Search K9 Consulting
and Training
.

Whether it’s searching for live victims or human remains, search K9’s and their handlers form an integral component of a search team’s capabilities. With their highly developed sense of smell and being capable of covering large areas in a relatively short period of time, search K9’s are enormously valuable in helping to narrow the focus of the search area, where other search tools can then be used to pinpoint the location.

DART specialises in developing a search dog’s capacity for emergency services, whether it be a wide area search for missing persons, live victims in collapsed structured or human remains, either on land or in water.

Our Search K9 consulting services include:

  • Breed choice
  • Dog selection
  • Kennelling
  • Daily routines
  • Search K9 transportation
  • Search K9 vehicle design and technical specification development
  • Deployment requirements according to International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) Guidelines
  • Equipment supply/recommendations for handlers and K9’s
  • Development of search K9 unit standard operating procedures/guidelines
  • Integration of the search dog into the larger search and rescue team

Our Search K9 training services include:

  • Live scent detection training
  • Human remains detection training (land and water)
  • Rope access for search K9’s
  • K9 handlers and K9’s K9 emergency care
  • Search dog handler / instructor development

Sourcing of Search K9s

Selection:

  • Identify a reputable breeder
  • Conduct aptitude and personality assessments on candidate search dogs
  • Review the pedigree and health status of the parents
  • Arrange a medical health screening

Once selected:

  • Arrange anti-parasite, vaccination and deworming as required
  • The search K9 will live with the DART SME in the UK and undergo the initial socialisation, discipline, agility, and basic training. As the search K9 will be living with the DART SME, they will be subject to continuous behaviour development and training
  • Arrange pedigree, birth, and health records
  • At the appropriate time, arrange for the export of the search K9, working with an approved and reputable live animal exporter

Once delivered:

After a period of acclimatisation in their new home, DART SMEs will conduct the specialised search training based on an incremental development plan for:
  • Collapsed structure search
  • Human remains search – Land or Water
  • Wide area search

Effective search dogs are not easy to come by

It takes years of commitment to train an effective search dog. The road to successful search dogs starts with the selection process, ensuring candidate search dogs have the right aptitude for search work and a good health pedigree. Chronic health problems such as canine hip dysplasia, a genetic skeletal condition commonly affecting some of the larger breeds used as search dogs, will radically reduce the working lifespan of a search K9. A comprehensive screening of lineage can significantly reduce the risk of acquiring a dog that is prone to the condition.


DART’s network of K9 SMEs are recognised by their peers as some of the best in the world, with a proven track record of training search K9s. Not only do they have enviable real-world deployment experience, their achievements have been recognised with prestigious awards and they also have a wealth of experience in developing search dogs, handlers and instructors.

Let us help you with your search K9 needs.

Welcome to DART Solutions. We understand you are required to consistently deliver results in an ever increasingly complex, time and finance constrained environment, being expected to do more, sooner, with less. DART is here to help you get it done right, on time and within budget. DART focuses on providing unique, customised solutions because your requirements are unique.

DART is not a mainstream training business, nor do we intend to be. There are a multitude of businesses offering off-the-shelf products and packages. This is not the space we choose to operate in. DART operates at the sharp end of the sharp end. We are highly specialised, having a laser-focus on delivering our core business, emergency response capacity development, exceptionally well. When you have very real risks with the potential for catastrophic consequences, DART is your ‘go to’.

Welcome to DART Solutions. We understand you are required to consistently deliver results in an ever increasingly complex, time and finance constrained environment, being expected to do more, sooner, with less. DART is here to help you get it done right, on time and within budget. DART focuses on providing unique, customised solutions because your requirements are unique.

DART is not a mainstream training business, nor do we intend to be. There are a multitude of businesses offering off-the-shelf products and packages. This is not the space we choose to operate in. DART operates at the sharp end of the sharp end. We are highly specialised, having a laser-focus on delivering our core business, emergency response capacity development, exceptionally well. When you have very real risks with the potential for catastrophic consequences, DART is your ‘go to’.

DART has achieved consistent growth year-on-year, in an economically constrained environment where cut-outs and cut-backs continue to reach unprecedented levels. We have only managed to achieve this growth because we hold you, our most valued customers, at the centre of what we do. We rely on technology to manage our business but not our relationships. We believe in personalised service. Our greatest asset is the exceptional people who work with us. They bring decades of skill, knowledge and experience to our customers, delivered professionally, respectfully and enthusiastically. Without exception, they love what they do!

We also know that your time is very valuable and that you have choices. So, THANK YOU, for investing some of your valuable time in getting to know us a little better. We would love to get to know you so please feel very welcome to contact us.

Trevor Glass