Kentucky Search Dog Association

The Paws That Save

What do K-9 Search and Rescue (SAR) teams do?

Like the Kentucky Search Dog Association (KSDA), SAR teams provide trained dogs, handlers, and support personnel to assist in searching for missing, lost or overdue persons. They also assist law enforcement personnel in cases involving finding human remains (cadaver searches).  Founded in 1985, the KSDA team is made up of all volunteers and is a non-profit organization.

A properly trained handler and search dog can help find:

·   Lost children in the wilderness or urban areas

·   Overdue hunters, hikers, or fisherman

·   Despondent/unconscious persons

·   Nursing home residents who walk away

·   Persons under collapsed structures or in disaster debris

·   Drowning victims

·   Human remains in a variety of contexts (water, buried, in fields or woods, buildings, etc.)

What kinds of search dogs are used by KSDA?

The Kentucky Search Dog Association (KSDA) team uses dogs certified in both live-find and in human remains (cadaver) detection. Both types of dogs search in a wide variety of environments. KSDA’s live find dogs are certified by the state of Kentucky to locate lost individuals in wilderness, rural, and urban environments. The KSDA team’s cadaver dogs are also trained to find human remains in many types of locations including woods, farm fields, houses/buildings, buried under the ground or in rubble, and in deep and shallow water (like ponds, lakes, streams and rivers). The team’s cadaver dogs are certified by a variety of organizations including the American Police Canine Association (APCA), North American Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA), and several other sanctioned K-9 organizations.
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The type of incident and terrain will dictate which kind of search dog may be the most useful resource in any given situation. Five major types are described below. Some dogs are cross-trained to assist in more than one type of search.

Tracking Dogs

Tracking dogs are trained to follow human scent in primarily soft surfaces.  The dog keeps its nose close to the ground and follows the scent of the footsteps through crushed vegetation or in soil or sand.

Trailing Dogs 

Trailing dogs will follow the route of a specific person’s scent deposited on the ground and in the air as a person moves through an area. A scent article is typically necessary so that the dog can discriminate the scent of the missing person from that of other persons or searchers in the same area.

Area Search Dogs

Area or “air scent” search dogs find people by locating human scent as it travels on air currents.  Because humans continuously shed thousands of dead skin cells, the air scent dog is trained to follow any human scent until that odor becomes more intense as it gets closer to the lost individual. These dogs are effective in finding lost or missing persons in large open areas or thickly vegetated areas where human searchers would take considerably more time to locate the missing person. 

Disaster Dogs 

Disaster dogs are specifically trained to find live human scent within the context of a disaster (such as collapsed structures, debris piles, mudslides, etc.). Like all SAR K9s, disaster dogs are trained to ignore all other odor except for that of live human scent and must be very comfortable working on uneven surfaces, dangerous debris piles, and around a great deal of noise and distraction during emergency response to a disaster.

Cadaver Dogs

Cadaver dogs are trained to find the odor of decomposing human remains, ignoring live human and animal scent, and alerting their handler only when detecting human remains. These dogs can be used to find human remains related to crime scenes, cold cases involving missing persons, small scent sources (body parts), and residual scent (e.g., drops of blood or tissue).

Some cadaver dogs are trained specifically to detect human remains in deep water.  They often work with their handlers on boats.  When they get near a submerged, decomposing body, they are able to detect gasses that bubble up through the water into the air. This allows divers to be more accurate in deciding where to search for a submerged body. 

How can I train my dog to become a search dog?

The best way to begin training a dog is to contact an existing team such as KSDA and come observe and discuss your interests with active team members.  Experienced K-9 handlers can talk to you about how to select a dog, the time commitment it takes to train, and the courses and requirements you will need to fulfil as a K-9 handler. Being a search and rescue K-9 handler takes hundreds of hours of dedicated study and training and a willingness to deploy whenever needed.  It is a costly endeavor because volunteer K-9 handlers pay for all their own gear, training, travel expenses, and veterinarian bills.  Many handlers may also experience a loss of income when they are deployed on an actual search.  If you are interested in learning more and/or observing a training, please contact KSDA’s team Chief, Melissa Morgan at 859-619-9950 or melissa.morgan@uky.edu.