Virginia Search and Rescue Dog Association

Glossary of terms used on this site

Term	Definition
PLS	Glossaries: K9 SAR Glossary PLS (Point Last Seen): a point where a witness actually saw the subject. The PLS is usually the IPP (Initial Planning Point). Author: ERI: Emergency Response International
POA	Glossaries: K9 SAR Glossary POA (Probability of Area): The chance that a missing person (or clue) is in the search Area. Author: ERI: Emergency Response International
POD	Glossaries: K9 SAR Glossary POD (Probability of Detection): The chance that an object or missing person will be detected if present. Author: ERI: Emergency Response International

Scent Cones
Scent Cones: movement of scent away from subject/source -in the shape of a cone.
Stimulus
Stimulus: A change in the environment. Dog Training focuses on discriminative stimuli, which causes a change of state in the dog, causing it to perform a specific behavior.
Shaping
Shaping: Building new behavior by selectively reinforcing variations in existing behavior, during the action rather than after completion, to increase or strengthen the behavior in a specific manner o