Dogs with jobs: Rogue the search and rescue expert

Even a rabbit dashing across his path won’t distract Rogue the search and rescue dog when he’s on a track.

What Rogue really wants is a game of fetch with his handler, Georgia Russell.

It’s his favourite activity and reward for his persistence and skill in following the scent of someone who is lost.

“I’m the fun zone, all the good stuff happens here,” she said. “He’ll see the rabbit and go nah, where does this track go.”

To earn a game, he’ll happily travel in boats and helicopters, and track through difficult terrain and in bad weather, often late at night.

Rogue and Russell have been operational for less than a year.

He is a malinois​, an athletic breed used extensively around the world for military and search work.

“They’re an awesome dog to work with, they are a dog that keeps the fire in your belly, they have next level drive,” she said. “He goes full tilt at everything he does.”

Rogue, 2, is already certified for tracking, and will soon be assessed for area search work where he checks for wind-blown scent.

When somebody is lost, they leave a trail of scent from their steps that Rogue can follow, even hours later and if other people have walked through the same area. By air scenting, a dog can sniff out wind-borne human scent and make his way to the person.

Rogue also looks for objects the person has dropped, and will stop and bark loudly to let Georgia know when he does.

“It’s surprising when you find the person or an article, you get that shiver down your spine, that rush of adrenalin.”

On search operations, they’re part of a team, working with visual trackers, the police and other Landsar volunteers.

Rogue often gets to sniff for tracks around a vehicle left by the missing person, then Russell watches his body language carefully, to see where he is finding scent.

“A lot of it comes down to being able to read the dog,” she said.

If he shows interest in an area, she logs it via GPS, and Rogue has a GPS tracker on his harness, so the operation coordinators can map out where they have searched, and decide where to go next.

“Everyone works together,” she said. “We are just one tool in the toolbox of search and rescue.”

Although they are based in Taranaki, she and Rogue can be called to assist at search operations around the country.

One of their best finds recently was at Taupo, where Rogue located a cell phone the missing person had dropped, and they’ve helped locate people missing on Taranaki Maunga.

Russell was already a search and rescue volunteer before she applied to train a search dog.

With a background in farming, hunting and bush craft, she already had the dog training skills needed to be part of a search team.

Her volunteer role is a stark contrast to her day job, as an agriculture banking specialist with Westpac.

But her employer is very giving when it comes to her Landsar work, she said.

“They’re fantastic, if a job comes up, it’s drop everything and go,” she said.