When a dog goes missing in Minnesota, a group of dedicated volunteers drops everything and gets to work. The Retrievers, a fully volunteer organization based in Minneapolis, has made it their mission to reunite lost dogs with their families, taking each case from the first frantic phone call all the way through to a happy reunion, no matter how long it takes. Last year the group handled close to 1,000 cases, and they expect to match or exceed that number again this year. Now they have a secret weapon in the search: Scout, a black Labrador-Bloodhound mix who is training to become Minnesota’s first official dog-scenting dog, a canine detective whose entire job is sniffing out other dogs who have gone missing.
Scout was trained by Retrievers volunteer Miki Carlson, who recognized that the team’s biggest gap was the ability to follow a scent trail once a search had gone on for several days with no result. Once fully trained, Scout will be able to pick up a scent from a lost dog’s last known location and follow that trail for up to 13 days, dramatically expanding the window of time during which a missing dog can still be found. She is learning commands like take scent, search, and which way, so she can actively guide the search team rather than simply accompany them. Scout already takes her role seriously enough to wear an official vest with a patch that reads Come Back Home Puppies, a detail that is both adorable and entirely appropriate for a dog whose whole purpose is bringing families back together. Carlson says having a trailing dog is something the team has needed for a very long time, and that Scout is going to be a genuine game-changer for every family who calls them in desperation hoping to find their best friend.
Source: https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/the-retrievers-minnesota-lost-dogs
