GET READY TO GIVE BIG!

King County Search Dogs has been there 24/7/365 for 30 years working to help reunite Washington families. Each of our members averages 182 hours/year volunteering on search missions and training activities but we can’t do it without your help.Consider helping King County Search Dogs during GiveBig 2026 and through the end of the year during our anniversary fundraising. Every donation helps and every dollar of your gift will be matched up to $10,000 by a generous supporter.https://www.wagives.org/organization/kcsearchdogs#VolunteerService #Searchdogs #dogs #searchandrescue

Someone is Having a Birthday 🎂🎁🎉

Formed in 1996 with first deployment in 1997, KCSD is celebrating 30 years of service to Washington State and the King County Sheriff’s Office including over 1,240 search missions with King County Search and Rescue. Please join us as we profile our wonderful dog teams as well as training and community outreach activities over the next year. KCSD is 100% volunteer and depends community support. You can help during the 2026 Give Big Day appeal on Tuesday and our 30th Birthday fundraiser where your donation will be matched by a generous supporter doubling your impact. (https://www.wagives.org/organization/kcsearchdogs) #VolunteerService #Searchdogs #SearchAndRescue

Farewell to a K9 Superstar

💔 K9 Natick Wilderness Searcher: 9/2/2012-4/25/2026. It’s what happens in that dash between the years that counts: Natick began his introduction to KCSD at 8 weeks, certified in wilderness airscent at 21 months and deployed on first official mission a week later. In 2015 he helped find a camper who was reported missing but wasn’t actually lost and in 2016 helped find a father and son from Germany visiting our region who got lost on a hike in the Alpine Lakes. Natick added certifications in Cadaver and Human Remains Detection through KCSD and NSDA. Throughout his career he helped make […]

National TV spotlight on KCSD search dog!

Who was that dog?? ABC/ESPN, KOMO4 recently included a wonderful short profile of our very own K9 Lincoln. It aired during their broadcast of the 25th AKC National Championship Dog Show where Lincoln was a great ambassador for all hardworking SAR dogs even though he was an over-excited hot mess the one time he entered a show ring. You can see the video here: https://www.kcsearchdogs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/AKC-NC-Lincoln-SEGMENTsmall.mp4 We are very proud of Lincoln and all his KCSD teammates and we are especially grateful for the support we continue to receive from the community that they serve. Best wishes to everyone for a […]

Thank You!

As King County Search Dogs celebrates 30 years of service to the community we want to acknowledge and thank everyone who has made this great team possible including the many generous donors, King County Sheriff’s Office and the rest of King County Search and Rescue, all the past and current KCSD members, and especially all the wonderful dogs. Best wishes to everyone for a safe and successful 2026!

Double Heartbreak

Tragedy can strike without warning or mercy: We are heartbroken to share that K9 Max died suddenly last week. Max was a beloved 7 year old long-haired German Shepherd; a gentle giant whose thick coat made him appear much larger than his 90 lbs. A highly accomplished search dog, Max was certified in airscent, land and water human remains, crime scene and successfully located the lost on more than one occasion. Max and his handler Linda responded frequently to searches across western Washington where they earned the love and respect of many in the SAR community. Watching Linda and Max […]

500 Club!

During our recent 2024 holiday celebration we honored three members who have each surpassed 500 search missions: An amazing milestone! Joan Hitchner, Heather Jo Cutting and Greg Varney (L-R) have responded to 503, 529 and 614 callouts, respectively, from the King County Sheriff’s Office since joining KCSD. 500 missions is an extraordinary achievement for any SAR volunteer especially a K9 handler. Please join us in congratulating the inaugural members of the KCSD 500 Club; Greg, Heather and Joan for their combined 79 years of commitment as well as thanking them for their continuing community service.

May Matching Madness

Here’s your chance to support K9 Alta and the rest of the KCSD dog pack during our fundraising campaign called “May Matching Madness”.  The REALLY BIG NEWS is that a generous donor has offered to match every dollar we raise during the month of May including the annual GiveBIG event. What a great way for you to leverage your gift and Give Bigger! See our donation page for more. Thanks to the very talented Nikki Frumkin for the watercolor of K9 Alta.

Raise a glass for K9 Syrah!

WOW! On Saturday K9 Syrah and handler Brittney found their first “lost person” in under 5 minutes and the second at 45 minutes to pass the KCSD air scent certification test well within the two hour limit. Brittney is a graduate student in Applied Animal Behavior & Welfare at Virginia Tech and has a Certificate in Applied Animal Behavior from U. Washington. Highly motivated K9 Syrah is a Belgian Malinois adopted from Woof Project Rescue that loves her reward toy. When the team was asked which end of the leash is smarter, Brittney looked at Syrah who just smirked. Let’s […]

Farewell K9 Oso

We grieve: K9 Oso died peacefully at home last week after a conspiracy of health problems overtook him far too young. Named in honor of the tragic 2014 Snohomish County landslide where his handler Heather Jo Cutting worked along side so many other rescuers, K9 Oso lived up to his name responding to over 160 search missions and making several important finds during his career. He earned KCSD and National Search Dog Alliance certifications in airscent and human remains detection and also used those skills searching from boats and in the snow. Whether jumping out of a helicopter at first […]

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 […]