as a SAR-dog?
Its strength, agility, superior intelligence, well developed sense of smell and hearing, determination, playfulness, the ability to learn and retain experiences make the Doberman more than just a tool to a searcher—a Doberman is a partner. The Doberman's strength, agility and high energy level carry it hour after hour in the field, allowing it to cover ground quickly and effectively; its medium size and agility on disaster sites allows it to move over debris easily; its short coat makes it a simple process to remove foxtails and ticks and to wash off any dirt or hazardous materials, plus the coat dries quickly making the animal the 'tent-mate' of choice over the more heavily coated breeds! The Doberman's intelligence and determination to locate the victim is highly developed. Rick Ferado tells of an instance on a search in Washington state where Boss disobeyed a command from Rick directing the dog in a different direction from the way Boss wanted to go—as it turned out, the dog had the victim's scent and wasn't about to let Rick stop him from getting to the person. The dog soon located the victim who was still alive and the search had a happy ending.

©1999 Camrose Canadian Weekly Locating a “victim”

Shirley Hammond, long-time Doberman SAR-dog handler in California who has been working Dobermans for close to 20 years, commented to me that she has observed that Dobermans tend to retain learning and past experiences and they then apply that knowledge later in new situations. She also observed that the dogs seem to employ all of their keen senses to their search problems, and that they have the capacity to focus their attention to a task without being easily distracted. Shirley has also noticed that Dobermans she has worked with tend to seek height in many situations which perhaps provides them with a different scent stream and thus could lead the dog more easily to the source of the scent. Cinnamon was likely Shirley's most famous SAR Doberman since they appeared on a National Geographic program a few years ago. Cinnamon and Shirley's current SAR dog, Spice, have both made some impressive 'finds'. For instance, in 1993 Spice located the exact burial site of a homicide victim in the San Francisco area who had been concealed eight feet underground! Not only was the victim's body buried eight feet down, but a grocery bag of meat had been buried a few feet above the body. The meat did not distract the dog—once the meat was removed, Spice again indicated the same spot and the searchers kept digging, finally revealing the body. This same San Francisco area search was unique because there were two other Doberman SAR-dogs involved in this incident—Brandy and Shasta, who have both since passed away. There are hundreds of other accounts of successful finds by Dobermans and their handlers—far too many to relate in the space available here.

Why are there so few Dobermans used as SAR dogs?
Here are my thoughts—I believe that most people who become involved in SAR work are generally outdoor-type people and generally these people tend to prefer German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers; the Doberman is not the breed of choice for people looking for a working breed of dog; the Doberman's coat does not lend itself to outdoor work in harsh climates; further, it takes some skill and expert guidance to train and work a Doberman—they are sensitive to their handlers and a mistake in training is hard to recover with this breed; also, a trainer has to stay ahead of their Doberman student because these canines learn quickly and demand continual challenges to maintain their interest in the game.

© Michelle Limoges A rubble pile in Edmonton—made to order for search dogs!

Even after extolling the virtues of our breed, I will end with this—just as a Doberman isn't a dog for everyone, SAR work isn't for everyone either. Although the work is tremendously rewarding, it is a lot of hard work training yourself and your Doberman partner. The actual, official certification process is very difficult, at best. SAR work requires a great deal of time out of your life, in fact, it can become your life; it will cost you thousands of dollars in equipment, travel and training; once you are certified as 'mission ready', call-outs occur at inconvenient times and conditions during a search are likely uncomfortable. On the flipside, the rewards of working with a Doberman SAR-dog defies description. The dogs are awesome to watch working—the intensity, concentration and energy they display is truly incredible. The value of aiding a family in locating a loved one is beyond description.

But whether you become involved in SAR work or not, all of the Doberman SAR-dog handlers appreciate your interest and support for what we do with our wonderful breed. We are all devoted to the work and value the opportunity to work with our canine partners employed in such a useful task.

November 15, 1996
Revised April 1998
Photos added January 2001

Michelle is a Doberman SAR-dog handler with SARDAA, the Search and Rescue Dog Association of Alberta.