Volunteer to “Get Lost”

Do you love recreating in the mountains of Southwest Montana? Do you love dogs? Are you looking for a COVID safe volunteer opportunity that lets you give back to your local outdoors community? You should sign up to be a “volunteer lost person”!

 
 

Western Montana Search Dogs, part of Gallatin County Search and Rescue, is a volunteer nonprofit dedicated to providing certified search dog teams in Gallatin County and surrounding counties/states. WMSD teams work in all four seasons, assisting on searches for lost recreationalists, overdue hunters, missing children/endangered individuals, drowning victims, avalanche victims, and more. 

It's important for search dogs to find a wide variety of "lost people" in order to keep their skills in tip top condition – that's where you come in!

As a training Volunteer, you might...

  • Pretend to be lost, “hiding” in the woods for our air scent dogs to find you. Bring a chair, book, and thermos of tea, then enjoy the solitude!

  • Set a track for our tracking dogs to follow, and then find you at the end. This can be great navigation practice!

  • Help set up “blind” training problems to help test our handers’ skills – get creative!  

And, you will definitely get to play with dogs to reward them for a job well done!!

How it works:

We request volunteer assistance on the first and third saturdays of each month. It’s very important for the dogs to find a wide variety of “lost” people, so you don’t need to come every time, or even very often! It can be as flexible as you want, based on your schedule.

Training days are typically 9a - 5p, depending on the season, weather, and training location. We request that volunteers commit to either a half or full day. 

Training locations vary based on season and weather as well. Example training locations include Crosscut Mountain Sports Center (summer) or Headwaters State Park (Spring/Fall/Winter) – typically, a short drive from Bozeman.

If you’re interested, click the sign up button and tell us a little bit about yourself.

Volunteer requirements:

  • Must be 18 years or older

  • Must have own transportation

  • Must be physically healthy enough for short hikes, able to sit in woods alone

COVID Safety

  • Training is primarily outdoors

  • All volunteers must observe social distancing, and/or wear a face covering when applicable

  • All volunteers must provide their own transportation

  • No volunteer should attend training if they have COVID-19 symptoms or have been asked to quarantine due to COVID exposure


NOTE:

We are not evaluating any new search dog/handler teams at this time.
Click here for more information on what it takes to become a search dog handler.