‘His nose is 40,000 times better’
How do search dogs find missing people? Steve Signal has been the Tū rangi LandSAR chairman for seven years, and his dog, Echo, began training to be a search dog at just 7-weeks-old. He talked to reporter Eva de Jong about what it takes to be a top search
Sniffing out trouble is a fulltime job for 4-and-a-half-yearold Echo. He can navigate through an avalanche, be flown by an Air Force helicopter or be carried across cable swing bridges on his owner’s back— all to help find a lost person.
There are 16 operational handlers and canines in the New Zealand Land Search and Rescue team which covers the whole country.
Signal said the dogs were classified as a national asset.
Echo had been called out as far as Coromandel and Hawke’s Bay for searches.
The terrain on these missions can be formidable— on a search out in Te Kaha, Signal had to secure Echo to his body to prevent him from falling down a cliff face.
“The dog has to know that you’re always going to put him in a safe environment, and you’re never going to ask him to do something that he can’t do.”
Echo located a missing mountain biker in National Park by tracking the scent from his abandoned mountain bike to where he was lost in the bush.
He uncovered the lost man, sleeping under his jacket, at about 11pm.
“His nose is 40,000 times better than what any of ours are.”
When a person goes missing search dogs can give rescuers a direction of travel by following their scent path.
Often that will mean sniffing around the area a person was last seen in — such as a tramping hut or vehicle.
They can also hunt for items that a lost person might have dropped such as gloves, a phone, keys, food wrappers or banana skins.
“Anything that will have fresh human scent on it.”
A lot of people think they can just apply to LandSAR with their dog, but the process was much more difficult than just turning up, Signal said.
Echo, who is half-Labrador and
half-Spaniel, was only 7-weeks when he began his training.
Building Echo’s complete trust in Signal was vital in the early months of his life.
“Just taking him out and constantly exposing him to different environments and forms of transport. Everything from kayaks, jet-boats, quad bikes to sitting in the foot-well of a four by four.”
He also had to become familiar with all surfaces such as polished concrete, tiles and open stairwells.
Search dogs have good noses, high-drive and are work-focused.
“They also need to have decent legs to get through the bush and cover the mileage, and to get over logs and under banks.
“Generally, they’re from a collie background or Labrador background, German Shepherds, Malinois are generally the search dogs around at the moment.”
Maintaining fitness is also crucial. Tracking search dogs, like Echo, can follow a scent for numerous kilometres.
Handlers have to engineer breaks for their dogs so that they don’t burn out.
Signal said advancements in GPS technology wouldn’t reduce the need for search dogs.
“Even where a personal locator beacon has gone off, you’re not necessarily guaranteed that the person will be with the beacon. It cuts down on our man hours astronomically.”
Handlers cover the cost of their dog’s training until they become operational, and then Black Hawk provides funding for search and rescue dogs’ food. Some search dog rewards are food-orientated, but Echo’s treat of choice after a mission is a gnarly, old piece of rope.
“He’ll do anything for it, that’s his go-to, just that tug ‘o’ war game at the end with his gnarly bit of rope.”