“I cannot thank you enough for allowing your K9s to come out and search for my spouse. I heard they played a big part in finding the two victims that drowned. ...You will forever be in my thoughts. God bless you all.”
Wilderness Air Scent
Thousands of people go into our mountains for recreation each year. Some of them get lost. Our wilderness SAR dogs can trace the airborne scent of a human for miles across all types of terrain. One dog can cover an area that would take many human searchers and do it faster. Then, just like Lassie, they come back to their handler and lead him/her to the lost person.
Cadaver, Human Remains Detection, and Water Search
The mountains and wilderness can be harsh and, unfortunately, some rescues become recovery operations. It is important to find the remains of missing persons to help the families to deal with their loss and, in some cases, to assist law enforcement in criminal matters. As such, our dogs are trained to find human remains whether the victim of unfortunate circumstance or foul play, on land, buried in clandestine graves, and/or submerged under water. Our dogs are trained not to disturb the remains. Rather, our dogs give their handler a passive signal so that the remains and surrounding scene can be properly managed. This is particularly important to law enforcement if the victim is found in a possible crime scene area.
Avalanche
We live and work in the Wasatch Mountains that get over 500 inches of snow per year. With that much snow, avalanches are common. Avy dogs are trained to find victims buried up to 6 feet deep and can search large areas in only minutes that would require hours for human searchers to cover. Our current Avy Dog is certified through Wasatch Backcountry Rescue and handled by a professional Ski Patroller which is the required standard throughout the Wasatch.