Lowland search dogs, as the name suggests, search lowland (i.e. under 1000 feet) farmland, forests, open downland and any other area that does not require specialist mountain rescue experience.

Norfolk has its own specialist Search Dog Team and the handlers are trained first as Search Technicians (to the standard set for all teams working in the lowland counties by ALSAR, the Association of Lowland Search & Rescue Teams) and then go on to train their dogs.

Due to the specialist nature of the training required for the dogs, the dog team meet separately to the “foot team” and a lot of the training is done by the handlers on their own. This can put off a lot of people especially when they learn it can take up to 18 months and 600 hours to train a search dog to the high standard expected. But for all that, the training itself is fun and very rewarding. The Dog Team members are out training most weeks of the year and anyone interested in joining is very welcome to make contact (through the home page “contact us” button) and come along to a training session and see what we do.

Any member of Norfolk’s Search Dog Team trains their dog to the standard set by Lowland Search Dogs. This ‘umbrella’ organisation was set up to bring together regional Search and Rescue Dog Units and to create and oversee standards for air-scenting lowland search dogs in the UK.

Many of the LSDogs teams work alongside their local ALSAR (Association of Lowland Search and Rescue) team. This is not the case in Norfolk and Cheshire where the LS Dog members are members of their ALSAR team. Both ALSAR and LS Dogs can only take part in searches at the invitation of their local police force.

All search dogs are pets and live with their owners, and those who can are available for call outs 24 hours a day seven days a week. Our services are provided free of charge. In addition to searching, the dogs also take part in demonstrations at local events and fund raising.