Search and Rescue Dogs

One very important category of working dogs is the search and rescue dogs. These dogs have a specific mandate that they must fill. Their job is to track people that have become lost. This can take place in a variety of different circumstances such as when individuals have become lost as a result of being in an unfamiliar area or even as a result of a natural disaster.

Why are Dogs Chosen for This

Dogs are a species of animal that are well known for their sensory capabilities. These are important qualities in search and rescue dogs:  as they depend on smell to carry out their tasks. It has been determined that they have over 100 million sensory receptor sites in their nose alone. When this is compared to humans who only have 6 million, it is understandable why dogs could be utilized for search and rescue

Training

Dogs that are going to be used for search and rescue tasks have to go through some intense training. The breeds of dogs chosen for this will be those who adapt to training easily and have good memory retention.

Search and rescue dogs have saved a lot of lives.