An Insight into Canine Search
and Rescue,
Part 1
By Dee Wild
Man has always relied on the keen sense of smell that our canine partners
possess. It was back in the 1600s when we saw the first organized efforts of
what we call Canine Search and Rescue (K-9 SAR). In Switzerland, the winter snow
was often deep and dangerous and people would get buried under huge snow slides
or avalanches. In order to rescue the travelers, the Augustinian Monks bred a
wonderful dog that was not only big and powerful, but could smell people trapped
under the snow. Any guesses? It was the St. Bernard!
Modern-day K-9 SAR efforts have expanded and evolved over the years to meet a
variety of different needs using a variety of different breeds. We now see
handlers and their canine partners helping to locate lost children and adults in
all types of terrain. There are even many specialized search and rescue teams
that assist law enforcement agencies on homicides, drownings, water, avalanche,
disaster, and evidence recovery.
So, how do they do that? It is believed
that a dog can smell 100,000 times better than a human. To give you an idea of
how sensitive a canine’s nose can be, we only have to place their capabilities
up against the human’s sense of smell. Let me give you an analogy to help you
understand the difference between how humans smell versus our canine
counterparts. When a human walks into a bakery, it smells very sweet for the
first several minutes. After that, the smell goes unnoticed. When a canine walks
into a bakery, it smells every ingredient used in the baking process, e.g.,
eggs, butter, flour, sugar, and continues to distinguish each smell the entire
time they are in the bakery. It is this capability that allows them to
distinguish one person’s smell from another, something we call scent
discrimination.
In scent discrimination, if a trained canine is given
something worn by an individual to smell, the canine will only locate that
individual. The canine is able to separate all of the other scents (other
individuals, animals and plants) to follow the scent given off by the individual
they are looking for.
One of the best ways of understanding scent is to
visualize everyone looking like “Pig Pen” in the Peanuts cartoon. We all walk
around with a cloud of our scent coming off our heads and falling to the ground.
It is this scent that the dogs are looking for.
Canines can be trained
in several different disciplines: live, human remains, water, disaster or
evidence. Across the globe there are canine search and rescue teams which are
comprised of individual volunteer handlers and their canines who come together
to train both themselves and their canines in one or more of the K-9 SAR
disciplines.
You may be thinking, “Wow, that sounds interesting. I
wonder if search and rescue is right for me.” While K-9 SAR can be both
fascinating and rewarding, it is very important to understand exactly what is
involved prior to making any decisions or commitments. To be a part of a K-9 SAR
team requires hard work, sacrifice, time, and money.
On average, a
canine handler will spend over 1,000 hours in training and responding to
searches throughout the year. Of those 1,000 hours, the majority is spent in
training. To have an excellent working canine requires training every day for
the first two years and then training at least three to four times a week
thereafter. In addition, handlers often attend canine search and rescue seminars
around the country in order to learn how scent works in different environments.
Don’t forget that once you become field operative, you are on-call 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week. Searches do not know holidays, special occasions, and family
events. In addition, they do not know about picking beautiful weather or the
right time of day. Handlers have to train and be prepared to respond in all
types of weather and terrain.
When not training or responding, time may
also be spent educating young people in how to survive should they become lost,
demonstrating the canine’s abilities to local law enforcement agencies, and
researching and networking regarding different training methods.
As for
the finances, volunteers purchase their own canines and provide for all of the
canines’ needs throughout and after its career. They also use their personal
funds to purchase equipment and supplies, as well as to pay expenses incurred in
responding to a search.
Once you have determined that you have the
necessary desire and resources needed to get involved with search and rescue,
there are some specific steps to take before getting started.
Phase One:
Finding a Team
It is important to locate a team in your area where you can learn more about
training requirements. You may have to drive several hours away, as there are
not teams in every county. The National Association for Search and Rescue has a
website that addresses all facets of search and rescue, including canine. You
can go to their website at www.nasar.org to learn more about canine search and
rescue and how to contact a team in your area. Another great resource is to call
different law enforcement agencies in your area to ask if they use a canine
search and rescue team. If they do use a team, they will often times assist you
in contacting them. Once you locate a team in your area, meet with them and
attend several of their trainings. Some of the areas you may want to address
with them are how often and when do they train, how do they certify their
canines for field operation, how often are they called upon to respond to
searches, and their procedures to join. Be prepared, you may be asked to hide
for some of the canines or walk behind the handler as they work their canine;
both ways provide you with a great concept of how different canines will work
out a problem. Even if you decide not to become involved, it would still be a
wonderful learning experience for any dog lover.
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