Search Dog Training Planned on UW Campus Friday

A training exercise for search dogs and their handlers will take place Friday, June 27, on the University of Wyoming campus.

The training at UW is part of a three-day seminar hosted by Albany County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue. Dog and handler teams from search and rescue units in Wyoming, Utah and Oregon will work with trainers from Sleuth Hounds LLC of Catlett, Va., to learn techniques to enhance their dogs’ ability to locate missing people.

At UW Friday, dogs and their handlers will be on the main campus in and around buildings and Prexy’s Pasture, along with the areas near the soccer/baseball fields and behind Jacoby Golf Course.

The search and rescue handlers will wear identifying clothing, and their dogs will work in harness and on lead. People called “runners” will serve as subjects for the dogs and handler teams to find; they may hide in or around campus structures, but they will wear brightly colored vests identifying themselves as part of Albany County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.

Organizers encourage members of the public to ask permission to approach the search dogs, and to wait until teams have completed their training exercises to do so.