This week was a horrifically scary one for me. One of the days after school when a wee little student should have met their mother after school, they didn't show up. We systematically searched classrooms, and under playground equipment. We looked through the eyes of a six year old and tried to think like one. The police were notified. After 40 minutes had passes another parent phoned it. A student had shown up at their house, but while they were on the phone with the school, this student disappeared. With a neighborhood narrowed down and our daylight quickly waning, we quickly hopped into our vehicles and began searching for the little one. With our area clear we moved on to another area, phoning it in we received the good news. A completely different parent saw the little one wandering and picked them up. We had our happy ending but the outcome could have been different. It was an hour of searching for this child. Worrying.
This was a defining moment for me. It made me wonder if my dogs would be capable of searching for the child had the situation been different. It's something that I may look into. Who knows, maybe this is where Diva with her strong prey drive and athletic ability, has a talent. Ryder I think would be too sensitive. Something to consider. I may have to google it and learn some more.
I know, I know. I shouldn't consider putting more on my plate. I really should finish training Ryder on sheep. I should just focus on one thing. Time will tell which road I take...
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3 comments:
Scary, how quickly kids can go "poof" :(
I've thought about SAR with Lex, too.. traditionally I don't think border collies are much used.. I've heard they aren't really scent dogs (although Lex has a nose that would put a lab to shame, so I have to wonder how true that statement really is) but it's something I've considered as useful, and probably a fun training exercise, with Lex... Although given that I really do want to try and get her going properly on sheep, and a bit of agility, I'm worried there's a limit to how much you can do with one dog before you compromise their ability to do them all truly well. Hm.....
Read up on it for sure. You'll have to evaluate how Diva uses her nose. I frankly think the red headed devil dog would excel at this which is why we are going to work tracking in 2012 to see! His nose may only be good for food and trouble! LOL
As I was reading the first paragraph I was thinking "THE DOGS COULD DO THIS!" I hope your schedule opens and Diva excels and rainbows and unicorns and everything perfect! ;-)
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