Nebraska animals trained for search and rescue
Posted: Tuesday, July 22, 2008
CRAWFORD, Neb. (AP) -- They work cattle and perform everyday ranch duties.
But when their special collars, bridles and halters go on, they put their senses into action and do what they have been trained to do.
For the past four years, a group of men and women have dedicated their time to training their dogs and horses to track down missing people.
The Ponderosa Search and Rescue Team formed when a group of volunteers attended a clinic conducted south of Crawford by Terry Nowacki from Argyle, Minn. Nowacki has been training horses to use their natural air scenting instinct to find people.
His interest came after being involved in a search effort using air-scenting dogs.
Ponderosa Search and Rescue Team member Gretchen Lotspeich said after participating in the workshop, several members began working with their animals and had decided they were doing so well that they would go on with it.
The team began with 13 volunteers in summer 2004 and has 20 members certified in different categories, such as horse and dog handling. The group has five dogs and six horses, all air scent certified.
Lotspeich said people lose dead skin cells in the air, and the dogs and horses are trained to follow the scent of those skin cells.
"They do not differentiate between whose they are, they just find a person, and if it happens to be the wrong person, we just reward them and keep going until we find the right one," Lotspeich said.
The entire process is based on success and treats.
Member Jerry Lotspeich said once one of the animals is on the trail of a missing person, it will oftentimes influence the others because they want to be the first to succeed so they can get the treat instead.
As the animals are tested for their air scent certificate, they are required to do it alone and one at a time, so they have no outside influence, he added.
The handlers have to learn to read their animals' body language, as well as learn to trust them.
For example, Gretchen Lotspeich said that during a mock training, while riding her horse Cody, they entered deep into the forest in search of a missing person.
Cody began circling a tree. "I didn't see anything, therefore, I tried to steer Cody away from the tree and get him back on track, but he wouldn't leave the tree and I couldn't figure out what he was doing," Lotspeich said.
"Then it came to me: He was in the scent, then out and back in as he circled that tree, so I eventually looked up into the tree and the acting victim had climbed up the tree."
"A big part of it is training the handlers or the animal can't succeed," Tom Walters said.
The Search and Rescue team has to be called out by law enforcement. It has been put on standby four times, but the lost victims have been found before the team was sent out.
The team never searches alone or goes out on criminal searches. The team includes members from Crawford, Chadron, Hemingford, Sidney, Alliance and Marsland.
All members have to have CPR and basic first aid training.
But when their special collars, bridles and halters go on, they put their senses into action and do what they have been trained to do.
For the past four years, a group of men and women have dedicated their time to training their dogs and horses to track down missing people.
The Ponderosa Search and Rescue Team formed when a group of volunteers attended a clinic conducted south of Crawford by Terry Nowacki from Argyle, Minn. Nowacki has been training horses to use their natural air scenting instinct to find people.
His interest came after being involved in a search effort using air-scenting dogs.
Ponderosa Search and Rescue Team member Gretchen Lotspeich said after participating in the workshop, several members began working with their animals and had decided they were doing so well that they would go on with it.
The team began with 13 volunteers in summer 2004 and has 20 members certified in different categories, such as horse and dog handling. The group has five dogs and six horses, all air scent certified.
Lotspeich said people lose dead skin cells in the air, and the dogs and horses are trained to follow the scent of those skin cells.
"They do not differentiate between whose they are, they just find a person, and if it happens to be the wrong person, we just reward them and keep going until we find the right one," Lotspeich said.
The entire process is based on success and treats.
Member Jerry Lotspeich said once one of the animals is on the trail of a missing person, it will oftentimes influence the others because they want to be the first to succeed so they can get the treat instead.
As the animals are tested for their air scent certificate, they are required to do it alone and one at a time, so they have no outside influence, he added.
The handlers have to learn to read their animals' body language, as well as learn to trust them.
For example, Gretchen Lotspeich said that during a mock training, while riding her horse Cody, they entered deep into the forest in search of a missing person.
Cody began circling a tree. "I didn't see anything, therefore, I tried to steer Cody away from the tree and get him back on track, but he wouldn't leave the tree and I couldn't figure out what he was doing," Lotspeich said.
"Then it came to me: He was in the scent, then out and back in as he circled that tree, so I eventually looked up into the tree and the acting victim had climbed up the tree."
"A big part of it is training the handlers or the animal can't succeed," Tom Walters said.
The Search and Rescue team has to be called out by law enforcement. It has been put on standby four times, but the lost victims have been found before the team was sent out.
The team never searches alone or goes out on criminal searches. The team includes members from Crawford, Chadron, Hemingford, Sidney, Alliance and Marsland.
All members have to have CPR and basic first aid training.
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