The Limited Access Pile

These are photos of the Limited Access pile. Between the two piles there can be from 1-6 victims, buried and inaccessible to the dog.  There is also food and clothing as distractions, much as you would find in a real disaster scene. If the dog gives a final response over a distraction, it is an automatic fail.  In the Limited Access pile, you are limited in where you can move about; hence, the name.  An area that is deemed structurally sound is your start point and the handler must remain there until the dog barks a minimum of 3 times, indicating it has located live human scent.  You can then move to where the dog is and mark the location.  You must remain within 5 feet of that location as you send the dog to continue its search.  There is some strategy involved, as you can elect to return to your original start position or redirect the dog to one of the other victim locations, in order to gain a better position to continue your search.  You have 20 minutes to complete your search, though you can terminate it earlier if you believe your dog has located all the victims there.