Skydiving dogs vs poachers

[ryoder 1,382]

http://www.sciencealert.com/skydiving-dogs-are-helping-stop-poachers-in-south-africa

At first I thought they were really just rappelling, but if you watch the video to the end, you see they are also doing tandems:

http://www.sciencealert.com/skydiving-dogs-are-helping-stop-poachers-in-south-africa

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[akarunway 1]

***http://www.sciencealert.com/skydiving-dogs-are-helping-stop-poachers-in-south-africa

At first I thought they were really just rappelling, but if you watch the video to the end, you see they are also doing tandems:

http://www.sciencealert.com/skydiving-dogs-are-helping-stop-poachers-in-south-africa[/quoteAnd even though the school isn’t sure if dogs experience adrenaline rushes like human skydivers, they say their tails start to wag when they hear the helicopter.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[skycat 0]

Those are Malinois, they are K-9 Adrenalin junkies.

Fly it like you stole it!

[akarunway 1]

I know what breed they are. I tried to buy one. Most breeders will only sell them to LEO's. I saw a video where one jumped clean over a car.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[EnricoPalazzo 1]

Very impressive. But honestly, I don't fully understand the benefit of landing a dog with a tandem if you have a helicopter which could just set it down whereever it is needed.
Much slower, more dangerous, less precise.
I guess it's just for keeping the dog happy, which is fair enough.

[aerialfx 0]

EnricoPalazzo

Very impressive. But honestly, I don't fully understand the benefit of landing a dog with a tandem if you have a helicopter which could just set it down whereever it is needed.
Much slower, more dangerous, less precise.
I guess it's just for keeping the dog happy, which is fair enough.

There's a few reasons why we use a tandem to compliment whats possible with a helicopter

- the first is that its extremely newsworthy. Anti-poaching skydiving dogs here in SA create many opportunities and publicity for funding. Just delivering them by helicopter not so much...
- helicopters are noisy, expensive to operate and have a limited range and support in some of the areas so the idea is to use fixed wing aircraft which are available almost everywhere and at a much reduced rate. Ultimately the intention is to train specialised K9 handlers to skydive with their own dog and remove the tandem part
- it does indeed keep the dogs (and us) happy as we get to skydive more & in interesting places and situations :)

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www.skydiverustenburg.co.za
www.skydiveqatar.com

[EnricoPalazzo 1]

Thanks for the insight, that actually makes sense.

[riggerrob 558]

Tandems are fun and news-worthy, but may I suggest a simpler way to parachute dogs onto the trail of poaches?

Static-line vastly simplifies training and weather requirement. S/L jumps can be done as low as 500 feet, if clouds force you down. That low, you would want a military-pattern round canopy.
It takes about a week's worth of practice before they are ready to jump onto the trail of poachers.

If you can bump exit altitude up to 3,000 feet (1,000 metres) then you can use (300 square foot) square canopies and school would still only require one week.

For S/L jumps, the handler straps the dog across his knees (similar to a rucksack). Note that tracking dogs already wear fancy harnesses/vests. Once his canopy is open, the dog handler lowers his dog on a 4 metre lowering line. The US Army dogs have done S/L jumps since circa 1950.