Understanding and Reading a Scent Dog

How to Read a Dog

Keep in mind that this training is for in the event of a disaster or emergency situation in your own home which could never happen, therefore there is no pressure on you to or your dog to perform these lessons to high expectations.

In other words, take it easy, relax and let your dog do the work as you follow your dog and have fun. Maintaining a causal attitude and tone will work much better with this type of training then does a firm or obedience type of military.

As your dog works to find a lost person during a disaster you’ll be reading your dog for clues that indicate what your dog finds along the route, such as; tail held high and wagging means the dog is getting close to the person. 

Or, if your dog has their nose to the ground while working slowly this may mean the trail is many hours old requiring the dog to pay more attention then the free spirited tail wagging of a nearby find.   

Each dog is different in how they show their findings or clues which is why each dog and handler team must undergo certification. If a handler changes dogs they must learn how to read the new dog and certification will prove they do understand the dog.

Every handler must watch each dog they work with to be able to read the dog and as you watch your dog, look for any sign your dog gives you to what the find along the way.

The dog working an air scent will not go on the same path as the person does so never scold your dog if they do not go on the person’s exact path to find the person.

Only in tracking competitions do dogs have to stay directly on the person’s foot prints or path of travel and we are not competing we are saving lives there is a big difference.

The dog is always right and when a dog fails to find what they are looking for 99% of the time the handler has not read the dog and mistaken that the dog failed so the handler stops the dog. 

If you dog stops on a trail and looks at you for direction or in question then look around because they are trying to tell you something, they are not quitting. Usual the handler mistakes this sign as the dog losing the trail or scent path of the person they seek when that is not what the dog is indicating. 

For instance, one time Incredible Sue and I were looking for a lost elderly man with about 500 other search members. About 5 of us were searching a barn yard that had a blackberry patch next to the corral. Sue took me to the blackberry patch and she went to one of the bushes then used her nose to bump a bunch of the berries that were hanging on the bush. I had never seen her to this before.

At first I thought she was hungry or thirsty but she did not try to eat the berries. I paid attention to her to see what she was trying to tell me. I asked her what it was and to “show me”, she sat down which is her indication she found something. Then she bumped the berries again. I told her okay, now what. She got up and went to another bush and did the same thing and did this over again at another bush.

I watched her in amazement as it dawned on me the elderly man who had been missing 3 days must have been in this berry patch eating berries. He would defiantly have been hungry by then.

The other rescuers and I discussed what Sue was doing and agreed it sure looked like she was telling us this then we radioed the base camp to ask them to ask a family member if the man knew of this berry patch and he did. He was found a few days later not far from this berry patch after Sue and I did a midnight search on day 5 of his disappearance.

Always watch the dog and ask the dog to show you then let the dog show you. You do not show the dog where to go, they show you and this a complete opposite of what we teach our dogs in obedience and manners. (click to see our courses)

In search and rescue work we have to trust our dogs unconditionally and is one of the hardest things to learn. I always remind myself that my dog knows his nose better then I do therefore I do not interfere.

Another example of reading a dog would be when Sue and I were searching along a highway and she picked up a nice clean hanky that was in our route of travel, she carried this by her little front teeth like it was delicate then she dropped it. 

I told the officer with me that the hanky must of belong to the person we were looking for because otherwise she would not of noticed the cloth laying on the roadside. He left to confirm the hanky with the family as belonging to the lost person. Sue was right again. 

Never underestimate your dog.

The weather can make a dog work entirely different then we expect so always follow your dog and let them go to the person on their own without any interference from you.

No coaching the dog unless the dog just does understand what it is you are looking for and that is only when you first start training. 

If your dog has found a person who has hidden a few times and then the dog refuses to look for you the dog is either bored which can lead to burn out. Or, the dog knows where the person is and you are missing the clue.

If your dog goes in a completely different direction ignoring the person or what you ask them to do then do the lesson again being sure not to leave out a step which can confuse the dog.

