Welcome to Brainstock, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren bogobaum here. In the wake of disasters like earthquakes, when people may be injured and trapped by debris, there are often international search and rescue efforts. Teams include structural engineers, doctors, logistics personnel, technical search specialists, and dogs. Today, let's talk about how search and rescue dogs and their human handlers
trained to help these teams save lives. Experts estimate that a single search and rescue dog can search the same area as about fifty people on foot could, and in far less time. Time is always an issue in search and rescue. In an avalanche, for instance, statistics show that more than ninety percent of people buried in snow can
be rescued alive if they're dug out within fifteen minutes. However, after forty five minutes, only twenty to thirty percent of victims will be found alive, and after two hours almost no one will. That means search and rescue dogs are
invaluable in locating people alive when time is critical. A trained dog can locate a human being within a five hundred meter radius that's some sixteen hundred feet find a dead body underwater, or locate evidence like a human tooth or an article of clothing at crime scenes, all by focusing on the smell of a human being. We humans
are smelly creatures. We're constantly shedding a combination of dead skin cells, molecules of hygiene products, dried sweat, the bacteria and fungi that live with us, and various hormones and enzymes. This combination makes up tiny flakes called rafts, which smell distinctly human. Everyone's skin rafts smell unique, which is how a search and rescue dog can smell an items of clothing and look specifically for the last person who wore it.
While some dogs exhibit a stronger desire to track scent than others, every canine out there has a powerful sense of smell. Some handlers have a breed of choice, but any medium to large dog in good physical health, with decent intelligence, good listening skills, a non aggressive personality, and a strong play or prey drive that is an intense and enduring desire to retrieve a toy can potentially go
into search and rescue. Search and rescue dogs need to be big enough to successfully navigate treacherous terrain and push debris out of the way, and yet small enough to transport easily. German Shepherds are a popular search and rescue breed. They're typically smart, obedient, and agile, and their double layered coat insulates against severe weather conditions. Hunting and herding dogs like labrador and Golden retrievers and border collies tend to be good at this work too, because they have a
very strong prey drive. Many people consider bloodhounds to be the best breed for tracking. Their giant ears and facial folds collect and concentrate scent particles right at their nostrils, making their sense of smell extremely discerning. But not all search and rescue dogs perform the same type of searches. Some dogs are tracking or trailing dogs, and others are air sent or area search dogs. Tracking dogs work with
their noses to the ground. They can follow a trail of human scent, typically heavy rafts that fall quickly to the ground or onto bushes, through any type of terrain. These dogs are not searching, they're following. Tracking dogs need a last scene starting point, an article with the person sent on it to work from, and an uncontaminated trail.
They work best when called in to follow a person sent immediately after a disappearance, say that of a child from a school playground, before other search groups and law enforcement personnel contaminate the scent trail. Air scent dogs, on the other hand, work with their noses focused toward the air. They pick up human scent anywhere in the vicinity. They don't need a starting point where tracking dogs follow a
scent trail. Air sent dogs pick up a smell carried in air currents and seek out its origin the point of greatest concentration. Air sent dogs might be called in to find a missing hiker located somewhere in a park, or someone trapped an avalanche or a collapsed building. Different air sent dogs can be trained with different specialties, like urban rescue or evidence finding. Dogs can also be trained to search specifically for human remains and even drowning victims.
When a body is underwater, skin particles and decomposition gases rise to the surface, so dogs can smell a body even if it's completely immersed. Due to the movement of water currents, dogs can seldom pinpoint the exact location of a body. Instead, a more than one search and rescue team will search an area, and divers will use each dog's alert point, along with water current analysis, to estimate
the most likely location of the body. No matter what their specialty, both search and rescue dogs and their handlers must train extensively. On average, a search and rescue handler spends about one thousand hours to become field ready. They learn how to properly train a dog to find an alert, and train themselves in things like land navigation, weather patterns, radio communications, map and compass skills, wilderness survival, advanced first aid,
and various physical fitness certifications. Most search and rescue dogs live and train with their handler and will spend about six hundred hours to become field ready. Sometimes search and rescue associations adopt dogs from shelters to be trained at a special facility and then paired with a handler. The central job of any search and rescue dog is to find a human scent, that is, find it an alert to its location, no matter what weather conditions or other
distractions there may be. Depending on the dog's specialty area, their core training may also include the recall, find or show me, in which they find an objective of a search, return to their handler, and lead the handler back to the objective, or what's called victim loyalty, in which the dog stays with a found person and alerts their handler by barking. The general approach to training a dog for search and rescue is no different from any other dog training.
The first step is to figure out what reward the dog will work for, perhaps a treat or playtime with a favorite toy, and then always immediately reward the dog for correct behaviors. The training starts out with very simple tasks and gets progressively more complex as the dog completes each level. Obedience, focus, and confidence are crucial. Search and rescue dogs must be able to think for themselves, a working off leash and away from their handlers in chaotic conditions.
The ideal search dog can solve problems on their own, but also always be aware of their handler. Search and rescue teams are on call all day, every day. Dogs often accompany their handlers to work and on vacation in case a call comes in from law enforcement authorities. Typically, a law enforcement unit will alert a search and rescue organization to a case, and the organization then alerts its
team members. The case might be a missing child, a group of hikers who never arrived at their campsite, a collapsed building, an earthquake, or a new tip. In a crime investigation, the places a victim's body in a particular lake. The team loads up its equipment, which may include severe weather gear, ropes and harnesses, radios, compasses, maps, food, and water. Depending on the dog and handler's specialty, they have to be prepared to travel by helicopter or boat, or perhaps
to hike and repel to an area. Once at the scene, the dog's training is fully tested. Distractions are everywhere a people in dogs, searching reporters, floodlights, bullhorns. The search and rescue unit leader is in charge, reporting to the head authority at the scene. That leader gives each dog and handler team a location to clear. If a dog shows interest in a particular spot but doesn't do a full alert,
the handler will note the location. If the dog gives a full alert, everyone mobilizes while human searchers dig or dive or clear rebel to find the missing people. The dog in their handler may be off to the side, playing tug of war or whatever the dog's reward of choices, so that the dog knows that they won the game, even if the missing person turns out to be deceased,
the handler will discreetly play with the dog. As long as search and rescue remains a game, the dog will happily do their job until the handler decides it's time for retirement. Yes, search and rescue dogs do retire, often when the physical rigors of the work start to get to them, when they're around eight to ten years old, depending on the dog and its specialty. Urban disaster work in particular is hard on dogs and handlers due to
the physical and mental stress of dangerous, unstable terrain. In the saddest news you'll hear today, some of the three hundred dogs that assisted in the search following the collapse of the World Trade Center on nine to eleven became too depressed to continue working. So few people were found alive and there was such an overwhelming smell of death that the dogs were affected. When a search and rescue dog does retire, they usually live out their retirement with
their handler. If the handler can't care for the dog, there are organizations that specialize in finding adoptive homes for retirees. In either case, the dog enjoys a life of fun, games and leisure, a much deserved reward for a career of fun games and public service. Today's episode is based on the article how search and rescue dogs work on HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Julia Layton and Sarah g Lyme.
Brain Stuff is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.