SUGGESTED STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE
Individual
units who have currently adopted this certification standard are:
Absaroka
Search Dogs /
High
Country Search Dogs /
Northwest
K-9 /
All teams who have adopted this Tri-State Standard must be certified by
these standards or standards of higher difficulty. All teams must be evaluated by an operational
handler who is certified in that specific discipline and is certified through
Tri-State or equal. If a team does not
certify to these standards, they will be removed from the Tri-State Standards.
SCOPE
Purpose:
The purpose of these
Standards of Performance are to provide:
·
Guidelines
to be used for the evaluation of SAR dog teams.
These Standards of
Performance provide minimum requirements for:
¨
Wilderness
Search
¨
Trailing
¨
Cadaver
¨
Human
Remains Detection
¨
Water
¨
Evidence
¨
Avalanche
¨
Building
Local Responsibility:
The training/testing
officer for each individual unit is responsible for validating that individual
teams have met or exceeded these guidelines before obtaining operational
status.
REQUIRED SKILLS NECESSARY
FOR ACTIVE SAR DOG OPERATIONS:
Handler Skills:
The handler must complete
Handler’s Skills Check-off List prior to testing the dog for operational
status.
A novice handler must
respond to at least one actual search incident, as dog team support, prior to
becoming an operational dog team.
Dog Skills – General:
Adjacent area searching: The dog must be able to work effectively
along side other dog teams without undue distraction.
Endurance: The dog must be able to work a prolonged
search while maintaining optimum performance.
Night work: The dog team must show the ability to work
without daylight.
Wilderness Refind/Alert: The free-ranging dog must either return to
the handler upon making a find and take the handler back to the subject, or the
dog must stay and bark. The handler must
be able to read either alert.
Alert: In regards to disciplines other than
wilderness, other types of alerts are acceptable: i.e., barking, down, sit and dig. The handler must state alert behavior prior
to testing and must be able to read alert during the test.
Age: The dog must be at least 12 months of age in
order to be fielded for operational status.
Temperament: The dog must be able to operate effectively
and non-aggressively in all working situations.
Vaccinations: All dogs must have proof of current required
vaccinations.
Agility: Handler must demonstrate, off lead, the
ability to safely and confidently control the dog through the following skills:
Jump up at least three feet
into a specified area.
Crawl under an obstacle ¾
of the dog’s height.
Climb onto, and walk along
a log or obstacle 3-4 feet off the ground and 10 feet in length.
Not jump off area/object
until commanded to do so.
Walk through a culvert or
small tunnel.
Obedience:
The handler must have
off-lead control of the dog at all times.
Dogs will not be allowed to
approach other dogs while training/searching
Dogs must be responsive to
handler commands.
Dogs must demonstrate the
following:
Come – dog must come
directly
Stop – on recall (dog will
go towards handler and when given a command, stop, down or sit within a very
short distance (safety issue)
Sit
Down
Stay – 5 minutes with
handler out of sight
Heel or Close – within 2
feet of handler
OPERATIONAL EVALUATION
General:
All disciplines must be
re-certified every two years. Every
effort should be made to complete re-certification, prior to expiration
date. In the event this does not happen,
the dog team will be given a three-month grace period to complete the test
evaluation.
Upon discretion of an
evaluator, a test may be stopped at any time if the dog team is seen to have:
a)
not been ready for testing
b)
no forward progress
It is the responsibility of
the training/testing officer within each dog unit, to specify which handlers
will participate in the testing process, as evaluators.
If a handler who is testing
their dog has hesitation as to the evaluator assigned to them, the handler may
approach his/her training/testing officer and request a different evaluator.
The handler must verbalize
area strategy and dog’s indication, prior to each test.
Mini-Area Search:
This must be completed prior to the
Wilderness Search test. The area is to
be approximately 1/4 by 1/4 mile in moderate terrain containing 3 well-hidden
subjects. The search time is limited to
2 hours unless testers extend the time, due to weather or terrain
concerns. The dog team must find all
three subjects. If less than two
re-finds or bark alerts are demonstrated, the test is inconclusive and must be
repeated. The purpose of this test is to
show the reliability of the dog’s re-find/bark alert and the strategy skills of
the handler. Upon successful completion,
the handler may request the Wilderness Search test. The Wilderness Search test must be completed
within six months of the Mini-Area test.
Wilderness Search:
In a 1 square mile area of moderate
terrain, 1 – 3 subjects will be placed, either hidden or roaming. Subjects will enter area in a manner, which
will make it difficult for the dog to cut the track. If a dog cuts a track, and follows it to the
subject, this is an acceptable find.
There may or may not be a simulated injury when subjects are
located. The dog handler will complete
an interview with the RP, at the search base, prior to beginning the test. A search strategy must be developed and
verbalized to evaluators, prior to the test.
