Balto/HRD

HRD

Human Remains Detection (HRD) is a discipline where canines are trained to locate human remains in various forms and environments. Balto's HRD exercise log captures the source details, activity type, environmental factors, and the dog's performance.

Starting an HRD Exercise

From the Welcome page, press and hold the begin training button to start a new mission
Configure the mission details (date, location, DR number) and tap Start a new task
On the Exercise Configuration screen, select HRD as the training type
Tap Set Task Details to begin the exercise

The HRD exercise has two sections that scroll vertically: Setup, and Review.

Setup Section

This section captures the configuration of the exercise.

Lead

Select On lead or Off lead based on how the dog is working.

Area Size/Length

Enter the approximate size of the search area. Use the spinning wheel control to quickly adjust the value, or tap the text field to enter a specific value.

Select the appropriate units from the dropdown:

acres (max 200)
meters (max 1000) — for linear search areas
sq. feet (max 10,000)
sq. meters (max 10,000)
miles (max 20) — for linear search areas

HRD Activity

Select the type of HRD work being performed:

Imprinting — Teaching the dog the target odor
Blocks/Tubes — Training aids in blocks or tubes
Alert — Working on the trained final response
Wheel — Scent wheel exercise
Surface — Surface-deposited remains
Buried — Buried remains
Elevated — Remains in elevated locations
Water — Water-based HRD
Debris — Searching in rubble or debris
Concrete — Concrete-encased or covered remains
Burn area — Fire scene HRD
Vehicle — HRD in vehicles
Building — HRD in buildings or structures
Negative — Area known to contain no source
Other — Any other HRD activity type

Details

Free-form text field to describe specific details about the activity. The placeholder shows "N/A" which can be left as the default.

Distractions

Free-form text field to describe any distractions present during the exercise (other dogs, wildlife, scent contamination, etc.). The placeholder shows "None" if no distractions are present.

Blindness

Select the handler's knowledge level:

Known — Handler knows source location(s)
Single Blind — Handler does not know, but someone else does
Double Blind — Neither handler nor person directing the search knows

Source Type

Select the type of source material being used:

Blank, Blood, Tissue, Organ, Fluids, Teeth, Soil, Cremains, Bone, Adipocere, Body, Limbs, Burned, Contaminated Item, Indeterminate, Unknown, Multiple/Large

Source ID

Enter an identifier for the source material (e.g. "S-12" or "Sample A"). This helps track which specific source was used across multiple exercises.

Source Placed

Enter the date and time when the source was placed in YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm format, or tap the Now button to use the current time. Tracking source aging is important for HRD training records.

Review Section

This section captures the performance rating and notes.

Performance Rating

Select a rating from N/A through 0-10 to assess the dog's performance.

TFR

Select TFR Unprompted (dog gave the trained final response on their own) or TFR Prompted (dog responded after handler cue).

False Alert

Check if the dog gave a false alert during the exercise.

Notes

Free-form text area for activity notes and remediation plan.

Finishing the Exercise

When you're done recording the exercise:

Scroll to the bottom of the screen
Tap Finish & save exercise
The exercise will be saved and you'll return to the mission

Tips

Use Source ID consistently across exercises to track scent aging across multiple sessions
The Source Placed date/time enables tracking of scent permeation in different environments
For training records that include multiple HRD activities, run separate exercises for each activity type rather than combining them
If the dog gives a false alert, note the location and circumstances in the Notes field for later analysis