Thank you for thinking of the Search Dog Foundation as a potential adopter for a dog in your care!
At SDF, we want to help as many dogs as we can hone their natural talents to become the canine heroes they were always meant to be. We understand that these high-drive, toy-obsessed canines can be challenging to place within your regular adopter demographic, and we want to help those that need a job find their perfect career.
To be considered as a candidate for our training program, the dog must possess all of the following characteristics:
- High energy
- Obsessive, intense toy drive, even in new locations
- Friendly with people and dogs
- Fearless, brave, and confident in any environment
- Approximately 1-2 years of age
- Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, German Shepherds, plus obvious mixes of those breeds
Before proceeding, please read through our Recruitment FAQs below to learn more about our recruitment process and procedure:
The outlined characteristics are necessary for training a potential search dog in our disaster search training program. If the dog does not possess all the characteristics, they will unfortunately not be considered.
Once we receive and review the completed Search Dog Application, a member of our Canine Recruitment Team will reach out to set up a phone interview. If it is determined that the dog may be a good match for our canine training program, we will request a series of videos of the dog performing various tasks. You can view our entire remote screening process in the YouTube video here, but we will also provide written instructions and video upload information.
Additionally, we will request copies of the dog’s medical and behavior paperwork. The video package along with the request paperwork will then be submitted to the Canine Training Team for review.
The amount of time varies depending on how long it takes to capture the requested videos and necessary paperwork.
Yes, SDF will pay animal shelter and breed rescue group adoption fees.
Transportation options include air travel and ground transport. SDF will assume all financial and logistical responsibility for transport.
Dogs in our training program reside at our National Training Center in Santa Paula, CA.
Upon arrival, each dog starts working with our training team right away. We focus early on giving dogs opportunities to decompress (casual walks and hikes) while concurrently getting to know the dog as an individual. Within the first few weeks, each dog goes through our official performance screening to determine if they have all the characteristics (in this new environment) that we look for to be considered for our USAR training program. Dogs that excel in our on-campus performance screening will move forward to a full orthopedic screening (hip, elbow, spine radiographs). Once performance and orthopedic screenings are complete, we determine if the dog will officially enter our urban search and rescue program.
If the dog does not pass the official performance or medical screenings on site, or if at any point during training decides that this job is not for them, we will find an alternative career placement or a loving home through our Canine Placement Program.
Upon completion of their training program, SDF trainers partner the dog with a handler, making certain that they are a perfect match. The dog lives and works with the handler, and they train together daily to reach and maintain certification. Once certified, this highly trained team can be deployed to disasters anywhere in the nation. Our dogs remain with their handler and their family through retirement and beyond.
Yes! You will receive regular updates throughout their time with us at the NTC, as well as occasional updates after they are paired with their handler. If they are placed with another career or in a family home, we will update you on their new placement.