Search Dogs

Our search dogs are an essential part of our search and rescue team, allowing us to explore routes, paths and large and inaccessible areas far quicker than with just a foot team.

Our dogs are all trained to national standards to find missing people.  It takes over two years of training for most dogs to pass the strict assessment criteria which gives the maximum probability that they will find a vulnerable person in a particular search area. The process of training a dog is one which requires full commitment from their handler.

Unlike Police dogs, our dogs are all pets first and are then trained as search dogs by their owners (who must be experienced Lowland Rescue team members).

All Lowland Rescue dog handlers are professional volunteers who are not paid for their time, fuel or personal equipment. Our dogs can work in any environment, from farmland to woodland, and they use their incredible sense of smell to detect and then home in on any person in their area.

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Our air-scenting dogs will find anyone in an area; their reward is usually a game of ball, chew on their favourite toy or a tasty favoured treat.  Trailing search dogs follow a scent trail looking for/ following human scent particles and also receive their favourite reward with heaps of praise.

Lets meet the four legged team:

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