K-9 S.O.S. (“Searching Out Scent”) is a fully insured, trained all-volunteer, non-profit corporation. The canine-assisted search and rescue group is based in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. Although the team was established in early 2004, original founding members have years of previous search and rescue experience.

The team’s main objective is to provide assistance to emergency agencies. K-9 S.O.S. has assisted numerous local police and fire departments, county coroner offices, Pennsylvania State Patrol, Pennsylvania State Attorney General's Office, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Our services are provided free of charge to requesting agencies.

K-9 S.O.S. DOES NOT, however, respond to any felony-related calls. Our canines are not trained for criminal pursuit, or arson, bomb, or drug detection. K-9 S.O.S. assists agencies in both western Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio.

Group training sessions are held weekly, giving both canines and handlers the opportunity to reinforce their skills with volunteer "lost subjects" in simulated situations. During a training session, the canine uses the scent of the "lost subject" to either trail or air-scent the location of the person. Once found, the canine returns to the handler and alerts to let the handler know the subject has been found. Then, on command, the dog returns to the subject with the handler. The canine is rewarded for a successful “find”. K-9 S.O.S. dogs are also trained to work without a scent article, whereby they would locate any human scent. During training for human remains detection (HRD), a scent source is hidden and the canine must locate the source and alert the handler.

The K-9 S.O.S. dogs have trained in wilderness, urban, building, disaster, and despondent person search; as well as in human remains/ land cadaver, water cadaver, and article (evidence) search/ recovery. K-9 S.O.S. has had successful body recoveries on land, in water, and in a burned structure.

Handlers train their own dogs with team assistance. The dogs have completed courses consisting of obedience, agility, and search and rescue work. All dogs have successfully completed the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) course. Active canines are evaluated every two years by an accredited police agency such as OPOTA (Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy) and/ or IPWDA (International Police Working Dog Association) in the selected discipline.

Handlers have completed course work and maintain certification in Basic First Aid and CPR (both human and canine), AED, Wilderness Search Responder, Basic and Advanced Grid Tactics, Map and Compass and GPS, Water Rescue, Scent Theory, Cadaver, CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), ICS 100 and 200 (Incident Command System), NIMS 700 (National Incident Management System), and NASAR (National Association for Search and Rescue) certification (SARTECH III and SARTECH II).

K-9 S.O.S. strongly promotes continuing education. Members attend many out-of-state seminars including those offered by the Department of Homeland Security, to gain information from other search and rescue teams and instructors and to enhance the education of search and rescue methods and techniques.

The team has also participated in joint training sessions with other search and rescue teams in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. K-9 S.O.S. is a member of the Ohio Federation of K-9 Search Teams, based in Columbus, Ohio.

In addition, K-9 S.O.S. also conducts presentations and demonstrations to help educate the public concerning search and rescue as well as safety awareness.

The K-9 S.O.S. dogs have successfully assisted many local agencies in locating live subjects, recovering bodies on land and in water, recovery of articles, and the detection of human remains. The team is proud to focus their efforts on providing this essential service (at no charge) to surrounding communities.