Picking up the scent: Pooches from across U.S. get search training in Wichita
Lettie, a friendly 3 1/2-year-old bloodhound who loves cheese sticks and backyard jaunts, is a household pet. Until she gets a whiff of someone she’s supposed to find.
Then she’s a search and rescue dog.
Her owner, Christi Raak, is a longtime member of Missouri Search and Rescue K-9. The all-volunteer group, based in the Kansas City area, is one of many civilian organizations that help law enforcement and fire departments hunt for people who are missing or lost.
Lettie’s been in training since she was a 9-week-old pup.
On Saturday, she was one of more than 30 dogs from across the United States that came to Wichita for a day of search training put on by the Wichita Police Department and Global K9 Safety Ops.
The dogs and their handlers gathered at Tall Oaks Apartments, 2330 N. Oliver — where there are hundreds of people and distractions — and learned to track a single person’s scent after smelling a piece of paper on the ground.
“We can use anything from a piece of clothing to a footprint on the ground” to get a dog on a person’s trail, Global’s founder and independent dog handler Wayne Leach said.
He’s aided law enforcement in dozens of searches including one earlier this year looking for then-missing Wichita 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez. Lucas was eventually found dead under a bridge after his stepmother led a private investigator there.
“If we know a person has been there, they can pick up the scent,” Leach said.
The dogs then follow it until they lose it or find to whom it belongs.
Raak’s group, Missouri Search and Rescue K-9, has about a dozen volunteers who have one or more dogs each. Raak has three that she trains at least three times a week. The group participates in around 40 searches a year.
She explained that it’s important for search and rescue dogs to travel and get training from people and in places they aren’t familiar with.
“Every organization that trains has something different to offer for us to learn,” she said. Volunteering to search for missing people “is a way for me to give back to the community and help loved ones’ families.”
Wichita police Officer Joe Camp said Saturday that all breeds of dogs are capable of learning search skills.
Some are better suited for it than others. But what matters is the dog’s personality, he said.
He’s recently used his own pet bloodhound, Blue, to helps the Wichita Police Department find both missing kids and criminals on the loose.
Camp said anyone who wants their pooch to become a search and rescue dog should contact a reputable volunteer team and plan to spend several hours a week for at least a year or two training their dog.
“We’re trying to build a relationship through this training and work together” with volunteer search groups to find people, Camp said.
“If we can . . . find the missing, does it matter if it’s law enforcement or civilians doing it?”