BSARD is committed to their mission of providing canine search services to the communities of Ohio and the surrounding states, and maintaining that service at no charge to the community or family members. But we can’t do it by ourselves. We often need physical or material assistance from like-minded individuals in the community.
Physical Assistance
Physical assistance is just that . . . bodies, helping hands if you will. You don’t have to be a dog handler to be a big help to BSARD.
If you are reasonably physically fit, you could always help out by performing field support. In most cases this involves “flanking” the K9/handler team. A flanker is responsible for keeping track of the team’s location, communicating status updates and locations to base operations, and watching for unsafe conditions along the way. The flanker may also watch or call for the missing person as fits the situation.
Another way to help is to assist in Base Operations. This can involve radio communications, logging events, mapping support, administrative help, or other tasks as assigned.
If you find that either of those roles is something you enjoy and are comfortable doing, you might even consider joining BSARD in a support context..
Trail Runner
The most pressing common need we have is for people to come out and work as trail runners.
Being a trail runner may be the most relaxing community service work you can do. You report to the training site about a half-hour before the dogs arrive. After a brief orientation and any special instructions from the Training Director, you walk to a designated place, sit down, stay put, and relax. You can read, eat and drink (except alcohol or any other intoxicants), listen to the radio, sing, play the guitar, or pretty much whatever else you’d do on a quiet day by yourself (or with your family) in the woods.
Less common but equally important is help when we’re running fund-raising activities. This could be just about anything, depending on the event, but would involve a little labor, a bit of time, and a lot of fun.
If you’d like to help out with a little of your time and labor, please contact us at our non-emergency phone number(513-683-5785) or via email at genmgr@buckeyesardogs.org. (Please do not use this email address for emergency requests, as it is not constantly monitored. Instead call the emergency telephone number at the top of the page.)
Financial Assistance
BSARD is totally volunteer and totally self-funded except for donations and the occasional fund-raising event. We do not charge the community entities that summon us nor the families of lost individuals any fee for our services. Still it does take some funding to pay for outfitting the team and maintaining our equipment.
We are registered in the state of Ohio as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. If you’d like to make a donation to Buckeye Search and Rescue Dogs, please contact us via email at genmgr@buckeyesardogs.org, or you can use the handy PayPal button below.
Introducing our 2026 BSARD Canine Calendar
For a donation of $10 per calendar, our 2026 Canine Calendar can be yours! Send your donation via Paypal to buckeyesardogs@gmail.com by using the text block provided below. Be sure to include:
- . . . that the donation is to order calendars,
- . . . the number of calendars you are requesting,
- . . . your complete mailing address.
You may want to include an email address or phone number so we can get in touch with you in case there are any issues with your order.
Many thanks to Pepper Construction for underwriting this fundraiser!
Make a Donation via Paypal
(PLEASE select the “send money to a friend” option so we can get the full amount.)
Of course, checks and cash are still welcome. Contact mailto:genmgr@buckeyesardogs.org for details.