Air scent dogs do not follow a victim's path. They run through an assigned sector smelling the air for any sign of the victim. When they smell the victims scent they trace it to its source and then notify their handler that they found someone. They do not need to have a scent article and always work off lead. However, it is important that the sector the dog is given to search does not contain many other people besides the victim.

      Wind and weather has a strong effect on the dog's chances of finding the victim easily. If there is no wind on a hot dry sunny day the victim's scent will not travel far and will be hard to detect, so the dog will need to make many closely spaced passes through it's sector. If it is around dusk and humid with a steady breeze, the victim's scent will be blown far from them; making it more likely that the dog will run through it and detect it on one of its passes across its sector.  Many breeds have been used for air-scenting. We have traditionally used German Shepard dogs but now have a Black Labrador in training, as well.

       These dogs have the endurance to run for long periods of time and still have energy left over to do their job. They are very friendly and enjoy being around people of all ages. They are trained to work off-lead and respond to commands from their handlers.