A group of dogs are specially trained for searching through obstacles that no untrained dog can do. These dogs are part of an elite trained corps of disaster search dogs.

According to www.Iams.com, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) classifies only 36 dogs in the nation as “type 1 advanced canine teams.”

It takes three years or more to train the dogs to high standards. It takes about $5,ooo to bring a dog to FEMA certification level.

The dog’s keen sense of smell is why dogs are perfect for search and rescue operations. Some say a dog’s sense of smell is between 400 to a 1,000 times stronger than humans.

Trainers look for certain qualities in a dog before training them. Rescue dogs have to have high energy so that they will be focused on their job or training. They also need boldness of character to keep them calm during the chaos. There are different types of dogs who can have different training for different situations.

The training depends on the type of dog and what disaster they’re best suited for. There are dogs for searching in the snow and for searching through the water. Also, there are dogs who track people and dogs who are in the military.