Today in the wake of the earthquakes which hit Turkey and Syria, Deborah is delving into the world of search and rescue dogs. What makes a dog a candidate for this work? How much training do they need? When is a dog worth 20 men? When a person is trapped by an earthquake or avalanche- that’s when! Would your dog rescue you if you needed rescuing?
Deborah describes an experiment which tested pet dogs and their ability to rescue their owners and the results are astonishing. Sadly, and ironically, in the past six months if you searched ‘rescue’, ‘dog’ and ‘Turkey’ what you’d have seen were hundreds of purebred Golden Retriever pet dogs dumped into the streets of Turkey needing rescue and rehoming to families overseas, often in the U.S.; And now the people of Turkey need rescuing by dogs which are being sent from all over the world to help. Other topics include geese in space, the breed differences between Golden Retrievers and Poodles and how cats understand and fight for time share places. What does the oldest dog in the world eat? It might surprise you.
**EPISODE NOTES: **Search And Rescue Earthquake and Avalanche Dogs)
