Dogs That Find Lost People

There are always people missing after disasters such as tornadoes or earthquakes. People also go missing while camping, hiking or river rafting. In rural areas, children go missing while playing away from their homes. In these situations, dogs with special training are often brought in to help find the missing people.

  1. Air Scenting Dogs

    • The dog used most often has air scenting training. This type of dog is used in large, open areas with few people and is trained to pick up the trace of human scent in the air. The dog cannot identify specific people by their individual scents, and searches instead for any trace of human scent. Its success depends on several factors, including the temperature of the air, the time of day and wind conditions, and any contaminations of the air such as smoke.

    Trailing and Tracking Dogs

    • A dog with trailing training is taught to find a specific person based on the scent the person leaves by shedding tiny particles of human skin cells and tissue as they go. These particles fall to the ground, and the dog is trained to follow the scent after being given an article of the victim's clothing by which to identify him. The dog needs to begin at the last place where the person was seen, so it can find the start of the trail to follow. A tracking dog follows the actual path of a person without relying on scent articles. It is shown the beginning of the route and tracks the path based on the scents it finds at the start.

    Search and Rescue Work

    • Dogs have a long history of being used in search and rescue work. In Canada, Newfoundland dogs were used in water rescues after they showed natural ability to retrieve people that fell overboard. Nowadays, Newfoundlands are used to patrol beaches in Europe with lifeguards and rescue swimmers in difficulty. Dogs are used regularly by police departments to help track criminals and to find the victims of crime and natural disasters. Saint Bernards are well known for their ability to rescue people lost in the snow and buried under avalanches.

    Human Remains Detection Work

    • Dogs are also trained in cadaver recovery. Labrador retrievers and bloodhounds are particularly good at this task, and are trained to alert their handlers when they pick up the scent of a dead human. In some cases, the scent may come from minute pieces of dead flesh that could have been buried for some time. Water recovery dogs are trained to detect human scent in water from a boat or dock.

    Training the Dogs

    • For 35 years the American Rescue Dog Association used only German shepherd dogs in their work. However, in 2007 the organization modified its standards to allow its members to use any dog, regardless of breed. The dogs are trained to view the task as a game, and on successful completion they are rewarded with a treat, praise or playtime.