National Urban Search & Rescue Response System
Canine Search Specialist Training
Canine Search Specialist Training
Unit 5:
Scent Theory
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National Urban Search & Rescue Response System
Canine Search Specialist Training
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National Urban Search & Rescue Response System
Canine Search Specialist Training
Unit Objective
Upon completion of this unit, you will be
able to explain the theory of scent as it
relates to the canine search for live
victims in a collapsed structure
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National Urban Search & Rescue Response System
Canine Search Specialist Training
Enabling Objectives
Explain the rationale for understanding
scent movement
Describe the factors that may affect
scent
Describe how scent is transported away
from the victim
Plan the search of a collapsed structure
to efficiently work canines into scent
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Rationale
Dogs “see” the world through their nose
Scent is 3-dimensional to them
Our job is to put them where they can
best detect scent
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Canine Search Specialist Training
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Canine Search Specialist Training
The Canine
Olfactory System
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The Nose Knows
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Canine Olfactory System
Olfactory sensory cell estimates
Human = 5 million
Canine = 220 million
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CONTRIBUTORS
TO HUMAN SCENT COMPLEX
Canine Search Specialist
Training
Bacterial
Action
Adipose
MEOH
H2SO4
Volatile Fatty Acids
K, Cl, Urea, Ca
Mg, PO4, HOH
Eccrine
Human Scent
Sebaceous
Sebum, Squalene
Volatile Fatty Acids
Amines
Apocrine
Respiratory Tract
GI Tract
Other factors: Genetic, Diet, Environment
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Huh?
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Canine Search Specialist Training
What is scent to a canine?
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Canine Search Specialist Training
The Raft Theory
Dying/dead, bacteria laden skin cells—
called rafts
Rafts are shed from
Skin
Respiratory and digestive tracks
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Skin raft loss
Approximately
40,000 per minute!
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“If one gram of butyric acid was made to
evaporate evenly in all the rooms of a ten
story office building, a man would barely be
able to perceive its existence by standing in
one of the rooms. However, if the same
gram of butyric acid was diluted to fill the air
above the entire city of Hamburg, the dog
could still perceive it at an altitude of 300
feet.”
William Syrotuck
Scent and the Scenting Dog, pg. 13
National Urban Search & Rescue Response System
Canine Search Specialist Training
How is scent dispersed?
The scent is heaviest at the source and
dispersed away from the victim in a cone
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Scent Dispersal
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Influences on Scent Dispersal
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Environmental Influences
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Environmental Influences
 Temperature
 Wind strength and
direction
 Humidity
 Sun
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Canine Search Specialist Training
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Temperature
Hot
Cold
The temperature of victim versus the
temperature of the environment
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Wind
Strength
Direction
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Humidity
High
Low
Rain
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Sun
Clear
Overcast
Night
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Day-time Patterns
Night-time Flows
Structural Influences
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Structural Influences
Building architecture
Elevator shafts
Closed stairwells
Windows
Breached floors/walls
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Structural Influences (continued)
Scent flows well in
Broken rubble
Light framing
Brick
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Katrina 2005
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Scent Flow and Detection
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Scent Flow and Detection
The disaster search canine is trained to
indicate the presence of a live victim by
performing a focused bark alert at the
point in the rubble where the strongest
live human scent is emitted
Bark!
Bark!
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Canine Search Specialist Training
DETECTION versus LOCATION
Dogs are SCENT detectors NOT
victim locators!
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Scent Flow—Channeling
BARK
• Solid Slabs
• Large Chunks
• Solid Slabs
• Large Chunks
BARK
BARK
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Scent Source Detection
Be able to interpret your dog’s alert
Document
Debrief
Handler to STM
Handler to Handler
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Scent Flow—Funneling
Bark! Bark!
Scent Flow—Pooling
Bark! Bark!
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Typical Collapse Patterns
Lean-To
“V”
Pancake
Cantilever
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Lean-To
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Canine Search Specialist Training
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“V”
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Pancake
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Cantilever
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Canine Search Specialist Training
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Cold Wall
Hot Wall
What is this?
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Canine Search Specialist Training
Use your scent knowledge
Identify scenting conditions
Surveyor’s tape, puff bottles/talc mirror
scent pattern
Interpret pattern of alerts
Send canine from position which
maximizes probability of detection
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National Urban Search & Rescue Response System
Canine Search Specialist Training
Considerations
Hazardous materials
Live versus dead
Number of victims found
Distractions
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Questions?
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Scent Theory/Air Movement
Demonstration
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Unit Summary and Evaluation
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National Urban Search & Rescue Response System
Canine Search Specialist Training
Unit Summary
Explain the rationale for understanding
scent movement
Describe the factors that may affect
scent
Describe how scent is transported away
from the victim
Plan the search of a collapsed structure
to efficiently work canines into scent
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National Urban Search & Rescue Response System
Canine Search Specialist Training
Unit Evaluation
Please fill out the evaluation on this
briefing
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