PANAMA CITY — One 9-month-old dog has gone from being a rescued pup to saving lives in an unusually short amount of time.
Scout was certified as a “scent-specific search dog” Wednesday during Bay County Sheriff’s Office K-9 search and rescue seminar week. The seminar takes place at BCSO’s Wilderness Camp once a year with about 25 dogs this year attempting to gain the designation. Now, one of Bay County’s nine certified search and rescue dogs, Scout and her handler can be called on to lend a snout whenever someone is reported as a missing person in the county.
The designation for such a young pup and handler is unique because most dogs take between eight months and two years to complete the training certification, according to BCSO’s senior K-9 handler Melissa Frye.
“That’s why with a 9-month-old puppy it is such an odd achievement,” Frye said. “Most dogs train for as long as Scout has been alive.”
The training began about five months ago, said Scout’s handler 18-year-old Andrew Agosto. He was away on duty as a member of a National Guard when he arrived home on weekend leave to find the mixed-breed Scout waiting on him. His mom saw an ad for puppies in a local publication.
“They say you don’t choose puppies, they choose you,” he said.
Agosto had been interested in being a K-9 handler in the military for some time, and Scout turned out to be a natural scent tracker.
“It’s all a game to them,” Agosto said. “She had the tracking instincts and really wanted to play.”
During the seminar, the K-9s vying for certification encountered three different scenarios. The one in which Scout excelled was “scent-specific” tracking. Since each person has their own distinct scent, the dogs are presented with an article of clothing or even a foot print on the ground. The dog is then tasked with tracking that scent to the person’s location.
The second is a general “area search” where the dogs are trained to find a general scent of humans on the wind and set out to make a more direct find. And the third is where dogs are trained to specifically detect the scent of human remains.
All of the handlers and trainers volunteer their time, and, for a chance to become certified, they also pay between $300 and $350. Frye said some of the handlers are compelled by experiencing the loss of a loved one themselves, and others have a natural desire to bring answers to those with a missing loved one.
“We do it because it needs to be done,” Frye said. “We can’t stand the thought of someone remaining missing.”