Rescue dogs follow their noses to protect rare species

One of the hardest things about studying and protecting endangered species is simply finding them. That’s where a unique partnership between humans and dogs comes in.

The Rogue Detection Teams are made up of handlers, or what they call human bounders, and trained rescue dogs. Today, bounders Heath Smith and Jennifer Hartman and the Australian cattle dog Pips are heading into Washington’s Colville National Forest to search for one of the most elusive animals in the Northwest: wolves.

They hop a small creek and cross a barbed-wire fence to get to a big meadow.

“You ready? Let’s go find it,” says Smith, and Pips takes off, zigzagging through the dry grass.