Handler Sarah Zumwalt and K9 Briar have worked together for seven years. He began his training at 13 weeks old and became certified as a Search K9 at 2 years old.
When Lyndcy Patrick, land use manager at our South Valley office in Eugene, Oregon, received a request from Pacific Northwest Search Dogs, she immediately recognized the importance of supporting the group’s mission to keep our community safe. Since 2021, Weyerhaeuser has granted the group a land use permit free of charge so they can train on our Springfield and South Valley tree farms.
“Access to this land is absolutely essential,” Lyndcy says. “The dogs need areas free from conflicting human scents to properly learn how to track. Offering this kind of environment could save lives here in Lane County.”
The moment that K9 Yeti found Lyndcy Patrick hiding in the forest. Yeti earned a quick game of fetch with his handler as a reward for finding Lyndcy.
TRAINING ACCESS = READINESS
The Pacific Northwest Search Dog team is part of Lane County Sheriff's Ground Search and Rescue, Inc., an all-volunteer group that serves primarily Lane County but responds to emergencies throughout the entire state when needed. GSAR acts as a primary resource to help the Lane County Sheriff's office locate, rescue and recover lost or endangered people in both wilderness and urban settings. The dogs are trained to search large areas, typically 40 acres per hour, using the wind to locate lost people. They find the scent with their noses up, following a scent cone — the pattern a scent follows as it disperses from its source and is affected by wind and terrain.
A dog’s nose contains up to 300 million scent receptors, compared to just 6 million in humans. These abundant receptors allow them to detect scents at concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than what we can perceive, helping them locate missing people even when concealed by heavy brush, water or miles of forest. Search and rescue dogs can also distinguish between multiple scents, separating the trace of a human from the other background scents found in forests and other search sites.
Weyerhaeuser employees pose in the Oregon forest with K9 Yeti and several trainers from Pacific Northwest Search Dogs.
“Partnerships like the one we share with Weyerhaeuser are vital to volunteer organizations like K9 SAR,” says Sarah Zumwalt, a volunteer handler at Pacific Northwest Search Dogs. “The ability to train on secure, low human traffic grounds gives our teams the confidence and readiness to respond when someone’s loved one goes missing. Thanks to these training sessions, our dogs and handlers are better prepared, our community is supported, and families facing the unthinkable have reason for hope.”
Pacific Northwest Search Dogs have repeatedly found lost hikers, mushroom hunters, children and elderly individuals. Their agility and endurance allow them to cover large areas quickly and earn their reward — often a game of tug-of-war or fetch with their favorite toy, which keeps them motivated.
Handlers utilize a mobile app for mapping and tracking. During a search operation, each dog and handler team is assigned a specific area to cover.
“LOST” AND FOUND
Earlier this summer, Lyndcy and colleagues Betsy Earls, public affairs manager for Oregon and Montana, and Kyleigh Gill, public relations manager for Oregon and Montana, participated in a practice rescue scenario on our Springfield tree farm. They pretended to be lost in the forest and waited to be “found” by a dog. They also took turns trailing, sometimes referred to as “flanking,” the handler and the dog as both searched and found their subjects.
“We had such a great day in the woods with Briar, Yeti and their handlers,” Kyleigh says. “I learned training a SAR dog takes an average of two years and demands a lot of patience, love, consistency and an understanding of canine psychology. The Pacific Northwest Search Dog team members also provide all their own equipment and supply and train their own animals – it’s something they’re really passionate about.”