If the dog fails again to respond by searching for the person then I would make sure the person was honest in how they hid and where they hid. Then start at the beginning lesson again until you learn to read what your dog is telling you.

You and your dog will learn to work as a team with practice and after many lessons once or twice a week. A bond will develop where communication is very clear between you and your dog. 

You will learn from your dog by reading them how they communicate with you through the tracking leash, body language and clues.

A wagging tail means what? Usually they are hot on the trail.

A tail that suddenly goes down means they came to a spot they have to work out or figure out like a puzzle. This spot is where a scent pool may have been left when the person sat down.

This could also be a spot where another dog happened to pee. Only after a few training sessions will you be able to tell the difference by learning to read your dog.

If this spot is where another dog peed, most likely your dog will only smell it and then relieve themselves at the spot too and then go back to looking for the person or on the trail.  

However, if this is a scent pool of the person you are looking for the dog may smell more deeply and show more interest or different interest in this spot and work a one or two ft area that is heavy with the scent of the person.

Let your dog do the puzzle because you will never be able to use your nose to do this scent puzzle. Once the dog figured out which way the person exited the pool of scent they will lead you on the next leg of the route.

Here's my wolf and I looking for my daughter in sand dunes for the first time.

Dogs that are hot, tired and thirsty from working a long trail may go off the route if they smell water. Sue often did this in the summer heat. I would let her go for a swim in a creek if she wanted to because I knew as soon as she was cooled off she would hop back onto her trail. Even if the creek was down the road the opposite direction she would go back to where she cut off to find water and resume the search.

Trust your dog and learn to read him like a book.

Here's my book !

How-to train a tracking dog click here

Lesson 11:Scent Behavior

Scent Behavior

The most amazing feat of a detection dog is how they understand scent behavior and how the dog is able to use scent to find what they are looking for. Olfaction, the sense of smell, is the least understood of the five senses.

Therefore, the more you know about how scent behaves the better you will understand or read your dog when you both are looking for clues to where a person went or where they are buried in rubble.

Scent is defined in the Encarta Dictionary as a pleasant smell or a smell used as trail, or a perfume. The word is also defined as a smelling sense and as a hint or indication that something is likely to happen.

The scent a search dog follows is actually skin and chemical particles along with oils that are so small in size we cannot see the dander unless they accumulate to the point of dandruff or oily skin complaints.

The chemicals that are mixed in with our natural odor come from the soaps and man made items we come into contact with. Everything we come into contact with contaminates our own personal body aroma.

These particles are shed ever minute of our lives and constantly changing but remain somewhat the same to distinguish each of us by our very own scent print similar to a fingerprint.

Whenever we stand, sit or lay a “scent pool” of particles falls, so invisible to our naked eye yet enticing to our 4 legged friends, these particles settle until a wind or movement swirls them to mix with other scents.

As we walk we leave behind a scent trail no matter how hard we try not to do so, we will leave particles behind.

When a person attempts to cover or clock their scent all they are really doing is adding to the unique mixture of ingredients which make up the scent. The overall scent may change but the ingredients remains and a dog taught to discriminate scents can detect even the smallest percentage of the scent they are looking for in the ingredients.

The wind and motion around the scent or person plays a role by moving the scent around and when two people come together their scents mix but a dog who is asked in the correct way can show you which person is the one they first set out to find.

As the motion of our body plays a part in how our scent is laid or settled so do a large number of variables that we come into contact with everyday. As we move through our homes or work places scent constantly trails behind us like our shadow.

We are never really alone and on every leaf or grain of sand we pass outdoors our scent settles, sometimes on branches several feet away where a particle of us may linger for days, weeks and indefinitely depending on the weather or inside climate conditions.

As our scent drifts to sit upon a surface the wind or motion moves it but eventually like all things, the scent will fall to the lowest surface we cross. As we step up a curb from the street our scent falls to the cracks and crevasses of the street and sidewalk. Everywhere we go, a piece of us is left behind.

