Search-and-rescue dogs serve on the frontlines locating people missing after natural disasters, lost children, injured hikers and others, being ready at a moment’s notice to bravely endure the elements and save lives. Supreme Master Ching Hai, world renowned humanitarian, artist and spiritual teacher, speaks of her admiration and concern for these devoted canines.

And I saw many dogs, you know, they used for rescue mission. Oh, they just walk in like nothing, but I feel so bad about them.

The dogs walk in the sharp, broken glasses or anything like that, even chemical leaking or anything, or germs or danger.

And these are precious dogs. They have been trained for years. And they even lay down their life for anyone at command. You have to protect that dog.

To show Her loving support for search dogs and their human partners, Supreme Master Ching Hai has generously contributed over US$80,000 to search-and-rescue teams in 18 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Panama, the Philippines, Slovenia, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA.

Today we return to Canada to visit again with members of the Ontario Volunteer Emergency Response Team (OVERT), which provides timely search and rescue assistance during such events as natural disasters in the province of Ontario, Canada and various nations around the world. With their keen sense of smell, the search-and-rescue dogs of OVERT’s canine unit, comb through forests, collapsed buildings and other areas for lost, injured and missing persons.

Glen Turpin, Team Coordinator, has been with OVERT since 1994 and works in the canine unit. We asked him about how they select dogs to become Team members.

We need the cream of the crop; we need the best dogs out there. We’re looking for very high drive, high sociability, and a strong ethic to work; the dog wants to get out there and work with you. So that’s the major component of what we’re looking for, is that drive.

When we first started we mostly worked with German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois, and that was due to the fact they had a dual coat, so that they had that undercoat. They’re very versatile breeds, highly intelligent, highly motivated, because the climate that we in work in here in southern Ontario can go from very hot in summertime to very cold in the winter, so some of the shorter haired breeds weren’t suitable for that. We’re not breed specific; we look for that high drive.

We’ll now meet Samson and his partner Leigh Schutt and then see them in a training exercise involving tracking. The tracking method is where the dog sniffs the ground looking for the scent of the missing person based upon an item previously worn or handled by the person, such as a hat, t-shirt or mobile phone.

Hi there, my name is Leigh Schutt. This is my partner Samson; he is a two-and-a-half year-old German Shepherd. And we specialize in the live scent discipline.

So what we’re going to have here is Clint, as our track leader and trainer, and Lee and his dog Samson are going to be practicing tracking. Lee and Samson are a new canine team for the Ontario Volunteer Emergency Response Team, so this is the beginning stages of tracking training for our dog teams. So Clint will play him up, have some fun, and then Lee will have the dog follow his exact footsteps that he’s taken. And then at the end of it, he’ll get his reward.

It’s all about positive reinforcement, sense association, so he’ll associate the human scent on the ground with the fact that he gets his toy at the end of it. So Clint’s laid the track. He’s put the toy at the end of it. It’s a short track. We start off with short, single-laid tracks. And as you can see, Samson’s pretty excited to go do his work. Clint will come back, show Samson he doesn’t have his toy anymore and then Lee will direct the dog to start tracking. This is what we call drive or motivational tracking.

So what we’re looking for, as you can see, Samson is frantically searching the ground, following that scent that Clint had left behind and he’ll follow that right to the source of where the toy is. Every time the dog’s head comes up, the partner will stop until the dog starts tracking again. When his head’s up like that, he’s not tracking, so Lee and him will work together.

You see Samson working trying to get all that scent, follows the track, right to the end, and get his toy at the end - a big celebration with everybody. Everything has to be fun. It has to be a positive, memorable experience for the dogs. And we’ll repeat this process a few times. Good boy. Good boy. You got it!!! Oh a good boy!! Good boy. Good boy. Oh yeah! Got your toy!

The canines are so selfless and excited to do their task, their partners must keep a close eye to ensure that their friends pace themselves while searching.

They’re so driven that we actually have to monitor them to make sure that they don’t work themselves too much, especially in the heat. They’ll work themselves until they drop if we don’t, so we’re very cognizant of it, we’re very aware of what our dogs are all about. We know when they’re working and what their limits are, and hydration and care and everything else. So the bond between the partner and the dog is very important.

