BACKGROUND

Louth Search Dogs was formed to provide a free, voluntary, passive searching service to the community of Lincolnshire, to back up the Police when searching for missing persons.

We have a close liaison with the Dog Section of Lincolnshire Police, who oversee and assess our training. Home Office Approved Instructors assess us and our dogs annually and, as far as we are aware, we are the only civilian group to have achieved this unique status in Great Britain.

At the present time we have 7 operational handlers, with 8 qualified dogs between them. We also have 3 novice/trainee dogs and 2 puppies in the early stages of training. Our dogs are first and foremost family pets, although they tend to be from the working breeds. Many breeds of dog could be trained to search as they all have excellent scenting abilities, but the working breeds in general have more drive and stamina.