The pet I’ll never forget: Poppy the curious, clever dog – who searches for missing people

When we picked up a nine-week-old black labrador from a couple just outside Callander, Scotland, I had no idea that she would soon be an employee of mine. Poppy became the family fur baby and we realised early on how clever and empathic she is. I work as a Special Operations Response Team paramedic and we decided to involve her in my search work in 2021 when she was only a year old because we knew it would play to her strengths. She took to it immediately.

Poppy and our team of dogs look for missing people. My colleagues and I then provide any medical assistance needed. She is trained to search without needing to smell someone’s scent from an item such as clothing. During training, we hide our volunteers along the riverbank, in the woods, beside lochs and canals, and set the dogs off. They have to find the people and come back. Poppy’s curious nature has served her well. She loves the undergrowth, sniffing about and finding things.

She has been involved in a couple of searches, including one for a missing army veteran in the Scottish Borders, which, unfortunately, turned into a body recovery. She was also tasked with going up to Inverness to help find a missing child in the woods who, thankfully, was found by the police.

Poppy is the best employee. When she has her search jacket on, she knows she is going to look for people and the difference is apparent: she changes from family pet mode to working dog mode.

She is also great fun – Poppy is a very active dog who has kept me fit and makes it impossible to be lazy, as she will want to go for a walk regardless of the weather. She also loves getting involved in family outings and activities, such as paddleboarding. She has her own lifejacket and will happily swim alongside us when we paddleboard on one of the lochs, which the kids absolutely love. They all spoil her rotten.

She can seem intimidating at first, as she’s a big dog, but she gets on with everyone. There is nothing she loves more than being with people and she is the first to notice if someone is upset. She’ll put her head in your lap as if to say: it’ll be all right, tell me all about it.

Poppy is a role model for us all. The way she interacts with other people is how you want to interact with people. She’s not judgmental and she’s happy to go up to anyone with a lovely attitude. She’s not got a vicious or snarly bone in her body. If we strive to be more like Poppy, I think we can make the world a better place.