Alpha Team K9 Search and Rescue (ATSAR) is a volunteer search and rescue (SAR) dog unit, on call 24 hours a day to assist law enforcement, emergency response, and other official agencies.

You must be at least 18 years old to join ATSAR. We require that you train with us as a probationary member regularly for approximately three months. ATSAR personnel will be evaluating your physical status, interest, and commitment.  If you have a dog for the team’s consideration, we will also evaluate your dog’s temperament, aptitude for a given search and rescue discipline, and progress in training. During this time you will have an opportunity to work with ATSAR handlers and get to know them. They will be helping in the initial training of you and your dog as a search team. After this initial probationary period, you may apply for full membership. To become an active member, you will be sponsored by a mentor, who will be responsible for helping you become a GEMA and ATSAR-certified team.

We have found that many breeds of dogs are capable of doing SAR work, although most are from the working, herding, sporting, or hound groups. Dogs at the extreme ends of the size range, i.e., very small or large, are probably not well suited for this work. The dog does not have to be a purebred. One advantage of a pedigreed dog, however, is being able to look at the parent’s temperament and working ability.

You do not need a K9 to be a key part of ATSAR.  The roles of field support and incident command are critical to our successful search operations.  We also employ drones and certified drone pilots are welcome.

If you wish to become a K9 handler and you don’t already have a dog, a good idea is to come out to official ATSAR trainings to observe different breeds before you make up your mind. Talk to different people about the pros and cons of their breed in doing search work. Certain breeds may have inherent traits and talents that make them either easier or more difficult to train for SAR work than other breeds. If you are set on a specific breed, you will almost always be better off buying from a working line and not a show or pet line. Ask ATSAR members for their recommendations for breeders. Investigate genetic diseases of the breed and make sure you get your dog from a line that has had minimal or no health problems, from parents tested free of the common genetic diseases in that breed. A reputable breeder should be able to answer any questions you have about health problems, temperament, and working ability.

You do not have to start with a puppy. However, one of the advantages of training a puppy is that it will most likely have a more extended working career.  Most search dogs are in training by age 2-years. It is not recommended to start SAR training with a dog that is older than 3 years.

You should count on approximately two years to train your dog and gain the skills you both need to become Mission Ready.

You must have current CPR for the Professional Rescuer and an approved first aid course (Emergency Medical Response, Wilderness First Aid, etc.).  You have to become proficient in the use of map and compass, GPS, and obtain your ham-radio license. You must learn wilderness survival skills and search and rescue theory. You must also acquire basic man-tracking and helicopter safety skills.

The training your dog receives will be dependent on whether it specializes as an area search dog, human remains detection, or a trailing dog, but all dogs must be well-socialized and obedience trained. They also need agility training so they can safely negotiate obstacles in the wilderness and disaster rubble. The dog must be able to swim.

We can help you train your dog and will provide some of the skills training that you will need, but much of the training (including first aid and CPR) you must get on your own. Many backpacking stores and community colleges offer classes in map, compass, and backpacking.

Yes. Expect to train 2-3 times a week (including some nights) for 2-3 years before taking a certification test. When you and your dog are certified you will still be training regularly and can expect phone calls in the middle of the night to call you out on searches.

A Trailing Dog team must pass a series of preliminary skill evaluations followed by the Trailing Dog Team certification Test which is a 3/4 to 1 mile long trail, 12 – 18 hours old.
To become a certified Area Search Dog Team, you and your dog must first pass preliminary skills including a 20-acre test (finding one well-hidden person in thirty minutes). The certification Area Search Dog Team Test is 40 acres; the dog must find 1-3 well-hidden people in two hours.
A Human Remains Detection Dog (HRD) team must pass a series of preliminary skill evaluations followed by the certification test, which is two 3-acre sectors containing 1-2 sources. Each sector must have the sources located within 30 minutes. 

Operational K9 teams must recertify on a regular basis.

Yes. We are all volunteers. We buy our uniforms and equipment and pay for our gas. Travel to and from training and searches can run over 10,000 miles a year. If you do not have backpacking equipment, you will need to purchase it before you are mission ready. When mission ready we are expected to respond to a search equipped to be self-sufficient in the field.

ATSAR is not able to accept donations of dogs nor to coordinate their adoption. We are a 100% volunteer organization fully occupied with training and deploying search dog teams. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to help re-home dogs.

A serious long-term commitment is mandatory.

If you are interested in advanced dog training but are not ready to make a long-term commitment to training yourself and your dog 2-3 times a week for years, or you are more interested in dog training accomplishments than searching for missing people, then we suggest you investigate dog sports such as agility, flyball, obedience, field trials, hunt tests, protection sports, nose-work, or tracking. 

Your search area may be steep, brushy, muddy, covered with poison oak or snow, etc.

Are you afraid to go out in the woods at night with just your dog and maybe one other searcher?

Are you averse to snakes, ticks, spiders – or more significant “residents” of the woods?

A positive attitude, confidence in your abilities, self-reliance, and being able to evaluate if you are capable of doing “the search” – are musts.

You might drive several hours to a search, and when you get there learn that the subject has already been found, so you drive home without being deployed.

You must be ready to deal with finding deceased subjects.

Searches are a team effort, with many trained individuals (sometimes hundreds) with different skill sets and roles coming together for a common purpose — to find the missing person. Canine teams are only one resource of many at the disposal of search management.

At any given search, there is a very low likelihood that you and your dog will find the missing person.

If you cannot find satisfaction in being part of a broader team effort, in making your best effort at searching, and in the success of the overall mission rather than your personal accomplishments or those of your dog, then search and rescue is not for you.

You may not know when you will return home.

Honesty, and accepting constructive criticism, are necessary.

You must be able to accept when your sponsor and/or Training Group Leader tell you that either your dog or you, are not suitable for this volunteer work.

A search is a life-critical situation: egos and personal prejudices have no place in this.

There is always the potential for serious risks to you and your dog.