The slower a person walks the heavier the scent trail remains because the particles have more time to settle in place.

This is true with less windy conditions too. The faster a person walks the less the scent will be contained in a trail or path because the motion dispenses more scent over a large pathway making concentration of scent but a larger area.

This is why a Bloodhound will track 3 or 4 feet off to one side of a person’s actually path of travel. This is always why we do not ask search dogs to stay exactly on a person’s foot print which can slow us down in finding the person.

Scent trails can be affected by drafts that are created from buildings or clear cut areas, roads, ditches and tunnels all can make a draft. A scent trail that comes out of the wooded area to cross a narrow road to another wooded area will hit a draft at the road.

The road will be like a tunnel the wind and air has more space to move the scent around and the scent will drift more regardless of the speed of the wind or even if there is a wind. In a city or urban setting the buildings, alley ways and all of a sudden open spaces create a draft to move scents.

In these areas, the handler often misreads the dog by thinking how the person crossed the road or traveled up the alley instead of thinking about how the dog smells the scent movement in these drafts.

Watch a novice dog at these crosses to learn how your dog will work a drafted area and follow your dog through the puzzle.

Never try to trick a tracking dog or trailing dog because you will only make the dog not trust you to give them the correct scent. A dog will refuse or ignore your wishes if they cannot trust you to know what you want.

A dog smells all the ingredients of a scent and it is up to us to tell them which scent particle we wish to find.

Caution: A dog’s nose can be damaged or desensitized by chemicals and common household cleaning agents or smells depending how close the nose comes to the produce. Never hold any scent to close to your dog’s nose.

Allow your dog to reach over to the scent at their own speed and distance because the dog knows how close they can get to the scent. They have actually smelt the scent long before you called them over to have a smell.

The average dog has a sense of smell much greater then man’s, some say as much as 1 million times greater then ours. Plus they can smell each ingredient which we cannot unless we practice or know beforehand what to notice.

Learning how scent behaves will help you to read your dog for clues that can help you find a missing person or evidence of the person’s whereabouts faster and help you to understand what your dog is telling you.

This lesson gives you the basic idea of how scent plays a role in your dog finding a person.

There are many good books on the subject of scent which can be very complex but interesting reading that will help you to learn how to read your dog better.

Every effort should be made to prevent contamination at the LKL (see glossary page) by other scents, including people at the location or on the scent article you collect.

Once contamination overpowers the person's scent on a scent article or location the dog has a much harder puzzle to figure out and often will become confused which is where the importance of " preventing the contamination the scene or article" comes into play.

I will cover how to secure a search dog location to work in later lessons, be sure to subscribe at the easy link at the left or below so you do not miss a lesson.

The next lesson will explain how handlers read their dogs for clues that help the dog communicate what they find along the trail route.

Lesson 10-Hiding-Tracking Route

How to Make a Trail for the Tracking Dog to Follow

How to hide for a Tracking Dog

Read the Glossary Page for the meaning of dog training words used in this lesson that you may know.

 This lesson for training the family disaster dog does not require the dog.

10 or more squares of bathroom tissue paper and one volunteer to hide for your dog are required.

This lesson will show you how a person should hide indoors or outdoors when you are training your dog to search for a person. To make learning easiest for you and your dog the steps in this lesson should be followed exactly as they are explained here. You should not change the steps or add to the way this tried and true method of laying a trail is done.

The most important point to remember is that your dog should ALWAYS find the person who is hiding.

This training is not to out fox the dog and you must make sure that the person who will hide understands they are helping the dog learn a valuable lesson and they are not to try to trick the dog.

Never try to trick the dog into not finding a person because they will stop doing this task for you.

Remember the dog already knows how to find everybody within a large range of area around them but they do not know who you want them to find...and we are teaching the dog “who” to find how find.

