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The North Alabama Search Dog Association was founded in the fall of 1996 in Northeast Alabama.  We are a volunteer non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization committed to training and using dogs for search and rescue operations.  We provide search dogs for a variety of operations including wilderness, cadaver and water.  We generally train our dogs to work using airscent or trailing techniques, and the dogs can work with or without a scent article.

Dogs

Search dogs can be an important tool for search operations.  They can cover ground quickly and often with higher probabilities of detection than people, particularly at night or in dense brush.  They can be used to find people missing in wilderness or urban environments, as well as deceased people on both land and water (drownings).  For more information on types of search dogs, visit our Types of Search Dogs page.  While the dog does a lot of work, a handler must also be well trained in navigation, clue awareness, first aid, and many other searching skills

Many people ask about what kinds of dogs can be used for search work.  Many different types of breeds are used.  Generally, German Shepherd dogs are quite prominent, but many other breeds, including Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Border Collies and many others are used for search and rescue work.  In general, dogs for the AKC sporting, herding and working lines are quite commonly used for SAR work.  Also, mixed breed dogs can make quite good search dogs.  A dog with a good work ethic, good trainability,  good attitude and lots of self confidence can make a great search dog.

Search work can begin from 8-12 week old puppies to dogs that are several years old.  Older dogs can be started in search work, but the handler must be aware that it will take 1 - 2 years to train the dog and starting older dogs usually means a much shorter working career.

To see pictures of our dogs and their handlers, please visit our Members  page.

This site last updated April 2008