Canines know the nose knows
In rescue, dog truly man's best friend
By Jeremy D. Bonfiglio
The Coloradoan
    "Are Tassie and Apache going to find my sister?"
    Neither Julie Weibler nor Cheryl Kennedy knows how to answer the question as they begin to search for a missing 11-year-old girl in Rocky Mountain National Park. "They know our dogs' names," says Weibler, a handler with the Larimer County Search and Rescue team.
    The mission hits too close to home.
    A week earlier Weibler, with her Australian cattle dog Tassie, and Kennedy,

Rich Abrahamson/The Coloradoan Loaded up: Bear, a Larimer County Search and Rescue search dog, climbs across gear loaded into the back of a vehicle before training at Cameron Pass with other team members.

with her golden retriever Apache, spoke to the girl's class about surviving in the wilderness. The missing girl, Sarah, hid for the dogs in the demonstration.
    Now, the search is real. "That one hit me hard out in the field," says Kennedy, recalling her first mission with Apache nearly nine years ago. "When we got the call that (Sarah) was found and that she was deceased, I just sat down."
    "It was a big search," Weibler recalls. "You could hear other search team members in the area. At daybreak, another dog team found her. She had fallen off a cliff."
    While not all searches have happy endings, few - if any - are left unresolved.
    For a skier stranded in the backcountry or a hiker lost in the wilderness, the dogs on the Larimer County Search and Rescue team may provide the best chance for survival.
    "Dogs are an invaluable resource to our team and our

On the web n Larimer County Search and Rescue: www.fortnet.org/LCSAR n Larimer County Emergency Services: www.co.larimer.co.us/depts/sherif/emerg.htm n Diamond Peaks Ski Patrol: www.diamondpeaks.org n Larimer County Dive Rescue team: www.fortnet.org/LCDRT/home.html n Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado: www.sardoc.org n Mountain Rescue Association: www.mra.org n National Association for Search and Rescue: www.nsar.org n Colorado Avalanche Information Center: www.caic.state.co.us

state," Search and Rescue president Karen Mianecki says. "The majority of dogs certified in Colorado are from our team."
    Larimer County Search and Rescue has seven air scent dogs and two trailing dogs currently registered with Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado, the state organization that oversees both training and certification procedures. With only about 25 dogs registered statewide, Larimer County often gets the call on the most difficult searches.
    "We end up sending dog teams all over the state," says Weibler, who has been a member of the Larimer County team since 1986. "We've also been called on for searches in Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota."
    Search dogs are trained in two basic disciplines, trailing and air scent.
    Trailing dogs follow scent particles shed by a person. An air scent dog detects scent particles carried in the wind from the missing person's location. Several air scent dogs can be fielded on a mission to search different segments at the same time.
    A trained search dog can cover about the same amount of ground it would take 30 people to search. Larimer County dog teams participate in about 75 missions a year.
    "They amaze you," Weibler says. "It's fascinating to see how sensitive their noses are, how eager they are to help and how capable they are of doing it."
    All search dogs are trained to scent-discriminate, meaning dogs will ignore the scent of everyone except the missing person. An article of clothing worn by the missing person is presented to the dog, which then searches only for the matching scent. If an article is not available, air scent dogs search for anyone in the area. Dogs and their handlers may add skills to specialty areas such as water, avalanche or evidence searching.
    All types of dogs have been trained in search and rescue. Typically the most successful dogs have been working dogs, herding dogs and sporting dogs. The breed, however, is not as important as the attitude of the individual dog.
    "I've had a dog most of my life as a pet," says Allen Weaver, whose partner is a 4-year-old yellow Labrador named Rosie. "Most people take for granted how smart and capable these dogs are.
    "I picked my dog to be a pet first, and then thought I'd train her as a search and rescue dog, too. When I saw what she could do, I was hooked."
    Dog and handler teams typically train 300 to 500 hours a year and a minimum of two years prior to being certified through a rigorous testing process to reach operational status with their dog. After they are certified, dog teams continue to train during weekly sessions in the field.
    "Every morning he watches me to see what clothes I put on," Dan Fanning says of his chocolate Labrador named Bear on a recent training session at Cameron Pass. "This is his favorite thing in the world."
    Training may begin with dogs as young as eight weeks old, but dogs are not fielded on search operations until they are 18 to 24 months old.
    "I thought, 'Sure. I'll put in an hour or two a week,' " Weaver says. "Little did I know how much time it would consume."
    In addition, handlers are required to belong to and train with their local search and rescue team, which may require another 300 to 500 hours a year for both training and actual search and rescue missions - missions that, at times, can be taxing for both the dog and trainer.
    "(The dogs) hear the pager go off and they are ready to go," says Weibler, whose second search dog, Zephyr, is a mixed breed she picked up at the pound. "The dog is trusting you when you are putting him in strange situations. But they know it's time to work."

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