Training is continuous and most handlers spend several hours each week exercising and training their dogs.

An important stage early on is the livestock test. All search dogs must be safe and trustworthy around livestock. The dog is stock tested under the eye of an independent shepherd with the power of veto if he/she believes the dog to be untrustworthy. The stock test is probably the most anxious part of the initial assessment for the handler. Dogs are stock tested annually.

The hide and seek games of early training are developed and become more complicated with time. Working together, dog and handler are required to find bodies hidden at increasing distances from the search starting point. More difficult ground is used to test the ranging ability of the dog as well as the handler's fitness! The handler's ability to take account of wind direction and speed and how these vary with the terrain is a critical process.

It has been shown that ground can be covered most efficiently by the dog working in a search pattern across the wind. Handlers provide encouragement when human scent is followed, while hares, birds and deer and so on are looked upon as distractions and fail to bring praise from the handler should the dog indicate their presence. Sudden changes in direction, pace and posture usually indicate a human scent has been detected. Dogs work equally well in the dsark and use their senses of smell and hearing to their fullest under these conditions.

It is calculated that a dog is equivalent to about 20 searchers in good conditions and many more in poor conditions. In ideal conditions a dog can pick up a human scent from about 400 metres. Dogs are not infallible, but their errors can usually be traced back to a human factor.