Lost mushroom pickers make fall a busy time for Estonia's police patrol dogs
The good mushroom season this year means at least once a week, the Police and Border Guard Board's canine unit are called out to find missing foragers in the forest.
Jehu, a 7 and-half-year-old PPA patrol dog, has been trained to search for people who go missing.
"In addition to tracking, patrol dogs are trained to search for objects with a human scent if something has been lost or discarded," said Tõnis Land, a patrol officer with the Northern Prefecture's canine unit.
As there can be many distractions – wind, sun, and rain can also confuse a dog – it is important for dog handlers to be able to read their animals' body language.
"Sometimes the scent comes from somewhere far away and the dog can get confused. In that case. you have to understand from the dog's body language and behavior to know whether we are close or need to move further. In the forest, that often depends on the wind," explained Land.
The fall is a busy time for patrol dogs, as they usually have to go out every week to search for missing mushroom pickers.
"There is always at least one call on weekends, sometimes several," Land said.
"The dog may be needed more when someone's phone is dead and their precise location is not known, meaning large areas have to be searched. Nowadays, drones and car sirens are also used, and if their phone is working, the person often gets out of the forest themselves and so there is no need to search with a dog."
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Editor: Karmen Rebane, Michael Cole
Source: "Terevisioon," interviewer Katrin Viirpalu
