Mecosta County finds a new K-9 search and rescue team

A new civilian search and rescue team consisting of dog lovers and their canine friends are training to work alongside the Mecosta County Sheriff’s Office to assist in finding missing people.

Josh Gilliam is one of the leaders of the group. He said the sheriff’s office has many resources at their disposal for deployments, including a drone unit, a boat unit and a ground search team, but no K-9s.

Mecosta County had a previous search and rescue team, but over time slowly faded away as team members grew older.

Nicole Dykstra is a founder of the revitalized group. She's coming back home to Michigan after being a part of search and rescue teams in the aftermath of tornados in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Dogs of all shapes, sizes, breeds and sexes can be search and rescue dogs.

1 of 6  — MecostaSandE_072724_EF_046.jpg

Dogs and owners of the civilian Mecosta K-9 Search and Rescue team gather for a meeting before training on Sunday, July 28, 2024, at the Fort Faith Baptist Camp, in Morley, Mich.

Ellie Fryztak / WCMU

2 of 6  — MecostaSandE_072724_EF_004.jpg

Scar, a Mecosta County search and rescue dog in training, stands next to his owner Brad Dykstra on Sunday, July 28, 2024, at Forth Faith Baptist Camp, in Morley, Mich.

Ellie Frysztak / WCMU

3 of 6  — MecostaSandE_072724_EF_002.jpg

Nicole and Brad Dykstra smile as Scar, their search and rescue in training, jumps up to say hi on Sunday, July 28, 2024, at the Fort Faith Baptist Camp, in Morley, Mich.

Ellie Fryztak / WCMU

4 of 6  — MecostaSandE_072724_EF_027.jpg

Dawn Stanko writes down training hours for her search and rescue dog in training, Pippa, on Sunday, July 28, 2024, at the Fort Faith Baptist Camp, in Morley, Mich.

Ellie Fryztak / WCMU

5 of 6  — MecostaSandE_072724_EF_039.jpg

Dawn Stanko holds out the sweatshirt of a search and rescue volunteer for her dog Pippa to search, on Sunday, July 28, 2024, at the Fort Faith Baptist Camp, in Morley, Mich.

Ellie Fryztak / WCMU

6 of 6  — MecostaSandE_072724_EF_082.jpg

Josh Gilliam celebrates with his search and rescue dog in training Hugo after successfully finding the volunteer missing person on Sunday, July 28, 2024, at the Fort Faith Baptist Camp, in Morley, Mich.

Ellie Fryztak / WCMU

“We do require all dogs to have all their basic obedience before they join,” Dykstra said. “We just take turns hiding the dogs. We hide scent cans, put treats in them. Different things that they have to find, pieces of clothing, we just want them to get used to human scent.”

The dogs and their owners need around 150 hours of training in multiple disciplines in order to be certified and eligible to work with the sheriff's department. They follow guidelines from the Michigan Professional Search and Rescue Council.

The focus of the training is on developing the dogs ability to detect human scents through pieces of clothing and the air.

The team is only a few weeks into their training, starting small by finding kids within a few hundred yards on a leash. Eventually, the dogs will go off leash and track across further distances, searching for both live people and human remains with cadavers.

Gillam stressed the importance of the responsibility associated with the group.

“It is important while we're out and about everything we do, you need to be professional," Gilliam said. "It represents our group, it represents the sheriff's office, all of the Mecosta county. We are representing a lot more than just ourselves.”

The group anticipates being ready for deployments in about a year, once all of the training and certifications are complete.