Kimball, Shanon

Shanon, based in Anchorage, Alaska, is a passionate search and rescue (SAR) professional who started her journey in 2008 with the Anchorage Search Team. With her dedicated K-9 partners Abbie, a 9-year-old Bloodhound, and Raven, an 18-month-old Bloodhound, she not only teaches SAR techniques in the United States and abroad but also founded North Paw K9 Search and Recovery in 2016, becoming a crucial resource for the State of Alaska. They are frequently deployed by law enforcement agencies like the Anchorage Police Department and the FBI to assist in locating missing persons and vital evidence.

Shanon’s extensive experience spans a 23-year career in court security, affiliations with the USAF Security Police and contributions as a Vet Tech. She is a NASAR Evaluator and Instructor, specializing in various SAR domains and is a Team Adam Consultant for the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children.

Class: Scent Theory, K-9 deployment and support Flanker Duties

Topics to be covered in this class include:

• Scent and what it is;
• How the dogs utilize the scent;
• Contamination and how to work with it;
• Deployment for trailing K-9’s emphasis on an urban environment, from the SAR perspective and the best way to utilize each discipline;
• Flanker duties;
• Lessons learned