In the simplest of terms, airscenting is the process of sniffing an odor that is carried in the air. Dogs do this behavior naturally. When you’re walking your dog and they lift their head, start sniffing and looking around, that’s airscenting! They’ve smelled something interesting and they want to know more.

For search and rescue purposes, dogs are trained using their instinctive behaviors to identify and seek out the scent of humans in an area. It is up to the handler to support their dog and strategically work as a team to cover the terrain in an assigned area. The objective of airscent dogs in search and rescue is to locate the lost person in your assigned area or to "clear" it in order for deputies to focus resources and search efforts to other potential locations.

All of the necessary skills to become a deployable search team are taught by our senior members based on an established set of criteria and internal evaluation, as well as through external workshops and seminars.