Hi James. I have a couple of questions about the search course. My dog, Cali, has always had a great nose for sniffing things out and likes to work. The only issue is, that she is dog and cat reactive (not aggressive.) She enjoys playing off lease with other dogs, but she is selective with her friends. She is a border terrier mix that I adopted from a Texas rescue. She does well given enough space that she’s comfortable with.
Would she still qualify as a candidate to do this kind of work?
Secondly, after 8 weeks, what what will we be qualified to do? I imagine there’s more learning to come… and would imagine there would be experiential training after that?
Thanks, And btw, I love your newsletter and articles!
We have had search dogs that were somewhat reactive towards dogs and cats. It depends on how much and in what way. We would need to evaluate her. The 8 week online course is to teach the human their part of the work. Training a dog can take 6 months for a cat-detection dog, and 18 months for a scent trailing dog. We have a group that trains in the Bellevue, Bothell, Everett area on Sunday mornings. You could also train a dog on your own, using the information in the Lost Pet Rescue Handbook.
Hi James. I have a couple of questions about the search course. My dog, Cali, has always had a great nose for sniffing things out and likes to work. The only issue is, that she is dog and cat reactive (not aggressive.) She enjoys playing off lease with other dogs, but she is selective with her friends. She is a border terrier mix that I adopted from a Texas rescue. She does well given enough space that she’s comfortable with.
Would she still qualify as a candidate to do this kind of work?
Secondly, after 8 weeks, what what will we be qualified to do? I imagine there’s more learning to come… and would imagine there would be experiential training after that?
Thanks, And btw, I love your newsletter and articles!
Warmly,
Lisa Hade
We have had search dogs that were somewhat reactive towards dogs and cats. It depends on how much and in what way. We would need to evaluate her. The 8 week online course is to teach the human their part of the work. Training a dog can take 6 months for a cat-detection dog, and 18 months for a scent trailing dog. We have a group that trains in the Bellevue, Bothell, Everett area on Sunday mornings. You could also train a dog on your own, using the information in the Lost Pet Rescue Handbook.
Thank you.