SAXONBURG — They may look like ordinary dogs running through the woods or streets, but every bark, sniff and signal is part of a carefully choreographed search for survival.

While they don’t possess any special powers, the dogs are reminiscent of a super team. Obie, Casey, Marley, Tesla, Reggie, Badger and Penny make up the canine half of Lower Kiski Search & Rescue.

On Saturday night, Aug. 23, Lower Kiski Search & Rescue, based in Leechburg, visited Saxonburg for a training exercise.

Volunteers, led by Kathy Otruba, set up at the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company. In attendance along with Otruba were Jill and Todd Oblak, Ginny Novak, Susan Broader and Jenn May.

The team is made up of nine volunteer members, but not all members can make it to every training.

Otruba likens a search and rescue team to a tool set.

“We’re just one of the tools. When the incident commander evaluates the situation they take into consideration the terrain, what resources are available to them and then they’ll start pulling tools,” Otruba said.

When dispatched to help with a missing person, the circumstances dictate what type of specially trained dog is needed.

Time is also of the essence. The more time that passes before one of the dogs can begin searching, the more the scent has been interrupted.

During one exercise, Todd Oblak — the only ground member, which means he is not a canine handler — was sent to hide. He left a shirt behind for Tesla, a German Shepherd trailing dog, to retrieve his scent.

“You’ll notice the dogs will move from one side of the trail to the other, because at this point, the natural wind or wind created by a passing cars has mixed the scent up, making it harder,” Novak said.

Watching Tesla work, her body language was an easy indication of when she was back on the right trail.

“You’ll notice that Tesla is being kept on a lead. This is done with almost all trailing dogs so we can keep them safe from walking into traffic and so that we can keep them on track,” Novak said.

Even with all the distractions a downtown area can offer, Tesla was able to find her target within nine minutes.

In another exercise, Casey, who is a Labrador air scent dog, was put to the test of finding May, who was laying in the middle of a field covered by a tarp.

First the team let May get settled into position for several minutes, then Casey was shown an item owned by May and let off her leash to go and find her.

After getting a sniff of May’s scent, Casey begins retracing the path May took to get into her position. Each time Casey seemed to get a hit on May’s scent, she ran back to Novak to alert her to the trail.

According to Otruba, Casey is the group’s only current air scent dog.

Otruba said the group has done several night trainings in the past.

“We’ve done night training before in different areas, sometimes in all forest terrain. Crooked Creek is a good place to do night training. These kinds of trainings are just to reinforce experiences,” Otruba said.

Not only do the dogs need to be trained in various environments, the handlers go through training and certification as well. While some of the training is free, others cost $50 to $75. In those instances, the group tries to secure grants and funding to assist in the cost.

Like with many community organizations, Lower Kiski Search & Rescue has found it difficult to secure new members.

“We’re having a hard time finding volunteers. We’ve had some people come out and try it for a few weeks and then we might not see them again. (They) need to be someone that likes the outdoors,” Otruba said.

When not out on call or conducting training, the group has participated in several events to help educate the community on what their organization does.

“We do events with a lot of homeschooling kids. We’ll go to parks and the kids will come in and they get to meet the dogs. We’ve given presentations with Boy Scouts, 4-H and even have participated in parades,” Otruba said.

The organization will be changing its name soon from Lower Kiski Search & Rescue to just Lower Kiski Search. Otruba said this is because there is so much to the search side their just isn’t enough time to commit to the trainings and classes needed to be kept up with on the rescue side.

Anyone interested in volunteering can reach out to Otruba through the group’s Facebook page, or directly through her email, kotruba@lowerkiskiems.org