Chapter 21 Conditions and Rehabilitation of the Working Dog 539activity are often referred to as livestock guard-
ian dogs. Commonly used breeds for move-
ment herding include the Border Collie,
Australian Cattle Dog, Australian Shepherd,
and Australian Kelpie. Commonly used breeds
for guarding livestock include Anatolian
Shepherds, Great Pyrenees, Meremma, and
Akbash Dogs. The herding ability of many
Border Collies has also been effectively chan-
neled around airports and golf courses to chase
off waterfowl.
Specific tasks
● Farm and ranch work
● Herding sheep/goats/cattle
● Geese police (golf courses/airports).
Potential issues
● Repetitive musculoskeletal stress from sud-
den stopping/starting with sudden changes
in direction
● Insufficient conditioning
● Blunt trauma from livestock
● Stereotypical behavior from inappropriate
management or environment (occurs in
both movement herding and guardian
dogs)
● Border Collie collapse syndrome (exercise
intolerance disorder): affected breeds may
include Border Collies, Australian Cattle
dogs, Australian Kelpies, Australian
Shepherds, Whippets, Shetland sheepdogs,
Bearded collies, Belgian Malinois, and
Belgian Tervuren.
Search and rescueThe use of search and rescue dogs has grown
throughout the world as their value in urban
settings such as the rescue or recovery of earth-
quake victims has gained in international atten-
tion (American Rescue Dog Association, 2002).
In the United States, many ski resorts have
owned and used dogs specifically for avalanche
rescue for decades. Avalanche dogs are usually
very specifically trained for work in snow only.
In regions of human–wilderness interface, there
are usually volunteer or law-enforcement-asso-
ciated groups who regularly practice scent
training and urban or wilderness rescue train-
ing to stay ready for deployment at a moment’s
notice. Dogs can be specifically trained for
either live-find or cadaver recovery (including
searching for bodies underwater) or can be
trained for any scent (Judah, 2014). Dogs need
to be fit to handle various terrains such as
building rubble, avalanche conditions, moun-
tain rock scree, and hot desert sand/exposure
(Bulanda, 2010) (Figure 21.20).Specific tasks/sites
● Wilderness
● Urban
● Avalanche
● Rescue versus recovery
● Victims dead for over 10 years, cadaver, and
other decomposed tissue.Figure 21.19 Working dogs on a ranch in Idaho.
Figure 21.20 Search and rescue dogs need to be able to
work on various terrains including rubble, rock scree,
and hot desert sand. Source: Photo by Andrea Booher,
FEMA, World Trade Center.