Sector Searching

The total search area can also be divided into several sectors, depending on how many handlers and dogs are available. These sectors, the borders of which have to be clearly marked by roads, ditches, or geographic coordinates in latitude and longitude, will be searched by two or three handlers and their dogs (using a corridor search).

The advantage of working this way is that smaller, more numerous units can work faster. The disadvantage is that the handlers have to orient themselves very well in the terrain so that no areas are missed. That’s why this search method has to be coordinated centrally, with all groups equipped with a radio and GPS for control.

Searching a Slope or Mountain

In searching steep slopes by corridor search, the most effective and safest way to proceed is by searching diagonally on the slope so the dogs can walk up and down. Because slopes are rougher going, the handlers walk about sixty-five to ninety-eight feet (20 to 30 m) from each other. In searching slopes or mountains, there is always the danger that stones will be loosened by handlers or their dogs walking higher up. For this reason, handlers should not walk directly under each other, and should be staggered across the slope, with the lower handlers walking farther in front. When stones fall, the handlers and dogs below are not harmed. But because the handlers are not walking beside each other, they have to maintain good visual and calling contact.

Slopes are not always searched on a diagonal, because the steepness of the slope and the wind direction may make another method more useful. With mountain winds, such as winds that blow from the top to the valley, the search line can sometimes search better against the wind, so from the valley to the top. If the handlers and dogs can be transported to the top (by ATVs or hel-icopter) when there is a valley wind, which blows from the valley to the top, the hill or mountain can then be searched from the top of the slope toward the valley.

Figure 8.4 Slope search. On steep slopes, the search corridors are narrower (65 to 98 feet/20 to 30 m) to make the difficult terrain more manageable for the dogs, and the handlers are staggered to reduce the chance of dislodged debris falling on down slope teams.

Missing Persons

Some search and rescue dog groups train their dogs also to alert to standing or walking people, but in our countries there are always a lot of people searching together with us in the same or the adjacent areas. To avoid alerting to these searchers, our dogs only alert to people who are sitting, lying, or hanging (in training, sitting in trees).

When the missing person is elderly, we discovered that they are usually quite close to their homes. Sometimes they are in the attic of the house or in the cellar. In seniors’ housing they sometimes sleep in the wrong room. Alzheimer’s patients may go to a place from their childhood. Elderly people who fail to come home from a walk have often fallen down along roads or paths or slipped down from a roadside into the bushes. If the missing person was out picking mushrooms, you have to search deep into the woods, not along roadsides. This is also true for people who want to commit suicide. In this case you have to comb through bushes and thick woods.