Tracking
When it comes to the canine nose, nothing compares. Dog noses have as many as 20,000 more scent receptors than human noses.
Dogs can track old scent over rough terrain, through water (don't believe those movie scenes where the bad guy jumps into a stream and gets away!), can tell the scent of a live person as opposed to a corpse (even under water), and can smell drugs, bombs, cancer, and almost anything we ask of them. Boxers have been successful cadaver dogs (specifically trained to search for dead bodies) in earthquakes, fires, and bombings, and a number of them have been on search-and-rescue teams throughout the United States and with federal marshals.
Canine Search-and-Rescue
There are many search-and-rescue groups throughout the United States that need volunteers to train their dogs to search for missing persons of all ages and in many different types of circumstances. This is one wonderful way in which dog owners can give back to their communities. Practically every dog is capable of tracking and making a contribution if their owner is capable of the rigorous training that is required of a search-and-rescue dog-and-handler team.
The volunteers in rescue groups who search for lost people must spend hundreds of hours training and conditioning not only their dogs but also themselves for challenging physical circumstances. They are on call twenty-four hours a day. They live with a beeper or pager at all times, and must be prepared to leave their jobs, taking vacation time if they must, and occasionally face real threats of danger in order to participate in the searches.
Tracking As a Sport
As an AKC sport, the Tracking Dog (TD) and Tracking Dog Excellent titles (TDX) indicate the dog's ability to follow a track laid by a person under a variety of conditions on moderate terrain and to find an article dropped by that person at the end of the track. Before a team can compete for either of these titles, they must pass a preliminary certification test administered by an AKC judge. The AKC also awards a Versatile Tracker (VTD) and a Champion Tracker (CHT) title. To date, no boxer has won either of these titles.
Contrary to what many people think, boxers make excellent scenting dogs. They are often good air-scenters, able to pick a scent out of the air and follow it, as opposed to many dogs that tend to follow the scent on the ground. As a sport, tracking fanciers like to see dogs follow the scent on the ground in a step-by-step fashion, but for search-and-rescue purposes, it is good to have at least some dogs that can air scent well.
