History of the rescue dog

The history of the rescue dog is old. In about A.D. 950, the monk called Bernard that lived in the monastery of the border neighborhood of Switzerland and Italy trained a dog. That the dog helped many victims is the beginning of the history of a rescue dog. Many persons met with a disaster in the mountain pass of this neighborhood, when it snows. The monastery burnt down in the 16th century and was lost the record to it. After that, the successive rescue dogs are told that 2,500 victims were rescued at least, for about 300 years, until the tunnel is completed to the mountain pass.

In the history the famous rescue dog was called barry. He was mistaken as a wolf in 1814 and was shot down to a hunter. He rescued over 40 victims with his life. After that this kind of dog has been called barry hound. However, they were changed their name as the Saint Bernard in 1828. The present Saint Bernards are a long hair almost. But the dog of short hair is suited to take an active part in snow. Therefore the dog of the short hair was used by a rescue dog.

There are not the restriction by the kind and blood of a dog, to work as the rescue dog. It is necessary curiosity that becomes the base of the desire that does work, concentration that continues work, friendship nature that does not set up attack to the others, to rescue dogs. The character of such a dog is not necessarily inborn. The character of a dog changes by the method that a keeper brings up. At present there are a German shepherd dog, Labrador retriever, Golden retriever, etc., in the kind of the dog that is used as the rescue dog.

Recently, rescue dogs searched for a missing person in Great Hanshin Earthquake, in Great Central Taiwan Earthquake, in International terrorism happening in America, etc. and became at a bound famous. The party of the rescue dog relation was organized every place after Great Hanshin Earthquake, to take precautions against a disaster, in Japan.

Daizen Kinoshita