On the hunt for search dogs

A Geraldton dog training organisation will be off to a fur-ocious start to the year when it holds a recruitment and information session in a few weeks.

Tracking Dogs Geraldton trains dogs that will be available for call-outs at the discretion of the WA Police and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services to assist in searches for people who have gone missing.

Tracking Dogs Geraldton secretary and dog handler Alison Cairn said the group had been focusing on getting its current dogs and handlers up to speed but soon it would be ready to take on new members.

“The idea of the morning (event) is that we’ll give a little bit of a talk about who we are, what we do, what the expectations and requirements are,” she said.

“We’ll then do a couple of short demonstrations ... so people can see what they can do.

“Anyone interested in becoming a dog handler would actually be able to bring their own dog on the day and we’ll have a couple of introductory exercises that they can do.”

Ms Cairn said the dogs would have to be comfortable being left by their owners. “When we’re on call-out, we’re not all on track at the same time, so the dogs do need to get used to being left in a crate or in a ventilated vehicle without their handler there,” she said.

The session will be held at 8.30am on February 12 at Woorree Hall.

For more information con-tact trackingdogsgeralton@gmail. com