Meet Coca, Taitung County Fire Department’s best trained rescue dog
Meet Coca, Taitung County Fire Department’s best trained rescue dog
2024-04-16
Since last week’s 7.2 earthquake in Hualien, much media attention has been devoted to the work of rescue dogs in locating victims trapped under rubble. Dog handlers say that training these dogs is no easy task. According to the Taitung County Fire Department, suitable dogs have to like to eat and play in order to be able to undergo more than 1,000 hours of training. They must also care for humans, and ignore potential distractions from other animals.
The handler gives a command and the dog rushes forward into a pile of rocks. This is Coca, a rescue dog from Taitung that has passed the highest level of evaluations for the job. After more than 1,000 hours of training, Coca has become well equipped to respond to any disasters.
At the most basic level, rescue dogs have to be interested in humans. Due to Taitung’s unique environment, rescue dogs don’t just have to love food and fun, they must also know to remain undisturbed even if provoked by wild boars, chickens or ducks. Physically, they need to be able to climb all the way up to Chiaming Lake.
Lee Yen-chun
Dog handler
Dogs like Coca love to eat and play, so that made training easier. For example, to train search skills, we use foods and toys that Coca likes, to catch the canine’s attention. That way the dog will want to play.
The Taitung County Fire Department has seven rescue dogs. They include Coca, a black Labrador that has passed the International Search and Rescue Dog Organisation’s Rubble Test Level B, the most advanced evaluation of its kind, as well as the MRT, or mission readiness test. Among others in Taitung is also Dawson, a Labrador retriever that passed the IRO’s Rubble Test Level B.
After passing the IRO’s Rubble Test Level B, Coca was eligible to take the mission readiness test. Last December, Taiwan hosted for the first time the IRO’s mission readiness tests for the Asia region. Coca took part in the tests, and cleared evaluations for strenuous assessments in 81 skills lasting 36 hours to attain the highest level of certification for a rescue dog. That has made Coca the top choice to dispatch by the county government.
Lee Yen-chun
Dog handler
Conditions in real rescue missions tend to be more intense, so the dogs really have to go through this kind of training. When you have a dog, you must really take care of it, just as if it were a child of your own. I read a lot of books to take care of Coca.
The handler says training a rescue dog requires as much attention as raising a child. Every step along the way prepares the dogs for any disasters that may come, building up skills that could save people’s lives.
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搜救犬養成計畫公開! 要愛吃愛玩 遇山豬臨危不亂
2024-04-16
0403花蓮大地震救災任務中，搜救犬立下大功，成為話題。台東縣搜救犬小組表示，搜救犬除了幼時展現聰慧性格，還必須愛吃、愛玩，不僅要接受山豬「挑釁」訓練，即使雞鴨在眼前行走，他照樣無動於衷，至少要經歷一千小時的訓練，每一項訓練科目都是考驗領犬員與搜救犬彼此間默契，更考驗犬隻的穩定性。
領犬員一聲喝令，狗狗聽從指示，奮力往前衝，在大大小小的石堆中穿梭，牠是已經取得最高級搜救認證的台東搜救犬Coca，經歷上千小時訓練，全為不可預測的災害做準備。
搜救犬基本入門課程是要對「人」有興趣，由於台東環境特殊，不僅要全心全意的愛吃、愛玩，更要經得起山豬、雞、鴨等動物的挑釁，必須無動於衷，甚至還要攀爬高山到嘉明湖。
[[領犬員 李妍鈞]]
“因為牠們愛吃愛玩就會比較好訓練，因為像我們做這個搜索，就是用牠喜歡的東西，吃的東西或者是玩的東西，然後去吸引牠，然後讓牠想要去做這個遊戲”
台東縣消防局有7隻搜救犬，分別是獲得國際高級搜救能力及MRT認證的黑拉布拉多犬Coca；還有通過國際IRO瓦礫終極評量的拉布拉多DAWSON等。
搜救犬「Coca」繼成功通過瓦礫堆搜索高級認證後，去年12月國際搜救犬組織，首次選定台灣辦理亞洲區國家MRT任務能力認證，Coca再次挑戰更嚴竣的36小時、81項不間斷評測，取得搜救犬界最高級認證MRT的搜救犬。一旦遇有重大任務，政府將會優先派遣。
[[領犬員 李妍鈞]]
“因為搜救的環境都會比較惡劣一點，所以就是會讓他們做這些(訓練)。我就覺得就是你養一隻狗，你就要就是認真照顧牠，那就是把牠當小朋友一樣，然後那時候我就看了很多書”
訓練搜救犬就像陪伴照顧孩子成長，一次次的進步都是為不可預測的災害，做好充分的準備，積蓄救災能力。
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