Search and rescue dog

The use of dogs in search and rescue (SAR) is a valuable component in responding to law enforcement requests for missing persons. Dedicated handlers and hard working, well-trained dogs are required in search efforts to be effective in their task.

Search and rescue (SAR) dogs detect human scent. Although exactly what this means to the dog is not known, it may include skin rafts, evaporated perspiration, respiratory gases, or decomposition gases released by bacterial action on human skin or tissues.

Search and rescue dogs sometimes are worked from horseback.

Types
Search and rescue dogs can be generally classified as airscenting, tracking, or trailing. Airscenting dogs primarily use airborne human scent to home in on subjects, whereas tracking and trailing dogs rely on scent deposited on the ground by the subject. Airscenting dogs typically work off-lead, are non-scent discriminating (eg, locate scent from any human as opposed to a specific person), and cover large areas of terrain. These dogs are trained to follow diffused or wind-borne scent back to its source, return to the handler and indicate contact with the subject, and then lead the handler back to the subject. Handler technique, terrain, environment (vegetation), and atmospheric conditions (wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, and sky conditions) determine the area covered by airscenting dogs, although a typical search area may be 40-160 acres and scent sources can be detected from a distances of 1/4 mile or more. Although other breeds can be trained for airscenting, the prototypical airscenting dog is a herding (eg, German or Belgian shepherds, Border Collies) or sporting (eg, Golden or Labrador retrievers) breed that has a reputation for working closely and in coordination with a human handler. Tracking and trailing dogs are usually scent discriminating and require an uncontaminated scent article from the subject and a relatively undisturbed search area, work on-lead to follow the subject's path, and may use non-human scent (eg, crushed vegetation, disturbed earth) in following the subject's movements. The effectiveness of tracking and trailing dogs is highly dependent upon the terrain (some surfaces, such as grass, retain scent better than others, such as pavement), the age of the trail (fresher is easier to follow), the path (the dog is most likely to lose the trail if there are sharp turns or changes in direction), and the number of contaminating paths that cross the subject's path. The bloodhound is the prototypical tracking dog, although herding and sporting breeds are often successfully trained for either tracking or trailing. Specific applications for SAR dogs include wilderness, disaster, cadaver, avalanche, and drowning search and rescue or recovery.

In wilderness SAR applications, airscenting dogs can be deployed to high-probability areas (places where the subject may be or where the subject's scent may collect, such as in drainages in the early morning) whereas tracking/trailing dogs can be deployed from the subject's last known point (LKP) or the site of a discovered clue. Handlers must be capable of bush navigation, wilderness survival techniques, and be self-sufficient. The dogs must be capable of working for 4-8 hours without distraction (eg, by wildlife).

Disaster dogs are used to locate victims of catastrophic or mass-casualty events (eg, earthquakes, landslides, building collapses, aviation incidents). Many disaster dogs in the US are trained to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency K9 standards for domestic or international deployment; advanced agility and off-lead training are prerequisites reflecting the nature of these dogs' application. Disaster dogs probably rely primarily on airscent, and may be limited in mass-casualty events by their inability to differentiate between survivors and recently-deceased victims.

Human Remains Detection (HRD) or cadaver dogs are used to locate the remains of deceased victims. Depending on the nature of the search, these dogs may work off-lead (eg, to search a large area for buried remains) or on-lead (to recover clues from a crime scene). Airscenting and tracking/trailing dogs are often cross-trained as cadaver dogs, although the scent the dog detects is clearly of a different nature than that detected for live or recently-deceased subjects. Cadaver dogs can locate entire bodies (including those buried or submerged), decomposed bodies, body fragments (including blood, tissues, hair, and bones), or skeletal remains; the capability of the dog is dependent upon its training.

Avalanche dogs work similarly to airscenting, disaster, or cadaver dogs, and must be able to rapidly transition from a wilderness SAR-airscenting scenario to a disaster scenario focused on pinpointing the subject's location.

Training
Training is a life-long, time-consuming, and comprehensive process for both the dog and the handler. For the dog, training is best begun early in life (upon acquisition of the puppy, 8-10 weeks) for deployment of the dog in 6-18 months and retirement, depending on the breed, at 4-7 years. Obedience training is essential for the dog's safety, order at staging areas, and to maintain professionalism in the audience of law enforcement and the public. Socialization and handler-canine bonding are especially important for airscenting dogs. Basic agility training is necessary, and advanced training may pay off unexpectedly. Scent training should be initiated early using a variety of methods (see definitive works by Bulanda 1994 and ARDA 1991) and is often best accomplished by working with an experience, well-established local training group that has a track record of working with local or state law enforcement. For puppies, expect to train obedience, socialization, and agility daily 2-5 times for 10-60 minutes, and scent training 3-7 times per week for 5-30 minutes. As the dog's abilities improve, daily obedience training continues, with impromptu or planned agility and socialization sessions. Scent training frequency decreases (3-5 times/week) but duration increases (20-60 minutes per session). Search-ready dogs need once-weekly training sessions (4-8 hours) along with frequent focus sessions (5-60 minutes, 3 or more times per week). Training outside the dog's primary focus (eg, teaching an airscenting dog scent discrimination, cadaver, or avalanche techniques) should be done cautiously and only once the dog reliably performs in his primary training area. Usually training starts as a game played with puppies.

