There are no words…💔

King County Search Dogs mourns the loss of a legend. K9 Jackson, known to all as “Jack!”, died suddenly last week after a decade of service to our community. Full of life and a bit full of himself, Jack was a beautiful German Shepherd Dog who was certified in wilderness airscent and human remains detection. Jack was an instant hero when he found a missing 9 year old girl on his very first search. He was so happy to find her and so eager to play that it startled the girl and other searchers had to chase after her while […]

KCSD Dog Wins AKC Excellence Award on National Television

Wow: We are so proud to report that our very own K9 Lincoln has won the 2022 Search & Rescue Award for Canine Excellence (ACE) from the American Kennel Club Humane Fund. Winners were announced last Sunday on an hour long ESPN2 special that included video profiles and commentary on Lincoln and the winners in the uniform services, support, therapy and companion categories. Lincoln is an energetic flatcoated retriever certified in wilderness airscent and human remains detection and was recognized for finding at-risk Alzheimer’s subjects twice in the last eighteen months. Lincoln’s handler Jon noted that it is a tribute […]

Congratulations Team Riley!

We are excited to report that K9 Riley and his handler Mary passed their wilderness airscent certification test by finding two ‘lost’ subjects in 40 acres of woods with plenty of time to spare. It was a challenging wet and cold day with gusty winds that were constantly changing. At one point the soap bubbles Mary was using to check the wind started moving to the north but before hitting the ground they reversed and moved ten feet south. K9 Riley was not fooled for a minute. Such a good dog!

Canine Kudos for Max!

Join us in congratulating K9 Max and his handler Linda for passing the National Search Dog Alliance (NSDA) Land Human Remains Detection certification test yesterday. NSDA certification is demanding for both handler and dog but helps establish a search dog team’s credentials for the assignments King County Search Dogs receives. The test is a thorough examination with five parts including searching wooded areas, inside buildings, along roads and vehicle exteriors. Max is a gorgeous german shepherd who certified in wilderness airscent searching earlier this year and we are so very proud of what this team has, and will, accomplish. Go […]

Commander Riker is ready for duty!

Join us in congratulating K9 Riker and his handler Brian for becoming the newest certified King County Search Dog airscent team after passing their field test today! Riker, a black German Shepherd known for boldly going where no dog has gone before, bounded through 40 acres of forest and found both his “lost” subjects well within the two hour limit. It takes years of training, practice and patience to certify a search dog and we are very proud of Brian and Riker’s accomplishment. Look for them at the next KCSD mission where they will be seeking out new subjects and […]

Search Dogs Save Lives!

GOOD DOG LINCOLN! On June 21, 2022 five KCSD dog teams responded to a search for an 87 year old with Alzheimers missing overnight in thick woods northeast of Seattle. After working less than 45 minutes K9 Lincoln, Brenna O’Leary and Lincoln’s handler Jon found the subject in steep terrain less than half a mile from their house. While we give our dogs the headlines, the full story is that a great outcome like this results from the teamwork of over twenty five volunteers from several King County Search and Rescue Units: Searchers from ESAR and 4×4 in addition to […]

K9 Myka is on the trail!

King County Search Dogs is proud to announce that we have a newly certified trailing team in our ranks. Congratulations to Courtney and K9 Myka for flying through their trailing test this week! Myka is Courtney’s second search dog. They are now certified in both trailing and human remains detection (HRD). K9 Jack, Myka’s older “brother,” is also certified in two disciplines, airscent and HRD. Courtney is one of only a few handlers in the history of KCSD to have certified with a dog in every core discipline – trailing, airscent, and human remains detection. Quite an achievement! The KCSD […]

Happy New Year!

Jack, Bailey, Cleo, Max, Lincoln, Zula, Oso, Fritz and all the rest of the KCSD dogs wish everyone a safe and healthy 2022. 2021 was an intense year for KCSD despite the seemingly relentless pandemic. There was exciting success on search missions but also the tragic loss of one of our newest search dogs Ruby. We responded to 49 searches, participated in 106 training exercises and contributed a total of 7,497 hours (227 hours/person average) to help people in distress in Washington. We are grateful for the support we receive from our community and would be unable to continue without […]

jet, Ruby, Lincoln, Myka

Kudos for K9s!

It’s been a busy couple of months for new certifications for some of the KCSD dogs! K9 Ruby and handler Jonathan (top right) successfully completed their airscent certification test last weekend finding both “lost” subjects in a 40 acre area in less than two hours. K9 Jet (top left), K9 Myka (bottom left) and K9 Lincoln (bottom right) and their handlers Mathew, Courtney and Jon have all recently passed their human remains detection certification test. Please join us in congratulating all these dogs teams for the years of hard work it takes to reach this level of performance. We look […]

Search Dogs Really Do Save Lives

In the early hours of April 30th KCSD was deployed to look for a missing 87 year old with dementia. At 2:30 AM, after working less than 15 minutes, K9 Lincoln found the subject who was reunited with their family. Please join us in congratulating Lincoln, his handler Jon and support team Brian and Katherine on Lincoln’s first ‘find’ as well as in thanking all the volunteers from KCSD and King County Search and Rescue who responded to the late night call out from the King County Sheriff’s Office and Bellevue, WA Police Department. KCSD dogs and handlers each spend […]

Search Dogs Save Lives!

What did you do on the 4th of July? King County Search Dogs was called out at 2:30 AM to help King County Search and Rescue and King County Sheriff’s Office search for a hiker in Kanasket Palmer State Park. Starting out shortly after daybreak K9 Natick, Josh, and Brittney (on only her 3rd deployment) found the subject and brought him safely out to the command post by 8AM. Please join us in congratulating Josh, Brittney, Natick and all the other SAR volunteers who responded on a job well done!

Go Jet Go !

Faster than a speeding bullet, It’s Jet the Search Dog! Join us in congratulating K9 Jet and Handler Mathew on successfully completing their airscent pretest. True to her name Jet raced through 40 acres of forest and found her ‘lost’ search subjects in half the allotted time. Look for them zooming around at the next King County Search and Rescue mission.