Glossary

Alert

What the dog does when she finds the victim. This would be barking in disaster work and picking up her bringsel in wilderness work.

Alert Box

A tool for teaching beginning disaster dogs to bark at scent. It is a box for a person to crouch in with a guillotine (sliding) door that can be opened very quickly when the dog barks; this gives the dog access to the person and a reward.

Bringsel

A leather "hot dog" attached to a dogs collar during wilderness search.

Find

When the dog actually locates the victim.

Go-Out

A command. The dog is given a direction by her handler and is expected to run out in that direction 40-60 yards.

Handler

A working dogs partner.

Helper

see Victim.

Interest

A search dog's body language "shows interest" when she picks up a whiff of human scent. She will still have to "work it out" or "follow it up" to find the person.

Mission-Ready or Certified

A team that has passed all the tests necessary to be used in a real search.

Owner Runaways

When your dog is held by another handler and you run away and hide in the woods.

Re-Find

In wilderness the dogs action in leading her handler back to the victim.

Rights and Lefts

A beginning exercise for wilderness dogs. The handler walks a straight line through the woods and sends the dog out to search on either side - alternating send-outs to the right and left.

Send-Out

Basically the same as a go-out but this term is used more when the dog is being sent out to search, rather than to go out and come right back.

Take and Hold

Another set of commands. Usually the first ones a new wilderness handler teaches his dog. The dog must "take" whatever is held out to her, and then "hold" it in her mouth until told to "give".

Trainer

Someone who knows what the handler should be doing. They can be the same person.

Victim

The new candidate who waits patiently in the woods for two hours so the advanced dogs can have a long search problem.