Search Dogs Buckinghamshire is grateful for grant funding from:
Welcome to Search Dogs Buckinghamshire
Our website provides a brief introduction to the work of our charity. We have provided links so you can contact us if you are interested in getting involved with the team or would like to make a donation to support us.
What we do
Search Dogs Buckinghamshire is a Lowland Rescue dog team that works alongside Buckinghamshire Search and Rescue to assist the police and other SAR teams to look for and recover missing vulnerable adults and children.
We provide search dogs trained to work in rural environments during the day or night, along with their handlers and support personnel. We are also able to rapidly mobilise personnel to assist with foot searching in urban and rural settings, working along riverbanks if needed.
We are routinely called upon to search for people with mental health problems, particularly those at risk of self-harm; the elderly; those living with conditions such as dementia; children; and persons with a learning disability.
100% Voluntary, 100% Professional
All of our members are volunteers, most with full time jobs, and our dogs belong to their handlers. Although 100% voluntary, our dogs and their handlers have to be nationally assessed and qualified in order to become operational. We are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
A search dog can take at least two years to train to take part in searches on behalf of the police. Once qualified to search alongside defined paths, a dog can be further trained to search within a defined area in all rural terrains. Our qualified dogs are periodically checked to make sure they are working effectively and have to be re-certified every two years.
All of our operational members are Licensed Search Technicians, trained to national standards so they can work effectively with any other Lowland Rescue Team. As well as becoming dog handlers our members can also qualify as dog team supports, team leaders, water search specialists and search managers.
If you are concerned about somebody who is missing, you should contact the police in the first instance. We will be called in to assist with search operations if required.
