District - The BRK rescue dog squadron Miesbach recently carried out a special exercise.
17 teams from all over Bavaria have come together for this.
A house collapses. Debris and rubble everywhere. Where should the rescuers look for buried victims, since minutes can make the difference between life and death? For situations like this, the on-site helpers can count on very special colleagues: the rescue dog teams. Recently these have grown again. 17 rescue dog teams have traveled to Erding from all over Bavaria to take the rubble test, including the BRK rescue dog team Miesbach, which also hosted the test.
Because only tested dogs may be used in action, the so-called rubble dogs have to repeat their test every two years.
In Erding, the Miesbach rescue dog team found ideal test conditions on the premises of the Rohrdorfer, Hasit and Fehlberger companies.
Hiding places were built for two days in piles of rubble, storage areas and in the buildings with the help of pallets and other materials.
Because during the test, the dog has to show the buried subjects without sight.
The animals rely entirely on their noses.
They also have to be sure-footed, fearless and independent.
Noise, smoke and other people are distracting
The exam consists of four parts.
It begins with a theoretical part for the dog handler.
In the second, the dog and handler have to present themselves as a team with various exercises such as walking, sitting, standing and sitting down.
Good obedience is essential in the often dangerous ruins.
This is followed by the so-called dexterity test, in which the dog has to go over a seesaw, a barrel bridge, a ladder and through a tunnel.
It is important that the animals perform these tasks calmly and safely and that they can be stopped at any time.
This part of the exam is not an end in itself either, because dogs have to be agile in the rubble and also have to cope with wobbling, rattling surfaces.
Sometimes a collapsed building can only be accessed using a ladder.
Only those who pass these first three parts get into the actual search, in which the dog has to find several hidden people in a maximum of 20 minutes.
When searching, the animal must not allow itself to be distracted by noise, smoke and other people.
As a so-called hiding aid, it can sometimes get really tight and uncomfortable.
"I'm used to that, since I've been training the rubble dogs for a number of years," says Kathrin Lichtenauer.
Nevertheless, it is always a relief to be found by the dog and indicated by barking.
Different types of rescue dog work
Overall, a little more than half of the nine teams passed the demanding test on the two days.
"I'm glad that everything went so well, that we had fantastic weather and that I had such great support from many helpers," says Maria Gomolka, who prepared and organized the test.
There are different branches of rescue dog work.
The rubble dogs, next to the area search dogs, who search for missing persons primarily in the forest, i.e. in the area, and the person detection dogs, which specifically pursue a smell, are a separate area.
Not all rescue dog teams train rubble dogs, because the training requires a lot of additional training under special conditions and also places special demands on people and dogs.
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