Hello all. My name Is Scott and I am with a Search and Rescue group in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island in BC Canada. I am in the process of training my Black Lab for SAR work. He is now 14 months old and has been in training pretty much since we brought him home at 10 weeks. I am lucky to have a good solid resource base here to draw from and gain practical experience an guidance. Our team has a handler that has one certified dog and is working on his second one. I also have a good friend who trains GSD for the sport of Schutzund. He has been a wealth of knowledge and help.
My dog, we call him Potus, is effectively following tracks that cover all kinds of terrain. He can effectively follow a track that runs through dense underbrush to paved roadways and sidewalks. I have had him out in torrential downpours and he has made a successful find every time. It is amazing to watch him work. We are soon going to be adding articles to his tracking. My goal is to have him certified this spring as a trailing dog. Then we can start on area searching, or maybe water searches.