Scout the 'Dog-Sniffing Dog' Finds Lost Pets in Minnesota

When your dog goes missing, imagine if another dog could track them down and bring them home.

That's exactly what Scout does. This black Labrador-Bloodhound mix from Minneapolis is Minnesota's first dog-scenting dog, trained specifically to find lost pets. She even has her own uniform: a vest with a patch reading "Come Back Home, Puppies."

Scout works with The Retrievers, an all-volunteer group dedicated to finding missing dogs. Last year alone, they handled 960 cases of lost pets. This year, they're on track for about 1,000.

"People call us when their dog goes missing, and we throw out the forces," Scout's trainer Miki Carlson told MPR News. "We basically get the case and then just take it 'til the end, 'til we find their dog."

Scout has been training for this mission since she was a puppy. Most people wait to call The Retrievers until they've already searched for days without success. Once Scout completes her training, she'll start from the last sighting and follow the scent trail from there.

She's learning commands like "take scent," "search," and "which way?" to guide search teams toward runaway dogs. The most impressive part? Scout can follow scent trails up to 13 days old, meaning she could find a pet that's been missing for nearly two weeks.

Sunny's Take

For families desperately searching for their lost pets, those days feel endless. Volunteers like Carlson donate countless hours walking neighborhoods, setting humane traps, and coordinating search efforts. Scout represents something these dedicated rescuers have needed for years: the incredible power of a dog's nose working to save other dogs.

"We have needed a trailing dog so many times on Retrievers cases," Carlson wrote on a GoFundMe page supporting Scout's training costs. "With your help, we will finally be able to use the genius of a dog's nose to help bring more lost dogs home."

Carlson calls Scout a "game changer" for their mission. With nearly three lost dogs reported every single day just in their area, Scout's specialized skills could mean hundreds more happy reunions between pets and their worried families.

The best part? It's all completely free for families in crisis, powered entirely by volunteers who simply refuse to give up until every dog comes home.