Every time you train or work with your dog on tracking or trailing the person who will hide should be told beforehand how they will walk and set up the course for you and your dog to follow or work to reach them in the hiding spot.

For novice dogs that are beginning to learning tracking or trailing, you should always use a clean building free of other human scent or a field or yard where very few, if any, people have been in or walked on for at least 24 hours.

Use a natural surface to begin with, grass or dirt. Do not cross cement, pavement or water until the dog is in advanced lessons.

Judge the direction of the wind before making training course or laying a trail.

If there is a wind, the trail layer (person) and the trail will go into the wind. The breeze should hit the person’s face as they go to hide which will give the dog the advantage to learn how scent moves on the wind.

Later in advanced lessons the course will be set up to teach you and your dog how to work the wind.  For basic or refresher courses we always go into the wind.

Rain, heat and seasonal weather all affect the dog’s way of detection. These different factors and effects will be covered as lessons advance.

Follow these steps to make a trail for a dog to follow and find a person.

To Lay a Basic training Trail or Track

1. Leave your dog in the car or house
2. You and the Trail Layer walk to the LKL or where you will begin to work your dog.
3. You remain at the LKL spot
4. Trail Layer will rub one square of tissue paper on their skin then lay this paper at their feet
5.  Trail Layer moves off to make the trail by slowly scuffing (dragging) their feet to release scent particles at the start of the trail to aid the dog.
6. Trail Layer Scruffs or Slides their feet for 10 steps then stops and lays a piece of tissue there.
7. The person does not move off of the trail which is the exact path they walk
8. Trail Layer then walks off slowly in a straight line to a prearranged landmark where the will hide or make a corner.
9. Every 30 or 40 steps along the path the Trail Layer will stop in place to put a piece of tissue for you to see and know your dog is on the right path.
10. It will be okay if your dog walks a few feet left or right of the person’s path as long as the dog goes in the right direction to find the person but it is critical that the person stay on path.
11. At every corner the Trail Layer will put one piece of tissue about 6 ft before the planned corner and one piece at the corner where they make the turn, and 6 ft pass the corner.
12. This makes a corner where you will see 3 tissues in this order and when you reach this spot while working your dog, you will know that your dog should turn within 10 ft or so and in the direction the tissue points.
13. The Trail Layer put 1 piece of tissue where they hide.
14. Novice dogs should not be asked to learn corners until they are finding a person on a straight track or trail over and over without any mistakes which can take a month of two of lessons spaced once or two a week.
15. The Trail Layer can hide in an open area by sitting or lying down if there is no wind the dog will work the ground scent but if there is a wind the dog will work the air scent. Read the scent page.
16. A large cardboard box works well to hide in.
17. Hiding around a corner of a building or tree is good but only go behind one corner or tree with a novice dog.
18. Trail Layer remains at the hiding spot or end of the trail until found by you and your dog.
19. As training advances the Trail Layer may have to the entire trail to age and doing so means they remain in hiding for 30 mins-1 hour. This time can be spent reading or fishing with proper planning.
20. Advanced lessons trails can be planned where the Trail Layer is picked up by a car and returned to the hiding spot after the trail has aged.
21. Always watch for other people or pets that might cross the trail you have just made in case your dog is distracted at the spot the person or pet crosses the line then you will know why.
22. Only use one person for one trail per day per dog...do not use a different person if you want to do another trail the same day.
23. You can use this same trail 3 or 4 times on the same day if you have the person stay put after you find them. In this case, you and your dog should walk back to the start by making a big circle away from the trail. You do not want your dog to learn to backtrack on the same path.

The next lesson will explain how scent behaves when scent leaves our body and why a dog can follow the scent of people.

Lesson 9 Stop Bad Behavior

Stop Bad Behavior

Before we go any further in training the family disaster dog I want to stress that you should never get mad at a dog when you are asking them to do this type of training or at any time really, but especially with search dog training.

