Specific human scent canines such as trailing dogs require a scent article to pre-scent the canine. If at all possible, preserve the scent article and let the canine handler collect it themselves. When a person goes missing, it is important to determine if materials are available to use as a scent article. These must be items that no one else used or touched, and so have “pure” scent of the subject. Items should NOT be laundered. Examples of scent articles include clothing, bedding, hairbrush, etc. The canine handler will collect the scent article using a plastic bag (preferably 1 gal ziplock, not deodorized trash bags) to grab the article without touching it. If the source is something large, like a car, the handler can make a scent article “pad” by wiping a sterile moistened gauze pad on the article. In the example of a car, the steering wheel or car seat could be wiped. The pad is then placed in a ziplock bag and used to start the dog.
