In the Hautes-Alpes, Franck, Muffin and Praline set off to meet the firemen’s dog team. Between abseiling, searching under rubble or searching for submerged people, these dogs obviously have a lot of flair, but that’s not all!
Around Lake Serre-Ponçon in the Hautes-Alpes, dog firefighters regularly train their dogs to be operational during interventions. Very close to the lake, in Espinasses, is an old abandoned working town, once built by dam workers. This is where firefighters train with their faithful companions.
We will begin the training with a search for people buried in the rubble. The ruins of the former workers’ village are ideal terrain.
Christophe MangiapanSenior officer and dog team leader SDIS 04 and 05
The exercise begins with Philippe Anguille, head of the canine unit at the Gap barracks, and his dog Rêva. He specifies: “When I arrive at the location, I release the dog and she knows what to do. She will walk across the rubble and she will walk to a point where a human scent comes out.“
Once freed, the young Malinois rushes towards the rubble and begins barking in front of the concrete blocks. This is the signal. A victim is definitely buried there. Moments later, Laurie, the false victim hidden underground, finds the light of day. As soon as she leaves, she rewards the dog by throwing her favorite toy. It is actually essential that the research work is assimilated to a game of the animal.
Puppies start training between 2 and 4 months, and little by little they start playing with the team. Philippe Anguille explains this process: ” Sometimes they have more affinity with a member, so it is this person who will take the puppy by the hand and who will play the role of the victim. At first the dog will seek out this person and gradually it will move on to other people with whom it has less affinity.“
The key to success when training a search dog is the devotion it has to its trainer. This is what will allow it to be effective quickly, whether in rubble, and even sometimes when searching for missing people underwater.
The rest of the training continues with a boat on the lake to exercise the dogs in searching for submerged people. As part of the exercise, a witness saw a person fall from the top of a bridge. Fire crews and their dogs rush to their boats.
Watch the entire training of the firefighters and their dog team on Sunday 13 October at 12.55 in the program En terre animale on France 3 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, and available now on the france.tv platform.
