Search and Rescue Dogs

with a foreword by Michael Grindrod

About the book:
LOVE ‘em or hate ‘em, there’s no getting away from the fact that dogs have one very large asset that no human goes anywhere near matching – a very big nose! This alone has ensured that dogs play a vital role within mountain rescue in the UK. Laced with a myriad of fascinating photographs and ‘doggie tales’, historical and contemporary, this book cannot fail to educate and inspire all who enjoy the great outdoors.Heather Morning MA. Handler, SARDA Scotland and Mountain Safety Adviser with the Mountaineering Council of Scotland.

A unique insight into the work of search dogs, this book provides a comprehensive, in-depth guide to the history and development of search and rescue dogs and the heroic work undertaken by the handlers within mountain and lowland rescue. Training and working a search dog is a labour of love for volunteers, which at times can offer the most rewarding conclusion with the saving of life in extreme conditions. As a complete source of information about working search dogs, combined with numerous stories of real incidents and a touch of humour, this book is a must. Neville Sharp BEM MSc. President, SARDA England.

Reviews:

At last a book about what we do and told by the people who do the searching. A great effort by Bill Jennison & Bob Sharp.Harold Burrows, Chairman, National Search & Rescue Dog Association.

Most significant SARDA book ever published in the UK – For anyone considering training up a search and rescue dog anywhere in the world this book is a “must read”. It is brilliantly put together, entertaining and yet very, very informative. Even for those just interested in dogs it contains a lot of knowledge and they will gain a unique insight into doggy psychology from this book. Stephen Austin, SARDA, S. Scotland.

Just been reading Search and Rescue Dogs by Bill Jennison and Bob Sharp.  Excellent!  This will become THE reference and inspiring read for all aspirant, novice, qualified and retired search dog handlers.  Great work! The search stories you have included never fail to recount the tragedy and success of our wonderful K9 friends.  Thank you. Nikki Wallis (former handler with SARDA Wales)

This book brings together all the work and knowledge of search dogs and their handlers from the very early days of search dog work, right up to the present. Harold Burrows, MBE, Chairman National Search and Rescue Dog Association.

If you want a complete source of information about working search dogs, combined with numerous stories of real incidents and a touch of humour, then this book is a must. Neville Sharp, BEM, President SARDA England.

Anyone seeking an insight into the life and work of search dogs and their handlers should read this book. Bill Batson, MBE, SARDA England handler and former Chief Instructor RAF Mountain Rescue Service.

Laced with a myriad of fascinating photographs and ‘doggie tales’ both historical and contemporary; this book cannot fail to educate and inspire all those who enjoy the great outdoors. Heather Morning, SARDA Scotland handler and Mountain Safety advisor with the Mountaineering Council of Scotland.

I am sure this book will provide the public an insight into another world where man and dog become as one when searching for missing persons. The book is a great addition to the literature and well overdue. Dave (Heavy) Whalley, BEM, MBE, former RAF MRT Leader and Chair of the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland.

A celebration of human handler and his search dog
This is a remarkably thorough book, covering everything from the stories of individual dogs and their handlers to scientific details.
Above everything is is a celebration of man and dog. There is something very special about the relationship between a handler and his search dog, but there is something miraculous about a dog’s ability to follow a scent across the most rugged terrain in the most inhospitable of weather. Steve Matthews, Cumberland News.

Three key talents make a dog ideal for search and rescue work – amazing drive, the ability to work with a handler and a keen sense of smell.
This book tells us why and how the role of the dog in mountain rescue started, the formation of SARDA in 1965, the umbrella organisation for air scenting and rescue dogs in the UK…
It is a factual book, with reflective descriptions of searches and rescues. Many of the locations will be familiar to readers. News headlines involving search and rescue dogs will also be familiar, but the background to the training gives the familiar a new perspective.
Friends of the Lake District, winter 2013.

About the Authors:

BILL JENNISON has been working with search and rescue dogs for over 30 years, since qualifying with his first dog, a German Shepherd called Jay, with SARDA England in 1981. During that time, he has trained three dogs — first Jay, then two Border Collies — the last two with SARDA Southern Scotland. Despite retiring his third dog, Jenny, in 2006, Bill remains active in the world of search and rescue dogs as an assessor and training officer for SARDA Southern Scotland, where he has also served as secretary and training coordinator. His mountain rescue career has spanned the hills and moorlands of the Yorkshire Dales and Lancashire, as well as the mountains of Scotland. He retired from Lomond MRT in 2010. He holds the Summer MLC and was actively involved with DofE expedition training from the early 1970s until 2010. A retired biology teacher, he now wanders very slowly around the Scottish hills.

BOB SHARP has been involved with Scottish mountain rescue for over 35 years and has attended well over 400 rescues during that period. For twelve years, he was team/deputy leader of the Lomond MRT, also serving as vice chairman, secretary, editor and statistician to the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland. In a wider context, he has served on the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, Mountain Leader Training Scotland and the Scottish Mountain Safety Forum. Now retired from his post as Reader in Sport Studies at Strathclyde University, with specialist interests in research methods and skill psychology, Bob has more time to devote to his writing and research consultancy. He is a keen dog lover — collies, of course. Already a ‘compleatist’, he is currently accompanying his dog, Breac on a second round of the Munros.