
Dogs can be one of a police force's most potent tools in a missing person situation, whether the objective is to locate a survivor or human remains. But it may surprise you to learn that most police departments don't typically have their own search and rescue canines. Instead, they rely on private citizens or organizations who train and handle dogs for very specific purposes. There are, for example, dogs that focus on finding human remains, and trailing dogs, which can follow the scent of a specific person, even if the trail is days old. It may also surprise you to learn that Casandra Ulbrich, who you know as 萝莉社-Dearborn's Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, is one of the go-to rescue and recovery dog trainers and handlers for law enforcement agencies in Michigan. She got into this work by accident, when she learned about it during the search for her first German Shepherd, Jaxon. 鈥淭he person who helped me locate the breeder did search and rescue, and I thought this was really cool, so I decided to get him tested,鈥 Ulbrich remembers. Jaxon was a natural, and soon after, he was trained and certified as a human remains detection dog. Ulbrich was hooked.
Ulbrich has been doing this work now for 15 years, and in 2017, started her own nonprofit organization, , which provides search and rescue services to law enforcement agencies throughout the state. It鈥檚 a huge part of her life, but it鈥檚 also something she says she has to 鈥渞emind myself not to talk about with people,鈥 at least not with just anyone. For the curious, a conversation about how this all works can quickly lead one into some interesting territory. Training human remains detection dogs, for example, one of Ulbrich鈥檚 specialties, means that she has to expose dogs to actual human remains, which, of course, necessitates acquiring and storing 鈥淗R.鈥 In a freezer at Ulbrich鈥檚 home, right now, you鈥檇 find human bone, teeth, cremains, blood, washcloths that were lying underneath a dead body for the day and placenta. Placenta is one of the easier things to come by, because that鈥檚 a part of the body hospitals will typically send someone home with after giving birth no questions asked, after which the person is free to donate it. Teeth aren鈥檛 a problem either: One of Ulbrich鈥檚 teammates at WSSR works at a dentist office. 鈥淏ut the big stuff鈥 鈥 something like an arm or a leg 鈥 鈥渢hat鈥檚 pretty hard to come by,鈥 Ulbrich says. Right now she鈥檚 trying to work with a local mortuary science program to see if they鈥檇 donate body parts during training days, after which they鈥檇 be promptly returned.
All of this work is possible, of course, because dogs have an incredibly powerful sense of smell. German Shepherds, which have some of the most sensitive noses in the dog world, have more than 200 million scent receptors, giving them an olfactory sense that鈥檚 6,000 times more powerful than ours. This enables them to accomplish all kinds of superheroic smell-based tasks. They can root through an entire garbage truck and zero in on a single item. They can distinguish between regular ash and human cremains. If a person gets lost in the woods, exposing a trailing dog to an article of the person鈥檚 clothing is all a trained dog needs to start following the scent for miles, even in harsh weather and days after the person went missing. But search and rescue requires more than just a great canine nose. Ulbrich says the handler is just as crucial, because they have to be able to recognize subtle body language and behavior changes in the dog, which signal what the dog is thinking. 鈥淚n a trailing situation, for example, something as subtle as a head turn can be really significant,鈥 Ulbrich explains. 鈥淚f your dog does a head turn then keeps going straight, you have to make a mental note of that because it could indicate that鈥檚 where they were supposed to turn. In an open area, scent moves, so if the dog reaches a dead end, it鈥檚 up to you to help get them back on track.鈥 Ulbrich says it takes a long time before a handler really understands their dog. Some dogs can be hard to read, while others, like her star trailing dog, Gryphon, have an easy tell. 鈥淕ryphon has this big floofy tail that tells me everything I need to know,鈥 she says.
If you鈥檙e wondering how Ulbrich fits all this into her already demanding schedule at the university, it can definitely be tricky, given that search and rescues are often emergency situations. If a person is suspected to be deceased, she says she can typically schedule that work for Gryphon a few days in advance. But if she gets a call from law enforcement for, say, a person with dementia who鈥檚 gone missing, it means she has to drop what she鈥檚 doing, if possible, and head out into the field. 鈥淚鈥檓 really lucky that every place I鈥檝e ever worked has been supportive,鈥 Ulbrich says. 鈥淭here have definitely been a few times when I鈥檝e texted Chancellor Grasso, and I鈥檓, like, 鈥Hey, Domenico, Gryphon鈥檚 got a job, I gotta go.鈥 And he鈥檚 always, like, 鈥楪ood luck, be safe.鈥鈥&苍产蝉辫;
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We were so inspired by Casandra Ulbrich鈥檚 story that we鈥檙e thinking about starting a series on 萝莉社-Dearborn faculty and staff who do something super interesting in their lives outside the university. Do you know someone who fits that description? Is that you? If so, drop us a line at [email protected]. Story by Lou Blouin.