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!

New Kids on the Block!

We are so proud to welcome four new members to the KCSD pack. Nikki, Suzanne, Elisabeth and Liz (along with K9s Alta, Beylon and Lyla who have each begun training In trailing) have completed their candidacy training and are ready to deploy on King County Sheriff’s Office search missions. You can learn more about each of these great volunteers on our website www.kcsearchdogs.org/who/current-members/

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 […]

Our very own hero

Congratulations K9 Lincoln! The votes have been counted and thanks to your support our very own K9 Lincoln was selected as one of the three semi finalist Search & Rescue Dogs in the 2022 American Humane Hero Dog Award competition. We are very proud and grateful to everyone that voted. Even though Lincoln did not make the  finals, this was a great chance to showcase the life-saving work of all the King County Hero Dogs and build community support. Thank You!!!

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 […]

Our hearts are broken. 💔

K9 Ruby died after a tragic accident while off duty on Saturday. Ruby was at the very beginning of her search dog career having passed her airscent certification test with flying colors earlier this month. A non-stop tail wagger, Ruby was a gorgeous three year old Dutch Shepherd with infectious enthusiasm who loved to work and loved to play. Ruby was a formidable search team with her handler Jonathan who joined King County Search Dogs in 2006 and has deployed on over 240 search missions throughout Washington. Please join us in sending condolences to Jonathan and give your puppies an […]

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 […]