Roles and Participants
| Abbr |
Meaning |
| D |
Dog |
| DH |
Dog Handler |
| TJ |
Trial Judge |
| TC |
Trial Chairman |
| HP |
Hilfsperson — assistant in the Carry and Hand-over exercise |
| VP |
Versuchsperson — the victim person being searched for |
| FHL |
Fährtenleger — track layer (F discipline) |
| TL |
Trail Layer — person being trailed (MT discipline); also used as Team Leader in general SAR context |
| RHT |
RettungsHundTeam — Rescue Dog Team (DH + D together) |
| RDT |
Rescue Dog Team — same as RHT; both appear in the documents |
Disciplines (RH = Rettungshund)
| Abbr |
Meaning |
| RH-F |
Fährtenhund — tracking dog |
| RH-FL |
Flächensuchhund — area search dog |
| RH-T |
Trümmersuchhund — rubble search dog |
| RH-L |
Lawinensuchhund — avalanche search dog |
| RH-MT |
Mantrailing dog |
| RH-W |
Wasserrettungshund — water rescue dog |
Exercise Elements
| Abbr |
Meaning |
| AC |
Audio Command (verbal) |
| VC |
Visual Command (hand signal) |
| GS |
Grundstellung — basic position (D sitting at DH’s left, shoulder at knee height) |
| KW |
Kehrtwendung — U-turn / about-turn |
| RW |
Rechtswende — right turn |
| LW |
Linkswende — left turn |
Exercise Phase and Scoring Phases
| Abbr |
Meaning |
| UO |
Unterordnung — Obedience phase |
| GW |
Gewandtheit — Dexterity / Agility phase |
| LH |
Leistungsheft — score book (must be handed to judge before the test) |
Other
| Abbr |
Meaning |
| IRO |
International Rescue Organization |
| GPS |
Global Positioning System — listed as a prohibited aid |
Notes
- VS appears once in the exercise files (Ex. 4 Distance Control) where VC is clearly intended — likely a transcription error in the source document.
- TL is overloaded: Trail Layer in MT nosework context; Team Leader in general organizational context. In the alert rules table (“Any assistance from DH/VP/TL → 0 points”), TL refers to the person being searched for in the MT discipline.
- RHT / RDT: both mean the working team (DH + D). RHT is the German-derived form, RDT is the English rendering. Used interchangeably in the documents.
Source:
judge/ABBREVIATIONS.md