Rescue Dog Exam Passed: This duo is ready to save lives
Created: 08/08/2022 15:51
By: Helga Zagermann
Proud: Lena Straubinger (23) and her certified rescue dog Charly.
© tb
When the dog Charly searches an area or a piece of forest, it can be a matter of life or death.
Because the six-year-old Labrador mix is a rescue dog.
With owner Lena Straubinger (23) he is looking for missing people.
It may not have come to an emergency yet, but the duo from Mammendorf mastered the test with flying colors.
Mammendorf
- Lena Straubinger proudly shows her the certificate that identifies her as a certified "rescue dog handler area" and Charly as her animal partner.
In the area search, a team consisting of a tested dog and its handler searches a given area for missing persons.
The procedure for mantrailing is different - here the animal follows a track.
But it has to be on a leash, explains the 23-year-old.
And her Charly is more freedom-loving and prefers to be out and about without a leash.
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During the test, she and the dog had to find three hidden people in an area of 50,000 square meters in 30 minutes.
It worked.
Mainly thanks to Charly, as Straubinger says: "He saved me.
He noticed that I was very excited and therefore went about his task in a particularly calm and concentrated manner.” The duo is now officially a member of the DLRG's Pöcking-Starnberg rescue dog squadron section
The 23-year-old hopes that Charly will soon be able to prove himself in the first instance - and then with success.
Because the dog needs a sense of achievement, "otherwise he loses the fun in the long run".
In the meantime, she gives him the necessary sense of achievement in weekly training sessions.
It took Lena Straubinger and her Charly five years to pass all the exams.
It could have been done in one to two years, reports the 23-year-old.
But she primarily wanted to complete her training as an office clerk – she now works for an outpatient nursing service.
And then the corona pandemic intervened.
But there was also a lot to learn, with Charly and without him, mostly at the weekend.
So Lena Straubinger had to be trained as a lifeguard, complete two modules in the medical service, do further training in maps, compass use, navigation and radio, be a helper in over 20 search operations and learn something about the behavior of dogs.
She knew what has to be done because her father is a trainer in the DLRG section and her sister is also a dog handler with a former family dog.
When it became clear that Lena also wanted to follow this path, the family looked for puppies in animal shelters.
Father Fredi Straubinger discovered one during a business trip in a home in Selb.
Charly was the only one from the litter who came to the Mammendorfer and let himself be petted.
And he was the only pup that wasn't taken yet.
Dog should have fun searching
Nevertheless, Straubinger didn't take him with him right away - his daughter should decide.
He drove the three and a half hours home to Mammendorf, reported briefly, then everyone immediately got into the car and drove to the Fichtelgebirge.
Lena Straubinger and Charly got along, since then the dog has lived with the family in Mammendorf.
His education began when he was one year old.
The 23-year-old also took things slowly because the dog's ability to learn sets the pace - she didn't want to put pressure on Charly.
“It is generally important that the dogs are not forced to do anything.
They should have fun in the search.”
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You can find more current news from the district of Fürstenfeldbruck at Merkur.de/Fürstenfeldbruck.