WA SES - Canine Unit

WA SES - Canine Unit The WA SES K9 unit assist the WA Police in searches for lost and missing people, state wide.

Dogs have long been used in history for finding and rescuing lost people. Our team is a part of Department of Fire and Emergency Services and State Emergency Service of Western Australia and we are known as the Canine Unit. Our members consist of handlers and dogs, each forming their own individual teams. Our teams are trained for Area Search and Rescue and also Scent Specific Tracking Search and

Rescue of lost people. We are the only authorized search dog group that assist police in searching for missing people in WA. Area Search and Rescue is when a team is given a particular area to search (generally a bush or forest area) and they are to completely clear the area of lost or missing persons. Area Search dogs are trained in using scents, usually cast in the wind, on objects or on the ground. Scent-specific Tracking Search and Rescue is when a team is given a scent article (generally an item of clothing or an item with strong individual human scent) and the dog will track this scent from the last known location of the missing person(s). Tracking dogs also use the ground and wind in tracking a particular human scent. We are a dedicated unit that meets once a week, every week (rain, hail or shine) to train.

Happy international Dog Day from our operational dogs and trainees.
26/08/2026

Happy international Dog Day from our operational dogs and trainees.

We had a very special visitor at training yesterday. This is 11 week old Adam who is training to be an assistance dog. A...
10/08/2026

We had a very special visitor at training yesterday. This is 11 week old Adam who is training to be an assistance dog. After meeting the humans he stood on his paw pad which helps him remain calm while getting to know the search dogs. Then he joined them for a photo op. We look forward to following Adam's training to be a guide dog, autism assistance dog, facilities dog e.g. courts, ambassador or a companion/support dog.

Congratulations to Chris and Leo who passed the Indication Assessment on Sunday. It is important for our area search dog...
27/07/2026

Congratulations to Chris and Leo who passed the Indication Assessment on Sunday. It is important for our area search dogs to have a reliable spontaneous indication of a "find" to the handler. Chris and Leo will now move on to searching much larger areas.

14/07/2026
Several teams responding to a search in wet and stormy weather.
31/05/2026

Several teams responding to a search in wet and stormy weather.

HAPPY WOW DAY EVERYONE.
19/05/2026

HAPPY WOW DAY EVERYONE.

Happy Friday everyone.
15/05/2026

Happy Friday everyone.

Congratulations Kristina you will do a great job as our Deputy training and logistics. DO Glenn presented Kristina with ...
05/05/2026

Congratulations Kristina you will do a great job as our Deputy training and logistics. DO Glenn presented Kristina with her stripes at SWORD.

The first group of WA SES search and rescue dogs trained by UK specialist dog trainer Ian Spreckley are affectionally kn...
05/05/2026

The first group of WA SES search and rescue dogs trained by UK specialist dog trainer Ian Spreckley are affectionally known as the legends. These dogs set the standard and paved the way for all the dogs that followed. There is only one legend still alive. Meet retired area search dog Karma. He is 16 years old now and his handler Stephanie and family brought him down to the SWORD for one last visit. DO Glenn was there for a photo along with Manager Cara and Rusty and Deputy Kristina and Hudson.

Today is International Search and Rescue Dog Day when we celebrate our amazing search dogs, past and present and their h...
26/04/2026

Today is International Search and Rescue Dog Day when we celebrate our amazing search dogs, past and present and their handlers. Any time, any weather and any terrain we are ready to respond to the call to help locate the missing and injured. This is UK specialist dog trainer Ian Spreckley who introduced SAR dogs to the SES and trained many dogs and their handlers. He is holding a pup who grew up to be our first dual trained search dog, competent in area search and tracking.

Address

SWORD
Kewdale, WA

Telephone

+61132500

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