Hey Tribe,
Several of you have asked what gear Fly uses for Search and Rescue; while everyone has their own preferences as to what works best for them, I'll share what we have found to work well for us.
I've included links to products I have personally purchased and regularly use - if you shop using my links, I may get a small commission at no additional cost to you, so thank you!
The first item I bought was a harness. My team was very particular about the style of harness, because many harnesses actually restrict a dog's forward movement. I hadn't thought about that, but it's true and there is research out there that backs it up: just google "dog harness restrict shoulder video" and you'll find a dog on a treadmill demonstrating what I mean. So, anyway, I finally selected a harness from Howling Dog and you can see Fly wearing it in this avalanche blog post.
With a harness, comes the need for a long line leash. Biothane is a very popular dog material right now and this long line is a good choice. I managed to snag a pink one for Fly! The only downside to Biothane is that it becomes very inflexible in Alaska's cold (below zero F) weather, but if you don't plan to use it in such cold temps, then I absolutely recommend this lead! You can see from the Avalanche post that I still use the lead in the cold, it just takes patience to manipulate.
Once Fly got the idea of scent and trailing and she transitioned to full time off lead work, she needed a vest. She wears a home-made vest right now, but this one on Amazon is pretty close in style - I like that it is attached with Velcro, so if your dog gets snagged on brush, the straps can come off and your dog isn't permanently stuck and has to be rescued.
Rex wears this super tacti-cool vest for his trailing training and I've been so impressed with it that I already recommended it to a SAR friend and now her puppy is rocking one as well!
In addition to the vest, both KBDs, as well as all the other dogs on my team, wear collars like these with the team name and handler's phone number embroidered on the collar. They look very professional and are an additional layer of safety for our dogs.
Fly also wears bells when she's out searching so I can easily know roughly where she is when out of sight. There are a lot of bell options out there, depending on the sound you like and the size of your dog. Oddly enough, Bear bells don't seem to have a sound that carries well and can be difficult to hear the further away your dog is. Medium sized cow bells work well for larger dogs, but the bell part gets easily clogged with snow or other debris. I like to use Falcon bells and these handmade bells from the UK sound beautiful and produce a ring that can be heard from at least 300 yards away (I know this for a fact). I absolutely recommend these bells; in fact, I'm placing another order for a second set today!
One last thing Fly wears is her Garmin GPS collar and I have the handheld that accompanies it. This collar and handheld are so incredibly useful for SAR work, I could (and may) write an entire post about it. You can track your movements, your dog's movements, navigate, etc, etc, etc. After seeing how useful mine is, my teammates now have them as well and we've linked devices so we can all track each other and the dogs at once. If you work wilderness searches and get one of these, I'm sure you won't be disappointed: I tell people it is the best purchase I've ever made.
While not something Fly wears, I thought I'd mention another gear question that is usually on folks mind: for a day pack, I wear this handy lumbar pack with shoulder straps (sold separately, why???). It is a bit like a Mary Poppins bag and holds way more than you might think for a day out in the woods or away from your car for extended time. I'll have to write up a post about what I carry in the pack, but for now, believe me when I say it will help keep you well equipped. It is also pretty comfortable on the body and my back and shoulders are never sore after wearing it fully loaded all day.
Alright, that's plenty for now; I hope you have some good ideas for your dog's gear. Stay safe out there!
