Breed dogs for disaster and international deployment search dogs? Advertise here
Buyers and trainers use this page to find breeders whose lines do this work. List your kennel free, tick the industries your dogs work in, and advertise litters and stud dogs from proven working lines.
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Do I need a licence to advertise puppies?
In England you need a dog breeding licence from your council if you breed three or more litters in 12 months or breed and sell dogs as a business, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Licensed breeders show their licence number and issuing council on every advert. Puppies must be at least eight weeks old before they go to new homes.
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We add licensed breeders from councils' public registers. Search for your kennel name; if it is listed you can claim it and edit everything.
About disaster and international deployment search dogs
When an earthquake brings down whole streets, the UK’s international search and rescue team aims to reach the affected country within 24 hours, search dogs included. These disaster response dogs work with fire and rescue services, not with breeders or members of the public, and not every one of them started life with a breeder. This page explains how the work is organised, who trains the dogs and what a handler looking for a suitable puppy should ask a breeder.
What this work involves
The UK’s earthquake search dogs work on collapsed buildings, searching rubble and voids for people trapped alive. A dog’s indication tells rescuers where to commit cutting, lifting and shoring equipment, and UK-ISAR says using search dogs means teams do not have to put people into dangerous situations unless it is necessary.
The best-known recent example is the February 2023 earthquake in Turkey. The UK International Search and Rescue team sent a Heavy team of 77 specialists, including four search dogs, a vet, a structural engineer and a medical team, drawn from 13 fire and rescue services. They flew to Gaziantep and set up their base in Hatay, and UK-ISAR reports that the team rescued eight people, one complex search taking more than 20 hours. In 2015 a Cheshire on-call firefighter deployed to the Nepal earthquake with his Border Collie, Bryn, and in 2024 the UK-ISAR search dog Vesper won the Hero Dog Award at Crufts after deployments to the earthquakes in Turkey and Morocco.
At home, many of the same dogs work with fire service urban search and rescue (USAR) teams, searching collapsed structures in the UK.
Who trains and supplies these dogs in the UK
The UK International Search and Rescue Team (UK-ISAR) has been responding to disasters overseas for more than 30 years. It is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and deploys as the UK government’s official response at the request of the affected country. The United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) classifies it as a Heavy urban search and rescue team, most recently at a reclassification in November 2023. Its personnel come from 14 UK fire and rescue services, supported by medical teams, structural engineers, vets and other specialists.
The dogs live and work with firefighter handlers, and they are not for sale. The National Fire Chiefs Council provides a training and assessment course for fire service search dogs; Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s Belgian Shepherd Malinois, Coorie, deployed to the 2023 Morocco earthquake soon after graduating from it. Every UK-ISAR dog team must pass an initial competency pathway and keep attending exercises and continuing training to deploy overseas, because canine search is a requirement for UK-ISAR to keep its INSARAG Heavy classification. Retired dogs often stay with their handlers.
Dogs come from different places. Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s Davey, who deployed to Turkey, Morocco and Venezuela, joined the service in 2017 after being rehomed from Dogs Trust. Where breeders come in is at the very start: some handlers look for a puppy or young dog from breeders whose dogs work in the field, with sheep or in scent work.
Breeds and lines
UK fire service search dogs have included Border Collies such as Bryn, Labradors such as Echo, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service’s first search dog, who searched collapsed buildings after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and Belgian Shepherds such as Coorie. The individual matters more than the breed. An international search and rescue dog needs intense toy and hunting drive, steady nerves around noise, dust and shifting ground, agility, sound hips and elbows, and a clear, reliable indication when it finds someone. Working-bred lines, where the parents have proved themselves at a job, can be a good starting point, although many puppies from those litters will never suit the role and go on to other work or to pet homes.
What to ask a breeder
- Do the parents work, and in what: field trials, picking up, sheep work, detection or search?
- How have the puppies been introduced to noise, unfamiliar surfaces, heights and handling?
- What hip and elbow scores, eye results and breed-relevant DNA tests do the parents hold?
- Have puppies from your previous litters gone into search or detection work, and how did they get on?
- Will you take the dog back, or help rehome it, if it does not make the grade?
- Can I meet the mother, and the father if he is nearby?
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy a trained disaster response dog?
No. Search dogs deployed with UK-ISAR are fire service dogs, trained and assessed within the fire and rescue service, and they are not available to the public. No breeder on this site sells trained or qualified search dogs. What a breeder can offer is a puppy from lines that show aptitude for scent work.
How long does it take to qualify a USAR search dog?
It depends on the dog and the handler. UK-ISAR has described new dogs completing 18 months of training before being registered as search and rescue dogs, and international deployment also depends on passing the team’s competency pathway and keeping up regular training.
I want to do search work with my own dog. Where do I start?
UK-ISAR personnel are trained firefighters, and fire service search dog roles are for fire service staff. Members of the public can volunteer with the regional member teams of the National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA), a registered charity whose volunteer handlers work with their own dogs to search for missing people.
If you breed Border Collies, Labradors, spaniels or other working breeds and your dogs work in search, detection or the field, you can list your kennel on Canine Breeder and describe your lines honestly for handlers looking for the right start.