Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on assignment for The Charlotte News
CHARLOTTE — In the back pavilion at Philo Ridge Farm, trained dogs ran down mock targets and raced by dozens of onlookers in a demonstration by New England K-9 Search and Rescue on April 11. Several handlers showed off their dogs’ scent-seeking skills and search and rescue services that aid towns across Vermont and New Hampshire.
New England K9 Search and Rescue helps locate missing persons in wooded and rural areas with trained air-scent dogs. The organization is funded with the help of donations and grants and largely functions via volunteer work.
The president of New England K9, Daniel Lampignano, said that the dogs are trained to be non-scent discriminatory and will be led to any human scent they do not recognize as a handler or searcher. They sniff through the air, and the handlers do not put them on a leash during the searches.
The organization has 44 years of searching experience and more than 1,100 searches under their belt. The team receives roughly 50 calls a year and is equipped to handle many different cases, Lampignano said.
The majority of New England K9’s dogs are German shepherds, with the exception of a black labrador retriever named Kenny.
Jane Fried, a trainee canine handler for New England K9, said that handlers drill Kenny and the other dogs several times a week. Training starts at 8 weeks old. Each dog is rewarded with their favorite treat, whether it’s a dog cookie or their favorite toy, she said.
Obi, a German shepherd just over a year old, is Lampignano’s fourth search dog in training. He and other dogs are allowed to roam free when they pick up the scent of a human. After being trained, the dogs can always find their way back to their owners, Lampignano said.
At the event, Obi was alert and ready for instruction once his working vest was on. Andy Felegara, field assistant with the Upper Valley Wilderness Response team with New England K9, was sent off to hide behind a hay bale in the open field in a test for Obi.
“He knows the job really well,” Lampignano said.
After being given permission from Lampignano, Obi shot off, soaring across the field in search of Felegara. Obi looped back less than five seconds later and gave Lampignano the signal to show that he’d found a human. Unfortunately for Lampignano, that signal was a full-body tackle.
Lampignano said that only half of dogs who train in search and rescue complete their certification, which takes three years.
He described some of the moments that New England K9 was proudest of their dogs. In 2025, New England K9 got a call from New Hampshire Fish and Game, one of their closest collaborators. They received a call that a 2-year-old in Dorchester, N.H., had gotten past a gate and wandered away while playing with her dogs. Within 30 minutes of getting the call, New England K9 was on the scene.
The searchers were concerned that she may have gotten into the woods, so they began their search there. After searching the forest for some time, one dog, Freyja, picked up a scent by a small creek. When they arrived, Freyja found two child-sized shoes but no other sign of the child.
Four and a half hours later, Freyja picked up a human scent again. She ran away from her handler, and just moments later found the toddler, cold but safe.
That result and the bonds that the trainers forge with their canine partners is why the New England K9 team does what they do.
“You form a partnership with the dogs,” Lampignano said. “I can’t really tell you how amazing it is to find people who are lost.