SEARCHING WATER WITH DOGS:
Search dogs help dive teams locate bodies for recovery, including:
- Drownings in swimming areas
- Boating accidents
- Missing fishermen and hunters
- Missing vehicles and aircraft
- Suspected homicides or suicides
- Victims underneath the ice
Water certified K-9 teams search from shore and/or from a boat and have been confirmed to be able to detect human scent from as deep as 200 feet. Scent travels upwards toward the surface from a submerged body. When it breaks the surface it becomes windborne, in much the same pattern that smoke leaves a smokestack. By reading the dog's reaction to the scent and trained indication, combined with information regarding current, wind and water depth, the handler works to identify the location of strongest scent. This improves diver safety by reducing the size of the area to be searched underwater.
Dogs can also be used for "negative" searches to determine whether there is a person in a submerged vehicle or aircraft.
Areas that have been successfully searched include lakes, ponds, rivers, and quarries, as well as the ocean.
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Water Search Training with Master Trainer, Jonni Joyce
PROTOCOL
- A Dive Team, Incident Commander, or dispatcher may make a request for water search dogs by calling CCSAR dispatch at 1-800-924-5550.
- Contact CCSAR as soon as an incident occurs. If uncertain, put CCSAR on standby. If the victim is located while dogs are en route, call back to cancel.
- Response times can vary from less than 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on location, time of day, traffic conditions and equipment requested (CCSAR boats).
- CCSAR does not charge for its services.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Water search dogs are trained to ignore distractions on shore. However, divers or others should not be in the water in the search area so as not to have their scent distract the dog..
The dog teams being deployed on water require a boat with a bow low to the water and around which they can move, such as an inflatable boat or a boat with low freeboard such as a bass boat. CCSAR can provide their own, including an inflatable boat with a jet drive motor, a skiff, and/or a jon boat.
Training and/or demonstrations are available at no charge to dive teams, fire, and police departments. For information, please contact the CCSAR Training Director.