Alpha Team K9 Search and Rescue (ATSAR) is a volunteer search and rescue (SAR) canine organization, on call 24 hours a day to assist law enforcement, emergency responders, and other official agencies in the search for missing persons.

ATSAR only responds to requests from law enforcement or public safety agencies. In an emergency, dial 9-1-1. For missing persons, please have your law enforcement contact call the ATSAR hotline at 404-981-4911.

No! ATSAR provides their services to agencies free of charge. Members incur all costs including gas, vehicles, training, equipment, and dog expenses. We rely on donations from the community to continue supplying this vital service.

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.

To join ATSAR, you must be 18 or older and ready to commit to a rigorous three-month probationary period. During this time, you will train with the team to gain firsthand experience while we evaluate your fitness and dedication; please note that all applicants must pass a background check, and any felonies or recent misdemeanors may disqualify you from membership. For those joining with a dog, our handlers will provide initial training support and assess your dog's progress in specific search disciplines. Upon successful completion of your probation, you can apply for full membership and will be assigned a dedicated sponsor to mentor you as you work toward your official ATSAR and GEMA certifications.

Not at all. While many of our roles are canine-centric, we have several essential positions that don’t require a dog, including Field Support, Contributing members, and Drone Operators.

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.

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.

To join Alpha Team K9 Search and Rescue (ATSAR), all members are required to obtain several core certifications during their first year of membership and maintain them throughout their tenure. This includes securing current CPR/AED and First Aid certifications (Adult, Child, and Infant), along with completing five essential FEMA courses: IS-100.c, IS-200.c, IS-230.d, IS-700.b, and IS-800.d. Additionally, within the first year, members must earn a Technician Class HAM radio license, pass a Scent Theory exam, and demonstrate proficiency in land navigation. K9 handlers have further ongoing requirements, including K9 First Aid, passing an internal SAR Obedience (OSC) evaluation, and achieving a GEMA-approved National Certification in their specific discipline to reach and maintain operational status.

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.

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.

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.

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 25-acre test (finding one well-hidden person in ninety 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.

You don’t have to be in the field to save lives; there are several vital ways to support ATSAR’s mission. You can volunteer as a "subject" by hiding in the woods to help our K9s practice their search skills, or if you own land, you can provide us with new property to use for our training sessions. Additionally, you can support our all-volunteer team through tax-deductible donations to cover equipment and training costs, donate items from our wish list, or simply help spread awareness of our services within your community to ensure we are called in as early as possible when someone goes missing.

As an all-volunteer organization, members generally provide their own personal gear; however, drone pilots are not required to provide their own aircraft. ATSAR owns and operates a team-specific drone for use during missions and training. While the team provides the drone, pilots are still responsible for maintaining their own Part 107 certification and the standard personal equipment required of all field members, such as a GPS and a Technician Class HAM radio license.

ATSAR primarily serves the State of Georgia and its surrounding states. Our mission is to provide highly qualified search dog teams, field support, and drone operators to assist law enforcement and public safety agencies throughout this regional area.

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.

Search and rescue requires satisfaction from being a dedicated team member, making every effort in the search, and prioritizing the mission's success above your personal achievements or your dog's.

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 K9 Coordinator 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.