Search and Rescue Training - Victim Loyalty or not?
Over the years I’ve heard many Search and Rescue (SAR) trainers discuss the importance of victim loyalty and how it plays an important part in a SAR dog’s desire to find a missing person. I’ve thought about this over the years and have struggled with the term on occasion. Different people have different opinions on it, and it’s described a little different in disaster work than it is in wilderness work sometimes. I buy into the concept and what it means, but I’m not sure I like the label it’s been given. I think it’s just a bit on the anthropomorphic side. Â
What I can buy into is the term ‘reward loyalty’, not that I call it that myself but it makes a lot more sense to me. I totally agree that a SAR dog cannot be afraid or timid of people. It must be a social dog that is confident in interacting with people. The most important item in the SAR dog equation is the desire to find and interact with its reward. That reward may very well include the person, but it is primarily a toy or food. If it’s a toy that may also mean the dog wants interaction with the person it found like a game of tug or fetch, or that may mean the dog just wants to go tear up the toy it just won all by itself. Good training and having a dog with a strong desire for its reward (toy or food) will build the desire to locate its trained odor so that it can obtain its reward as quickly as possible. Â
Detector dogs all over the world are trained to find a number of different odors. These dogs don’t necessarily have to be ‘crazy in love’ with the odor they are trained to find. I remember many years ago hearing that narcotic detector dogs were intentionally given drugs so that they would become addicted to the drug and therefore would want to find it. Hogwash!!! These dogs are trained to find an odor and the good dogs have a really solid reward system in place, good training and know they get rewarded when they indicate on their trained odor. Why do we in the SAR world think that human odor is any different than narcotics, explosives, or any other type of contraband odor? Maybe it’s just semantics but I’ve never heard a K9 officer say a dog needed “explosive loyalty†to do the work, but I’m sure they have a term for it. My point being – If it seems that a dog doesn’t like people enough to find them the problem most likely stems from: 1) Lack of drive or 2) Lack of proper training or 3) Lack of a proper foundational reward system - rather than the dog does not like people enough issue. Again this is assuming the dog does not have social issues and is a confident dog.Â
The luxury we have in training live find search dogs is that we have the ability to have a built in automatic reward “box†right there at the find each and every time we want it. We don’t have to go out and buy any expensive remote controlled reward box for our dogs to get their reward. The subject that hid can always reward the dog so that the dog gets rewarded by the find. If the dog’s reward system is not strong enough or if the dog has a weak temperament and is not comfortable with people there will be problems getting the dog to find and indicate. By choosing a dog with the proper drives one can manipulate behaviors using solid training techniques and a good reward system and make that dog “stick†to the find no matter what odor it is searching for.  Â
Victim loyalty or not, call it whatever you want, most of the really good SAR and detector dogs I’ve seen are in it for the game (the hunt and finding/playing with the toy) not the hide. They just realize that locating human scent (or other trained odor) is how they get their ultimate reward. Â
Carla Collins