For the handler (again, based on wilderness airscenting experience), wilderness orienteering and wilderness self-sufficiency/survival are essential training skills. Dog handling skills must also be learned during training (eg, recognizing working v distracted behaviors, differentiating between alerts and finds, and positioning the dog to maximize terrain coverage). Of primary importance is the handlers ability to understand what and how the dog is working at any point in time. To do this the handler will require detailed and intimate understanding of scent theory. Advanced emergency medical skills are usually not required but are advisable. The most rigorous studies of scent theory, lost person behavior, canine search technique, and incident command can be found in hard-to-find publications by William (Bill) Syrotuck. Due to the level of physical exertion required at times, the top end sar organizations may require difficult physical standardized testing to be done. This insures that the handler is able to cope with the ever changing situations presented to them.

Airscenting dogs are trained to find (ie, follow human scent to its source, be it human or traces of a human), but this basic process has been elaborated and improved upon: dogs now are commonly also trained a recall/refind and indication. The entire process may begin with the command "Go find!", indicating that the dog is to search until the find is made. After the find, the dog can be trained to return to the handler (recall), perform a trained indication, and return to the subject (refind, sometimes cued with the "Show me!" command). Once the handler is with the subject, the dog is released (and during training, rewarded). Dogs trained the recall/refind shuttle between the handler and the source until the handler and subject are within sight (this builds on the dog's natural pack instinct). This is of greatest use in situations where the dog may be ranging from the handler (wilderness airscenting) or the subject may be concealed or out of sight (eg, at night, hidden in brush), but is less useful for dogs trained for close-quarters searches (eg, cadaver and drowning dogs).

There are varing schools of thought on recognizing when the dog has made a find, the "natural" or untrained indication vs the trained indication. With the indication, the handler must learn to recognize the dog's change in body language when s/he has made a find. For example, the dog may approach the handler and give specific look, or return to the handler in a very determined manner; each dog's natural indication is unique and often difficult for the handler to accurately describe to others. Thus, this method is highly accurate as it is the dogs natural instinct however it is entirely dependent upon the handler's ability to read the dog. During training, the handler must learn to recognize this behavior without cueing the dog (lest the dog learn to "indicate" only when the handler subconsciously prompts him to), and can complicate early training sessions if the handler (who is learning to read the dog) fails to appropriately reward a successful find because she failed to recognize the dog's natural indication. On scene, the handler must pay constant and close attention to the dog, which may be difficult in commonly encountered search scenarios (eg, night, hazardous terrain, low-visibility, while navigating off-trail, when fatigued or distracted). A handler that learns to recognize this behavior can use these indications to alter his search strategy based on the location of indications and environmental conditions. In Canada the RCMP teach reading the dog as the primary form of any K9 Search work.

The trained indication involves an additional step in the search-find process; the dog is taught to perform a clearly recognizable behavior only upon finding the subject. For example, the dog may return to the handler and sit, perform a jump up, bark (either at the handler or near the subject), or grab a decoy or bringsel. Addition of this extra step during training is easily accomplished, and has the benefit of being easily recognizable under any circumstance. It is however the first thing to go when a dog becomes fatigued or gets distracted. Therefore it is important for a handler to recognise the indication and use the trained alert as a backup. Often, training the dog to perform a specific behavior is easier than training handlers to consistently and reliably read their dog, however most all professionals will seek to use the alert as backup only. The exception being disaster training where the dog may be out of sight. Advanced dogs can be trained different indications depending upon the nature of the find: for example, a jump-up for a live airscent find and a sit for cadaver.

In the 1990's Dr. Deb Komar of the University of Alberta did work in the area of dogs to locate cadavers and scattered remains. Her work indicated that Pseudo scent is not recommended as a scent source. Throughout the trial specialized and scientifically proven training techniques were developed. This work was done in conjunction with the RCMP Civilian Search Dog Association. It indicated that an accuracy rate of near 100% can be achieved through careful and directed training. Her work has been published in the Journal of Forensic Anthropology.