A dog who is going to help you look for a lost person or carry a backpack while you both make your way through rubble after an earthquake will not help you if the dog thinks you will get mad at them. Period. A dog can and will stop doing this helpful task for you if you try to force them in any way. 

The ability of the dog to come to the aid of its family or pack members, such as when they guard the home or car, is what is required in an emergency situation. The dog has to want to come to your aid and if your mad at them then why would they want to do that for you?

Most modern dog training methods use positive reinforcement cloaked in a variety of names, such as clicker training or drive motivation which both give the dog a reward for doing good and redirect the dog's bad behavior to a good behavior. 


In other words, the methods redirect the dog from the bad behavior by prompting them into paying attention to the clicker or toy, or dog treat then the dog is asked to do what the handler wants for the reward offered. Petting your dog and making a big deal out of their performance does the same thing. These methods avoid punishing the dog as do some forms of standardized obedience classes. 


Most obedience classes require a collar and leash which is used to direct the dog or show them what is wanted of them. Many classes require a choker or correction collar to be used as a way to get the dog to do what is asked. These collars are often misused or poorly explained and a collar that will tighten on the dog's neck such as these types of collars should not be used in search dog training. 


If you use one of these collars on your dog, please remove it while doing these lessons and replace it with a flat collar and ID tag. Not only will the removal of the correction collar allow the dog to move forward on a trail to find a person without wondering when a correction will happen, the dog is learning to work in different equipment that tells the dog the job they will be doing. 


Family dogs do not need any extra obedience training to participate in these disaster dog lessons but every dog has its day of getting in trouble and a well behaved pet is a much easier student to teach. 

If a dog is doing something bad, like chewing a sock or getting into the trash, one of the best ways to stop them is to call them to you. If your dog is not one to come when called then use a treat or get their toy and say "hey, look what I have".

You play with their toy or toss the treat up and catch it then see how long they stay with your sock. 


Doggie will want the toy you have because you make what you are doing more fun looking.

Put your sock away, give them the toy instead and play a little with them to show them this makes you happy.

Keep in mind the floor is the dog's world.

You live above them other then your feet, most everything on the floor they may think of as their own until they learn what belongs to you. Your dog might think you left that sock there just for him and wasn't that nice of you. He'll wonder how come you came in and all of a sudden yelled at him and took it away, some friend you are. 

When you are calling your dog to you when the dog does a bad behavior and otherwise, you should always use the dog's name first with the word come. If you do not use the dog's name they may think you are calling the cat or your mate, not them. You give them the perfect excuse not to respond. 

Always speak in a positive tone. Do not expect the dog to come to you if you sound mad, why would they want to come to you if you are mad that they found your sock ? The dog might think you should be happy because they are cleaning up after you. You tossed the sock.

If you always praise your dog for coming to you when called then what they are doing wrong will not matter because all you have to do is call them to stop the behavior. 

To reinforce the redirection from the bad behavior we have to not only call the dog but also  give the dog something else to do, such as using the sit or lay commands.  We have to ask them to do something for us, like sit or lay which will completely take the dog's mind off of what they were doing that was bad. After they do this good thing for you then give them the full praise of play time or treats as the reward. 


In summary, 

If your dog is, let's say, chewing a sock then call your dog to you. 


When the dog reaches you by coming when called, even if they bring you the sock...give a slight, small praise as encouragement but:


Do not give them the treat or play time until you have them do something like "sit" in front of you or if they are holding your sock, say "drop the sock". 


When they sit or drop the sock, finish by praising your dog. 


As mentioned above, if your dog brings you... a sock then accept the sock and give your dog its toy instead of the sock. If your dog was getting into the trash then put the trash where the dog can not get to bag. 


Dog homes have to be dog proofed just like a home with children has to be child proofed. 


If you have a very bad problem dog, email for help by joining the Google group at the right.

Read the Lesson about encouraging a dog to be the best that they can be and lesson 10 Come when Called for more about training dogs in manners and obedience.