When a nine-week-old black labrador was brought home near Callander, Scotland, her owner did not expect her to become a working colleague. Known early on for her intelligence and empathy, she joined search operations in 2021 at just one year old as part of a Special Operations Response Team paramedic’s work, adapting instantly to the role.
Working alongside other dogs, her primary task is locating missing individuals so paramedics can administer medical care. Trained to search environments like riversides, woodlands, lochs, and canals without needing a scent article like clothing, her natural curiosity and love for sniffing through undergrowth make her exceptionally well-suited for the work. My colleagues and I then provide any medical assistance needed. We hide our volunteers along the riverbank, in the woods, beside lochs and canals, and set the dogs off, during training. They have to find the people and come back. Sniffing about and finding things, she loves the undergrowth.
Her missions have included looking for a missing army veteran in the Scottish Borders—an operation that sadly resulted in a body recovery—as well as deploying to Inverness to assist police in locating a missing child in the woods safely.
Donning her search jacket signals an immediate shift from household pet to focused working dog. Outside of her duties, she remains an energetic companion who joins family paddleboarding excursions wearing her own lifejacket, while keeping her owner active regardless of the weather. Poppy became the family fur baby and we realised early on how clever and empathic she is.
Despite her large and initially intimidating frame, she is gentle, highly social, and quick to comfort anyone feeling upset. Described as completely non-judgmental and endlessly affectionate, her owner suggests that adopting her friendly attitude toward everyone could help make the world a better place.
