Search and Rescue Dog

Search and rescue dogs aid law enforcement to find missing people who may have been involved in accidents, natural disasters or who are lost, by picking up human scent. There are two types of search dog: tracking and air scent dogs. Tracking dogs find one particular human scent and follow it, such as when people who are lost in the wilderness. Air scent dogs find any scent in a given area, which is useful for finding people buried in avalanches or urban wreckage.¹

Fast Facts

1. Many breeds are suitable for search and rescue
2. A search dog must be athletic, well-socialized, calm, sure-footed, healthy and certified²
3. A tracking search dog can pick out a target odor in a sea of odors
4. When following a person, a dog may follows the trail of odor from skin cells that flake off the body
5. Bloodhounds' long ears and loose facial skin form folds that scoop and trap scent around their noses
6. "Cadaver dogs" are trained to find human remains

Search and Rescue Dog Breeds

1. Bloodhound
2. Labrador Retriever
3. Newfoundland
4. German Shepherd
5. Belgian Malinois
6. Golden Retriever
7. Weimaraner
8. Smooth Collie
9. Rhodesian Ridgeback

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