Who normally cares for these determined canines when they are not working?

They’re assigned to a partner, so they become a team. So once we select the dog, then we select the partner from within the team, and they’re a team, they’re a partnership, so that bond is developed. Yes, we could work each other’s dog to an extent, but that one partner knows the dog the best, there’s little subtleties. So there is time they’re at home with the partner, they’re part of the family. That social bond is required for the dogs to work properly.

We saw Jason Cockburn and Justice in a training session yesterday. Justice is one of the most experienced search dogs in the unit.

My name is Jason Cockburn, and this is my canine partner Justice. Justice is a nine-year old Belgian Malinois, and we've been working together for the last six years. He is a Sable-coated Malinois, and he will be actually 10 in May.

So unlike Samson, who is tracking and following the ground scent itself, we don’t always know where somebody’s walked. So Justice is basically going to be searching for the human scent that’s being carried on the wind. The wind is kind of blowing in our face, we’re facing north. And basically what he’ll do is he starts following. And if you watch the dog, he’ll hit what we call the scent wall.

And that’s how the dog will start figuring it out, and he’ll start working it back to where our victim is. And you see the indication, his head’s come up, he’s looking around. He’s got the smell. And now he’s found our victim. So now Justice sits and barks, telling Jason that he’s found the victim. And if the victim tried to walk away, say we’re dealing with somebody who might be having an episode of some sort, or is suffering from dementia or mentally challenged and starts to walk away from the dog, they don’t realize he’s there to help.

Justice will actually cut him off, and won’t let them walk too far before Jason gets to him. So he’ll stay and bark with him until such time as Jason rewards him and lets him know that it’s a job well done. Looking over the wind, or searching for the scent on the wind, what we call an open search or an area search is used when we don’t know the exact point last seen of our victims and we have a large area to search.

The average dog team can search an area 20 times faster than a 12-person, ground-search rescue team. The beauty of the dogs and their noses, they’re not limited by darkness or weather. Their noses work all the time. And there’s Justice finding them again.

We also met Barrick yesterday on our program and now have a chance to see him in action.

So this is Barrick, he’s our certified cadaver dog. I’ll work him off leash. He’ll work his way in to the scent, and once he gets in to the scent, he’ll bark and dig. And then once he gives me the right indication then he’ll be rewarded for his work. Want to search? Search.

So it’s fairly straightforward search for the dog. He’s going to work the scent column. As you see he’s coming into the scent there, he’ll check around looking for some more. Once he gives us a positive indication like that… Good boy, what you got? Good boy, speak. Good boy. He gets his reward for his job.

Finally we meet Niij and Dale Stevenson and watch one of Niij’s training sessions.

I'm the deputy coordinator with OVERT. And this is my dog Niij. Niij joined us about 10 months ago. And the children of the local Indian reserve named him Niij, which means “friend” in Ojibwe.

Niij, he is a Labrador Retriever. He is our newest cadaver dog on our team. So he’s in the beginning stages of his training. So we’re a little bit more methodical with him at this point in time. We’ll show him what he’s supposed to be doing and reward him for it. So his partner, Dale, is going to work Niij online, up to towards where the hide is.

So Dale will work over there, over to the location where the hide is, and from there once Niij makes the proper indication, she’ll give him his command to sit, which is his indication that he’s located the scent, and then we’ll reward him for it. Okay.

So as Niij gets into the scent, he’s given his command to sit, and then he gets his reward! Where’s your toy? Good dog. So again it’s all about the fun, having fun. To keep wonderful canines like Niij safe and comfortable while working, Supreme Master Ching Hai provided the Team with US$1,000 to purchase protective gear such as dog shoes or warm jackets.

We again sincerely thank all the members of the Ontario Volunteer Emergency Response Team, including Justice, Barrick, Samson, Niij, Glen Turpin, Dale Stevenson, Jason Cockburn, and Leigh Schutt for your exemplary service and willingness to always lend a helping hand to the community at large. May your work continue to provide hope for many more people in need for years to come and beyond.

For more details on the Ontario Volunteer Emergency Response Team, please visit

Thank you for joining us today on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May your world always be brightened by the light of Heaven.