Wolfpack Working Dogs Search & Rescue

Dogs rescuing people in danger, finding the remains of a lost person, or dogs helping humans live their best lives fires a person’s imagination. Seeing a well -trained search dog at a disaster scene, actively searching through forests, trailing a missing child, or locating a deceased person have made search dogs appear special to the general public because of their skills in using their noses to discriminate scent and finding people. 

The temperament of a good search dog includes being bold, friendly, physically fit, of at least medium size, environmentally and socially stable, and having high prey and/or hunt drives. Prey drive is the desire to chase and catch moving objects or animals. Hunt drive is the desire to use their nose to find a person, object, or animal that the dog can’t see. Good training shapes the prey and hunt drives into finding people and specific odors. It is important to know that not all dogs have what it takes to be a search and rescue or human remains detection dog.

People interested in search and rescue train with the Wolfpack team and are full members, but are deployed by law enforcement as individuals once a dog/handler team is mission ready. Members are encouraged to attend one nationally accredited seminar each year in the discipline in which they work their dog. Certification and attendance of these seminars can be partially funded by WPWD.  Our human team members have certification requirements as well, including NIMS courses (National Incident Management System from FEMA), navigation, first aid and CPR (at minimum). HAZMAT and blood-borne-pathogens certifications are required as well.

Visitors who would like to see if they and their dog are suited for training in search and rescue are invited to join us on training days. We get to know the person before we even ask to meet their dog. We will help the handler train his/her own dog to the activities best suited to the dog’s temperament.

Visitors interested in training their own service dog are also welcome. We evaluate their dog to see how well suited the dog is for the job, and break down what specific behaviors need to be trained to help a person with a disability.  

There are different types of search and rescue dogs. The situation determines which type will be the most useful. The major categories are:

Area search dogs: Area search dogs generally work off lead, similar to a bird dog hunting birds. They range out in front of their handler, looking for human scent. Area search dogs are most useful when there is not a definitive place last seen from where the victim went missing. They don’t need a starting point. After defining the search area, or breaking a large area into smaller sections, the most effective deployment has the dog working into the wind, gridding across the assigned area to put as much breeze into the dog’s face as possible. Area search dogs work with their noses up, searching the breezes for human odor. Other searchers must stay behind the dog and handler if the dog is hunting for ANY human odor, as compared to hunting for a specific human. Scent articles are used if the area search dog is trained to be scent specific.

Trailing dogs:  Trailing dogs can work either on or off lead, but wearing a harness with a long line is most commonly used. Bloodhounds fall into this category. They are taught to search only for the scent provided to them through a scent article at the beginning of a trail. They need a starting point, so they are best deployed when the searchers know a specific point from which the victim went missing.

Human remains detection dogs: Human remains detection dogs (HRD dogs) are trained to find deceased humans rather than living humans. They are trained on donated fluids/teeth/blood/flesh/bones of people. The remains are frequently as simple as a bloody piece of gauze that was once over a wound kept in airtight jars. HRD dogs can work either on a long line or off lead, depending on the area being searched.

Dogs will generally do better at one type as compared to another. Area search dogs tend to work with their heads up into the wind. Trailing dogs generally keep their noses close to the ground to find odor. We observe the dogs that join our group to see what they are best suited for based on their natural behaviors, or what the dogs enjoy the most.

ARSA

What is Rettungshunde Sport?

The American Rettungshunde Sport Association (ARSA) is dedicated to the search and rescue sport. It is incorporated as a non-stock (not-for-profit) corporation in the State of Virginia and is a member of the American Working Dog Federation. 
ARSA operates under the international rules issued jointly by the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) and the International Rescue Dog Organization (IRO).

IPO-R is an FCI sanctioned sport that has many similarities to IGP (Schutzhund) and is an ideal supplement to that as well as AKC tracking, obedience, and agility. Trials consist of two phases – a search phase and an obedience and dexterity phase. There is no bite work.

The sport has 3 levels, an introductory level (V) and the more professional levels, A and B. At each level, you can trial and earn titles in all the different search options. Furthermore, you can do only search work or only obedience and dexterity at a trial if you prefer.