Tag Archives: Search Dog

Tango has another certification to add to her list. Yesterday she passed her Cadaver test. There were 3 fields set up. Two had an unknown number of samples and one had none. Don had 20 minutes to search each field. At the end he had to identify how many samples were in each field and which field had none. He was a little nervous and wanted to be very thorough so he took the full 60 minutes to complete his test (some of the more experienced handlers completed all 3 fields in 20 minutes). Our girl found every single sample and made us very proud. It is amazing to think that just a little over a month ago they started learning this new profile.

Dogs can smell things humans can’t because they have more nasal membrane than we do. We have about 65 square inches of nasal membrane, while dogs have about 900 square inches — an area that’s greater than that of a dog’s whole body. The nasal membrane is packed with olfactory receptors, specialized cells responsible for detecting scents. A German shepherd typically has about 220 million olfactory receptors, while a human has about 5 million.  Experts believe that the bigger the dog and the longer her muzzle, the keener her sense of smell will be. German shepherds aren’t just better at sniffing out scents than humans are, they’re better at it than most other breeds of dogs. A terrier may only have 150 million olfactory receptors, and a dachshund has about 125 million. As human remains decay, they produce a variety of very distinct odours. The odours are like a signature, because they appear nowhere else in nature. A cadaver dog can actually detect human remains through concrete, buried underground, or at the bottom of a body of water, using its extremely well-honed nose to search for faint traces of the chemicals emitted by the human body during decomposition.

In search and rescue operations, cadaver dogs can be used to ensure that every body on the site is found, so that the family can have peace of mind and closure. A cadaver dog can also be used to search for a missing person, or for someone who is known to be dead.

In addition to being used to find whole bodies, cadaver dogs are also trained to react to any trace of human remains. This can be very useful in crime investigations, because a cadaver dog can indicate that a cadaver was in a particular location at one point, even if it is no longer there.  They can also find traces of bodies which criminals have attempted to conceal by destroying the evidence.

Congratulations Don and Tango…..a true team!!!

Last night Tango started training for her next level of certification. She is learning how to identify the scent of human remains. It is called cadaver training.

She did 3 trials and appeared to be getting the idea. As her training progresses she will learn to lie down when she finds this scent. They are out training again tonight.

Team Tango was at the search site until noon on Thursday when the search was called off because it was too dangerous to continue. It had been raining all morning and the trails became very muddy and slippery. Thursday night another request was made for dogs to search on Friday. Don took another vacation day and headed out to the command post at noon on Friday. Unfortunately the missing person was not located but it was an excellent opportunity for real life training for the dogs.

Tango has been taught to search for human scent. She found 2 laptop cases, a pair of rollerblades, 2 running shoes, a bicycle and last but not least….Tango’s personal favorite…a pair of men’s underwear. She came prancing out the woods with her treasure dangling out the side of her mouth. Don was particularly grateful that he was wearing leather gloves when he accepted that human scented article and told her what a good girl she was.

Last night the local Police requested dog teams to help with a search.  Don was able to take a vacation day from work and bright and early this morning he and Tango grabbed their gear and headed off to assist.    Good luck and be careful.

They did it. Don and Tango passed all their certification tests. It was a long and challenging day but definitely worth it (to read the blow by blow details see the post below). They are now certified in 5 profiles:

1. People
2. Large Articles
3. Small Articles
4. Ditches
5. Alleys

We were up at 6am this morning to get Tango fed and Don off to his certification test. Unfortunately it is raining and there isn’t much air movement which will make it very tough for the dogs. The testing started at 8am and Don had strict instructions to phone me as soon as he completed each of the five tests. I still hadn’t heard from him by 09:30 so I texted him to see what was happening. Unfortunately things are moving slowly and he hasn’t even started his first test yet. The poor guy is soaking wet and he still has the whole day ahead of him.

11:00 – just got an update. They have competed the large article test and they passed. One down and 4 to go.

2:45pm – They just finished their small article search. This is the one we were the most concerned about. We know that she will find the articles but she doesn’t always lie down when she does. She did it! She found all 4 articles. Next comes the people search.

3pm – Obedience test completed. The wind has picked up so that is going to help. Don’s clothes are starting to dry out. He had to stop and drain his boots and ring out his socks.

3:15 – Person search done. Yippee! Four profiles completed so there is just alleys left. They are leaving the field and heading to a residential area for the last test.

4:28 – Alleys….passed. It’s official….Team Tango is certified for another year!!!