The handler will tell the evaluators what the dog’s alert will be.
Adjustments may be made, considering wind shifts, obstacles, etc. The test team
will be expected to communicate with base via radio and relay all pertinent
information as well as alerts, clues, finds. After covering the area, the test
team will return to the search base and explain percentage of area covered and
give POD. The test team will cover the area just as he/she would on an actual
search. The test team is expected to
cover as much area as possible in three hours.
(Remember, it isn’t possible to cover the whole area, so segment the
area in workable sections.) After
handler has completed test, they will be asked what areas, if any, should be
searched more thoroughly. Handlers must
show on a topographical map which areas were covered, location of alerts and
finds. Passing the operational
wilderness search test will be a matter of the teams’ overall performance,
taking all factors into consideration.
The team is not expected to locate all subjects. If a dog locates a subject, and does not
successfully alert the handler, the evaluators will terminate the test. The focus of this test is on the quality of
the search strategy, proficiency in navigating through the search area and the
team’s ability to search efficiently, for the full duration of the test.
Re-Certification: The “Mini-Area Search” test will be used.
Trailing Search:
Level 1: The length of the trail will be at least 1
mile and will be aged not less than 4 hours. The handler is responsible for
collecting the scent article. The
handler will be given a designated PLS, with area approximately 20 X 20 feet.
The PLS will be contaminated by one person walking away from the PLS at the
same time as the subject. This trail
will be approximately ¼ mile in length. The two people will walk in different
directions. The subject’s trail will be laid in moderate terrain and all
attempts will be made so that the dog cannot air scent. The start of the track should have a
360-degree possibility of direction. One cross track will be laid within one
hour prior to the test and will be laid after the first third of the actual
track. There should be a road crossing, either paved or dirt, in any part of
the test. The dog must obtain direction
of travel and locate subject for successful completion. It is an acceptable
pass if wind change allows the dog to air scent after it has located the
direction of travel, has successfully worked through the contamination, and
successfully passed the cross track.
Re-certification: The same test is used for re-certification.
Level 2: The length of the trail will be at least one
mile and will be aged not less than 12 hours. Handler will conduct an interview with
RP. The handler is responsible for
collecting the scent article. The
handler will be given a designated PLS, with area approximately 100 X 100
feet. The PLS will be contaminated by
one person walking away from the PLS at the same time as the subject. This trail will be approximately ¼ mile in
length. The two people will walk in different directions. The subject’s trail
will be laid in moderate terrain, and all attempts will be made so that the dog
cannot air scent. The start of the track should have a 360-degree possibility
of direction. One cross track will be laid within two hours prior to the test
and will be laid after the first third of the actual track. There should be a
road crossing, either paved or dirt, in any part of the test. It is an
acceptable pass if wind change allows the dog to air scent after it has located
the direction of travel, has successfully worked through the contamination, and
successfully passed the cross track.
Prior to testing for Level
2, the team must be certified in Level I.
Re-certification: The same test is used for re-certification.
Level 3: The length of the trail will be at least one
mile and will be aged not less than 24 hours.
Handler will conduct an interview with RP. The handler is responsible for collecting the
scent article. The handler will be given
a designated PLS, with area approximately 100 X 100 feet. The PLS will be contaminated by one person by
walking away from the PLS at the same time as the subject. This trail will be
approximately ¼ mile in length. The two
people will walk in different directions.
The subject’s trail will be laid in moderate terrain, and all attempts
will be made so that the dog cannot air scent. The start of the track should
have a 360-degree possibility of direction. One cross track will be laid within
two hours prior to the test and will be laid after the first third of the
actual track. There should be a road crossing, either paved or dirt, in any
part of the test. It is an acceptable pass if wind change allows the dog to air
scent after it has located the direction of travel, has successfully worked
through the contamination, and successfully passed the cross track.
Prior to testing for Level
3, the team must be certified in Level 2.
Re-certification: The same test will be used.
Urban: A handler may test for operational status in
urban search without being operational in Level I or Level II trailing tests.
Handler will conduct an
interview with RP. The handler is
responsible for collecting the scent article.
The handler will be given the PLS of either a residence or vehicle. The
area will be contaminated. The trail
will be aged not less than 2 hours and will be 6 – 8 blocks in length. The trail will include asphalt, concrete,
sidewalks, alleys, grass, etc. There
will be at least two street crossings.
No day-to-day activities in the area will cause delay or cancellation of
the test. Time limit is 1 hour but may
be extended by the evaluators if they deem that there continues to be forward
progress. Dog must locate and identify correct subject for completion of test.
Re-certification: The same test will be used.
