Training Methodology

Completed activities

Training methodology is in this context a term used to describe methods of training the dog and the handler. It is beyond doubt the single most controversial topic when addressing obstacles to successful mine dog clearance. A variety of different training practices exist, and within the mine dog community there is disagreement as to which is best. Even dog instructors within the same organisation can disagree about how to train dogs and handlers. This causes frustration and delays in the training as alternative training principles may be applied successively to the same dogs, confusing them and possibly making them unsuitable for further training or subsequent use.

NOKSH, a Norwegian company specialising in search dogs, has completed a study report for the GICHD. The report will help demining organisations to analyse their own institutional mechanisms and determine whether their way of working is the most suited. It is also envisaged that the report will create some discussion related to training methodology and general principles. Such discussions are indeed needed and will hopefully result in increased agreement on vital principles related to training methodology and less controversy related to this topic. The report has been incorporated into the MDD book (see MDD book index, chapter 2, part 2).

Future activities

The Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) MDD programme in Bosnia is known as a quality programme. Standards in Bosnia are high and NPA has established a systematic training approach to achieve its goals. The GICHD has agreed to undertake a case study and describe each training stage of this programme in detail. A description of a successful training programme may help NPA and other organisations to structure and institutionalise vital aspects of their MDD training concepts.