Search and Rescue

Winstar Nightwatch Kennel has begun training its' working dogs in rope work. This technique is utilized extensively during search and rescue. Here you see A- Valcor, one of our highest trained dogs, Mr. Carlos Sud, Rodolfo Nieves and Magdiel Ramos, preparing for a descent from a bridge to the rural terrain.

The first search and rescue (SAR) dogs were trained in the 1960s. At that time there were a handful of trainers and little knowledge on what was the best way to train a dog for search work. Since then various organizations have been developed, each of them establishing their requirements for the SAR dog. Winstar Nightwatch Kennel is now a member of the National Association for Search and Rescue. We utilize their requirements as guidelines in the training of our SAR dogs.

In summary, dog teams have a very special role in the world of search and rescue. The dogs' ultra-sensitive hearing, night vision, endurance and keen sense of smell have continually proven to be invaluable in the effort to locate missing persons. Because of their extraordinary abilities, dogs are often able to reduce the time spent searching, thereby increasing the chances that the missing persons will be found alive. This is especially true when searching and locating survivors of a collapsed building or subjects lost in the wilderness. A search dog's success stems from the fact that every human being has a smell -- not detectable by human beings, but discernible by animals -- which is caused by the constant stream of skin rafts and bacteria shed from the human body.

How this scent is detected by the animals is dependent upon the training they have had in trailing or air scenting techniques. In both cases, the search dogs are able to locate missing persons even if they are hidden from view. Experts estimate that a single dog team can be as effective as 20 to 30 trained human searchers in locating a missing person in a given period of time.

Stay tuned for future reports on Search and Rescue.