news - 23/07/2009 New scientific research - Austria
by Paul CechNew scientific research
Rescue dogs don't have own limits, even during extreme heat.
"If they won't be stopped by their dog handlers, they would continue to work until they collapse during extreme heat!" With these short words, the president of the IRO "International Rescue Dog Organisation", Dr. Wolfgang Zörner, described the newest scientific research named "Guidelines for deployment of rescue dogs in hot climate zones."
What applies to well trained and bodily fit rescue dogs can also be expanded to domestic dogs.
The normal body temperature of dogs is (depending on the size) between 37.5 and 39 degrees Celsius. With temperatures around 40 degrees in the shade, which was measured during the scientific research in Dubai/United Arab Emirates, the body temperature of the dog, when it does some intense scent work, can increase to 40 or even 41 degrees Celsius within a few minutes, a body temperature, which can easily lead to tissue damages, a collapse, or even to long-term body damages.
It was surprising for the experienced rescue dog handlers from Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Dubai, some of them having already participated in rescue missions after earthquakes in hot regions, that their dogs showed no signs of exhaustion and that they would have continued their work, despite their higher body temperature, had the scent work not been stopped. The one-week test was of course observed by veterinarians.
That means for future missions, according to Dr. Zörner, that the dogs are allowed to only work for about 10 minutes at the disaster spot and that they have to comply with longer rest periods. Because of that, however, more rescue dogs have to be flown to the rescue mission site, to find buried persons fast and efficiently.
The results of this "Dubai Study" under the special direction of Mrs Dr. Michaela Schneider / University of Munich apply to a greater extent to all, who train with their dogs at dog training sites or who are travelling a lot with their dogs, compared to bodily fit and trained rescue dogs. Thus no training in extreme heat, only short training sessions and long rest periods.
Another interesting aspect of the study, which was presented at the "International Rescue Dog Symposium" of the IRO in Ljubljana:
The tested rescue dogs generally refused to continue their search, when their skin temperature was heated through direct sun light, although their body temperature was far below the critical levels. They didn't stop their search the other way around, however, when their body temperature was high but their skin temperature was cooler.
And another factor, which is important for everyday life and not for a rescue dog: It should be noticed, that the soil temperature (asphalt, sand) can be considerably higher than the air temperature. Therefore, dogs should whenever possible run in the shade during hot summers.
Dr. Dusan Necak, vice president of the IRO and head of the commission for science and research: "We have already assumed some of the results of the study through practical experience, but now we have professional and scientific proof for it." The greatest value of the study is without a doubt the fact that the results can be implemented right away.
The brochure "Guidelines for deployment of rescue dogs in hot climate zones" is available at the IRO Shop (www.iro-dogs.org) for Euro 5,-.
