Training Services | Search and Rescue

Search and Rescue

One could say that Search and Rescue (SAR) is a leading reason as to why Northstar Canine Consulting exists. Several years ago when our owner and primary trainer, Todd McCutcheon was looking for alternative ways to train a new puppy he had, he was invited to join a group of trainer/handlers who were heavily involved in SAR. Seven years later after becoming a certified Canine Behavior and Training Specialist, Todd opened Northstar Canine Consulting to help educate the public as well as local and private agencies in SAR. In fact, Todd was working with SAR dogs before the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) had recognised and established a standard for them. Currently, we train for FEMA and NASAR standards.

We here at Northstar Canine Consulting applaud those who wish to give back to their community by volunteering and getting involved in SAR. That’s right, it’s all typically volunteer work unless you work for FEMA. This field is not for everyone and few dogs can handle the work well.

Just as most of us are not cut out to be or want the responsibilty of being a cardiovascular surgeon, not all dogs are equipped to handle the training or the stress involved in this field. Northstar Canine Consulting can help you pick a pup that will have the physical and mental traits that will allow it learn and excel in SAR.

The areas we train in for SAR are:

Wilderness

This type of search would take place in the event a child might get lost from their parents in a wooded area, or a hunter has come up missing. Perhaps an elderly person has gotten confused and wandered from the safety of home and become lost.

Scenarios like these dictate that the victim be found quickly before they become a casualty. Which is why we teach a standard refind. This enables a dog to utilize its speed to locate the victim without having a handler interfere or slow it down.

Disaster

As with a wilderness search, a disaster search is a race against the clock. Imagine being in a house that gets hit by a tornado, and you get buried in the rubble. You may sustain inguries that can be life threatening if you are not found in time.

Though the need to find a victim quickly is a similarity disater work shares with wilderness searches, many would argue the similarity ends there. A disaster dog’s job is not looking for or following trails or tracks left by a victim but simply finding live bodies that may be covered or concealed.

Cadaver

Unfortunately, there are times in SAR when a dog has to be called upon to find a body or human remains. These dogs go though extensive training to find the scent created by decomposition and are often used at crime scenes to locate evidence. Sometimes cadaver dogs are used to locate boundaries of old cemetaries by locating old unmarked graves.

Cadaver dogs may also be utilized to find drowning victims. Yes, it’s true, a dog can detect a submerged body. This is possible because as a body decomposes under water, it also expels gases which carry scent particles to the surface. On the surface a cadaver dog can detect the location of where the scent broke the surface and issue an alert. Once water current is calulated, a diver can then follow the path to the submerged body.