By Ryan Berry

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — If you noticed several dogs sniffing around downtown Greenville recently it wasn’t because they were out for a leisurely stroll. The dogs and their handlers were hard at work preparing for an emergency.

Members of the All SAR K9’s, Inc. train nearly every weekend to make sure the members and their dogs are ready to go when called into action. Sharon Karns, president and lead trainer for the organization, said her group specializes in finding lost people. On Saturday, Oct. 5 the group was practicing their Trailing technique.

Trailing involves having the dog follow the scent of an individual wherever the path may lead. The path could be long and winding and over many surface changes. For this challenge a scent is laid down and the dog and handler must find the individual. The group walked through downtown Greenville before making their way to the upper levels of Montage where the individual was located. The dog and handler were forced to go through many different areas, including a car wash and upstairs. The dogs also had to indicate to the handler the scent was leading them through a closed door.

According to Karns, it takes approximately three months to train a dog to be a search and rescue dog. The challenge is training the handler. She said it takes anywhere from 18 months to two years for the handler to be able to read the dog and know the signs the dog is giving. All of their dogs are certified through International Working Dog Guidelines. She said the challenge for the handler is trusting the canine because the dog will follow the scent even if the handler doesn’t think the path or location is logical.

All SAR K9’s has 18 members that are available at a moment’s notice. They will go anywhere. That is why they train nearly every week. The only exception is holidays. The group generally has 12 or 13 handlers and dogs each week. On Saturday they had nine of their members training.

Their training takes them all over the Miami Valley and through different terrains and settings. One week they may be in a park and the next week they could be at a flea market. At one training, a scent was laid four days prior at a flea market. The challenge for the dogs was to find and follow the scent of one individual after others have walked through the area.

In addition to Trailing, Karns said they have dogs that specialize in area and wilderness searching. These dogs will find any person in an area up to 50 or 60 acres. The dogs are looking for anyone in that area and not a specific person.

The group also has a few dogs that have been trained as cadaver dogs.

Although the group will go anywhere to conduct searches, they have to be called upon by first responders. It is in their charter that they cannot self-deploy. There are no charges for their services, but they do accept donations to help with training and equipment.

You can find them on Facebook by searching AllSARk9sInc.

To contact Daily Advocate Editor Ryan Berry, email [email protected].