Training of search dogs for rescuing people in the rubble

From the beginning of the Russia’s war in Ukraine, the need for search and rescue dogs has increased significantly in Ukraine as they have been involved in rescue operations following missile attacks all over the country.

The state budgeted the training of search and rescue dogs for State Emergency Service of Ukraine, but it was not able to cover the needs in training which increased after the war had begun. The project provided the dog trainers with an opportunity to receive professional consultation from trainers of the International Search & Rescue Dogs Organization (IRO). It helped improve the quality of training of the dogs as well as provide necessary equipment for search and rescue dogs’ training.

Within the project, 21 rescue dogs and 22 cynologists of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine’s Canine training center participated in a joint training with Austrian trainers from IRO. Also, to meet European training standards, new training equipment has been provided.

The experts from the IRO conducted training on searching people in the natural environment and in the man-made rubbles. The joint training with international experts helped Ukrainian cynologists to enhance their skills as well as efficiency of work of their search and rescue dogs. Thanks to this project, the rescuers of the State Emergency Service and the search and rescue dogs will be able to save more lives from debris or elsewhere.

The dogs of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine’s Canine training center participate in rescue operations throughout Ukraine. Thanks to the project, the conditions for the dog training has been improved and the professional level of the cynologists increased. This serves as a basis for more efficient work in rubbles which is critical for Ukrainians who suffer from missile and drone attacks.






Not only people, but also search and rescue dogs are involved in overcoming the consequences of the war in Ukraine. In the search for people under the rubble, the time counts down to minutes, so the dog that joins these searches must have an extraordinary level of training and motivation to search for living people. Thanks to the new modern equipment for training and the involvement of international experts in the training of Ukrainian dogs, we have the opportunity to get better prepared and have more effective rescue dogs

Olena Lobova, Head of the Board NGO Change Communications.

During the war, the skills of search and rescue dogs are especially important to save people. Trained service dogs save people's lives by finding them under rubble or in other places where it would be impossible to do it without the help of the dogs. They enable us to find and save more lives

, Oleksandr Pachkovskyi, Deputy Head of the Interregional Rapid Response Center of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.