New hiders needed to help search dog training

Cornwall Search Dogs said they would like about 10 new volunteers to help the charity train the dogs

A specialist search and rescue team is looking for volunteer hiders to help it train the dogs.

Cornwall Search Dogs needs people to hide in fields, woodland and on moors so the canine detectives can practice scenting and trailing them.

Trustee and dog handler Annie Page said the team currently has five volunteers but would ideally like 15 across Cornwall.

In the last five years the charity near Camborne has had 240 call-outs, some of which were to help search for missing people, with the majority to find lost dogs.

Tracy Simpson said they have had about 240 callouts since the charity started in 2020

Ms Page said the team was currently working with 11 dogs and trained near Bodmin, Penzance, Launceston and St Austell.

She said: "It's always really nice to have new people to look for. The dogs get quite used to us lot going missing and I think they probably think we're half-daft because we always seem to go missing."

"It's really lovely to have new scents for our dogs to find," she added.

"It's really having people who are enthusiastic and would love to come and meet the dogs and be part of our training group," she said.

Annie Page said the dogs loved having new people to search for

Fellow trustee and dog handler Tracy Simpson has springer spaniels Holly and Freda who are part of the search team, which she said gets called out about 50 times a year.

She said: "You're doing what the dog does naturally so the dog naturally likes to hunt and to look for things, and all you're doing is going along for the journey.

"On some occasions definitely, if we hadn't gone out with our dogs, they would never have found their dog and I think that's really humbling.

"It's an amazing experience to give back to the community like that, you've achieved something amazing with your dog."

Springer spaniels Freda and Holly enjoy going out with the search team

The team is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with its night-time work focused on more vulnerable pets such as puppies.

The team has encouraged anyone wishing to help them train the dogs by acting as missing people to get in touch.

Ms Page, who handles Lyla, a black labrador, said: "The dogs love finding new people and you get all the cuddles as well."

Ms Simpson added: "You don't need to like the people but you surely need to like the dogs."