Wilderness Finders Search Dog Teams

WOOF is a unit comprised of highly qualified dog-handler teams that are ready to respond to calls 24 hours a day.  All are volunteers dedicated to WOOF’s high standards.  No team is exempt from training and qualifying as a certified team.

WOOF teams respond to searches in area (wilderness, rural, urban), tracking/trailing, avalanche, disaster (natural and man-made), water and cadaver/human remains.  Obedience and agility is inherent for success in all types of searching and WOOF dogs and their handlers continually train to maintain their field skills and fitness.  Handlers maintain current first-aid and CPR and pass a fitness test annually at a minimum, as well as have first aid awareness skills for their dog partners.

WOOF standards are rigorous and demanding, and must be adhered to maintain handler or candidate status WOOF.  Each team in training must first demonstrate team work through obedience, then pass a test for one of the recognized search disciplines (for the first time handler this is area search) and then may choose to advance to other disciplines of expertise.  Every team must re-certify throughout the dog's working career to be able to continue to respond as a WOOF search dog team.  WOOF teams train at a minimum weekly to continue their proficiency to meet the demands of search work with their dog.  Handlers and candidates record and maintain a written account of each training session with their dog on log sheets which are reviewed by the WOOF Secretary monthly.

WOOF is a non-profit organization dispatched by the State of California Emergency Management Agency & the Nevada Department of Emergency Management.  In addition WOOF serves county and Federal law enforcement agencies.  WOOF is a free service to the requesting agency and handlers respond only to requests from law enforcement. Handlers only respond to search with their dog once all of the qualifications for certification as a WOOF search dog team are met.

SEARCHES

Search calls can come at any time of day or night - sometimes handlers don't even get out the door and some times they last for days. WOOF fields 2 different levels of handlers in accordance with CA Emergency Management Agency Guidelines.Teams that qualify as "type 1" pass the most challenging fitness and terrain-handling capability tests and search in high altitude environments, unsupported for up to 3 days. Teams that are "type 2" search primarily on single-day assignments and are not expected to remain in the field overnight, but should be prepared to do so in a pinch. 

Dropped off in Hoover Wilderness, CA

HANDLERS & DOGS

WOOF handlers are independent, strong, confident, skilled individuals with like-minded dogs. Of importance, they are also are team oriented and can work in multiple functions in any given incident.

We field many different dog breeds, including mixes. We look for dogs with confidence, agility, and high drive for play. Dogs and handlers alike are athletes and are in good physical shape. 

Most of all, WOOF handlers and their dogs love what they do, and live to do it.

Ready!