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In any given year, Chesapeake Search Dogs is asked to respond to a variety of incidents. The most common incidents are missing/lost person incidents where the safety of a person is at risk. These typically include lost children, autistic children, people with diminished capacity (Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia, mentally or emotionally challenged, etc), and overdue hikers/hunters. The team is also asked to respond to a dozen or so

Drowning Subject Detection: This is the location of human remains in a body of water. A body, when drowned, consistently gives off gasses that rise to the surface of the water. Those gasses contain scent. The dogs can pinpoint where that scent emerges from the water. This is a valuable tool in helping to preserve the health and safety of the divers who must recover a drown subject.

First Responder Urban Search and Rescue (USAR): This is the location of an injured or trapped subject in a structure, vehicle or man-made object due to an event. This often includes natural disasters, structural collapse, and transportation incidents. There are dogs that train for this work exclusively. Chesapeake Search Dogs is trained for First Response to assist until such time as specially trained dogs, qualified by FEMA, can respond to the scene.

Swiftwater Rescue/Recovery: This is the location of subjects injured or deceased in a flooding situation or river accident. Dogs in this discipline are specifically qualified to search a river bank/water’s edge or from a boat in turbulent conditions. The handlers are specially trained for safety in this environment.

7	Article Detection: This is the location of human scent on any article. This discipline teaches a dog to distinguish as to whether or not an article has recently been touched by a human and contains human scent. This discipline is very valuable to police agencies in the search for evidence.