Cadaver Search:
Level 1: The handler will verbalize
strategy, prior to test. If handler
chooses to do an initial hasty search prior to beginning search strategy, this
will be considered acceptable. This must
be verbalized prior to the test. Handler
will verbalize dog’s indication, prior to testing. Dog team will search an area
100 X 100 yards, or equivalent square footage, in moderate terrain. Area will contain two sources. No pseudo scent will be used. The sources
will contain tissue, blood, fat, organ.
Volume of scent will simulate, as closely as possible, a deceased body.
Evaluator/evaluators and dog handler who is testing, will verify volume of
source to be used, prior to the test.
One sample will be on the surface or hanging. The second sample will be buried 2-4 inches deep. The handler must call a find by recognizing
the dog’s indication behavior as stated prior to the test. False holes will be
present. The team must be able to locate both samples, with no false alerts. The team must locate both scent sources
within one hour. False holes will be
present. Scent rise time will be not
less than 1 hour.
Level 2: This will contain two separate tests. These two tests must be completed within 30
days of each other.
The handler will verbalize
search strategy and dog’s indication, prior to the test.
The dog team will search
two separate areas. Each area will be 100 X 100 yards, or equivalent square
feet in moderate terrain. The test will
contain a minimum of 2 sources.
The sources will contain tissue, blood, fat, organ. No pseudo scent will be used. The sources may
be in one or both areas. This will be
unknown to the handler. They must search
both areas and will not be allowed to return to an area after it is
searched. (Unless the handler verbalizes
interest in a specific area and chooses to take the dog out of the area of
interest and bring it back in to pinpoint source). Proper strategy must be used
to ensure coverage of the entire search area. The samples used will simulate,
as closely as possible, a deceased body. Evaluator/evaluators and dog handler
who is testing, will verify volume of source to be used, prior to the test. The
sources must be concealed extremely well so that the handler is unable to see
them. Samples may be placed on the surface, buried 4-6 inches, or hanging. The dog must be able to locate all samples
within 1 hour. The handler must call a
find by recognizing the dog’s indication behavior as stated prior to the test.
False holes will be present. Animal bones or remains will be present. Scent rise time will be not less than 1
hour. Just prior to the test, a
certified cadaver dog will be taken through the area in order to confirm that
there is adequate scent for the testing team.
After completing this test,
the dog team will search an area approximately 20 X 20 feet. This area will
consist of several bones. This area may
contain all animal, all human, or a combination of both. The dog must be able
to identify the human bone and must ignore the animal bone. Handler must be able to determine, from the
dog’s indication, which, if any are human.
The animal bones used for this test will be bones, which are found
naturally in an area and have not been previously touched or gathered by
handlers.
Level 2. Cadaver search test must be successfully
completed prior to testing for Human Remains Detection.
Human Remains Detection
Search:
1. The search strategy and the dog’s indication
must be verbalized prior to the test. The dog team will search three separate areas,
75 X 75 feet each, or equivalent square footage, in moderate terrain,
containing a minimum of 10 sources. One
of the areas may contain no sources.
Blood and bone will be used for 80% of the sources. No pseudo scent will be used. The areas will be searched in sequence to a
70% POD (70% of sources must be found). The dog cannot disturb the source. The
handler may not return to a previously searched area. If the dog finds a source in an adjacent
area, it is counted, but the handler must complete the search in the current
area. The handler must call a find by
recognizing the dog’s indication behavior as stated prior to the test with no
more than one false alert. The handler
will be given 30 minutes to complete each area.
Special care must be given while setting this test up, due to the subtle
nature of the samples. If the dog is in
scent and indicates, the evaluators may ask the handler to pin point the
source.
2. The dog team will search one room in a
building, no larger than 20’ x 20’. Not
less than three samples will be in the room.
The sources will be well concealed.
They may be at floor level or raised, but not more than 3 feet. The
samples will be blood and/or tissue. The handler will be given 30 minutes to
search the area to a 70% POD (70% of an unknown number of sources must be
found). Dog must not disturb the
samples. The handler must call a find by recognizing the dog’s indication
behavior as stated prior to the test.
Re-certification: The same test is used for re-certification.
Evidence Search:
The dog team will search an
area 200 X 200 feet, or equivalent square footage, in moderate terrain. A minimum of three, human scented articles
will be well concealed on the surface or hanging, but not buried. A variety of articles will be used, including
but not limited to: metal, plastic, and cloth. The person who is setting the
test, can not use his/her own scent articles. The handler will be given 1 hour
to search the area to an 80% POD ( 80% of an unknown number of articles must be
found). Scent rise time will be no less
than 30 minutes. The handler must state
their procedures for crime scene preservation.
Re-certification: The same test is used for re-certification.
Water Search:
There are 2 separate tests
for certification: shore and open water